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Under company modelling major spill would pollute beaches and could disrupt southern right whale migration

Up to 750km of coastline was put at risk of contamination from possible oil spill by BP’s plan to drill in the Great Australian Bight, newly released documents show.

Government documents released under freedom of information laws show a major oil spill in the sensitive seascape would pollute up to 750km of beaches and shoreline, according to BP’s own modelling. The company also thought drilling could disrupt migration of the endangered southern right whale.

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Assynt, Sutherland, Highlands: The stromatolite fossils lie on the Eilean Dubh Formation, a geologic stratum often marked by coral and shell fossils

As I climb up from the green-brown valley near Inchnadamph, the early spring countryside changes character. Snow patches appear and soon become abundant, then all seems white as the mountains’ snow-blanketed slopes merge into silver-grey clouds. On this blustery day, when sleet and rain slash across the landscape and wind snatches at all things, it’s hard to believe the Highlands were ever anything but a cold, damp, mountainous place. But the curious circular rocks embedded in the foothills are evidence that the earth beneath my feet once lay under shallow seas in a considerably warmer climate.

Related: The natural wonder that holds the key to the origins of life – and warns of its destruction

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Proposed changes to the government's climate change policies may stall, or even close down, the market for 'carbon farmers' to profit from reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Andrew Hopkins, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Drones and fireworks deployed to disperse flocks that are stripping trees and annoying residents with squawking and droppings

They come at dawn and dusk.

At first they arrive by the tens, then the hundreds, some sticking to the treeline, others mustering on the oval.

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It's not just spiders, scorpions and snakes for the man in charge of pest control at Kandahar air base.

Australia's National Energy Market needs a massive shake-up to evolve to a smarter, more stable distributed renewables-based system. And not every participant will make it out alive.

Malcolm Turnbull may have done more for renewable energy than he is given credit for. The political and policy deadlock is creating unprecedented demand for rooftop solar, destroying the business model for coal faster than the Coalition can think of ways to prop it up.

has announced the appointment of Dr Lachlan Blackhall to lead an international research program to improve ways to integrate battery storage with the electricity grid.

The regulated status of biomass and exclusion of certain industrial electricity providers are proving to be contentious "hot-button issues" in developing Virginia’s cap-and-trade programme, according to a state official.

Defending NEG on basis that something must be better than nothing is like trying to build a car and settling on just three wheels and no steering.

Hawaii's carbon tax proposal will not go through in 2018, a state lawmaker told Carbon Pulse on Thursday, marking the latest sub-national US carbon pricing proposal to fail to muster enough legislative support this year.

The latest trend in California's Silicon Valley - shared electric scooters.

US oil major ExxonMobil continued its brisk pace of Colombian CER cancellations this week, annulling another huge batch against the country’s carbon tax.

Based on some 5 year old data and some contrived fossil-fuel-friendly assumptions, German car owners association ADAC has concluded that EVs are not always climate-friendly.

Manitoba’s NDP party has threatened to delay legislation to enact the province’s proposed carbon tax as it seeks to force the ruling conservatives to include measures to support low-carbon investment, the leader of the official opposition said Thursday.

Under it's "National Sword" policy, China will now only accept recycling with a low contamination rate. But what does that mean?

Solar photovoltaics and wind power are on track to supplant fossil-fuel-based electricity generation by the 2030s. The only thing holding back the renewable revolution is politics. Andrew Blakers, Professor of Engineering, Australian National University Matthew Stocks, Research Fellow, ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science, Australian National University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Rivers will be lost, Indigenous communities and pastoral and tourism industries affected if not enough water is returned

The latest proposal to cut 605bn litres of water from flowing down the Murray-Darling river system will test the nation’s faith in water reform.

Transparency, accountability, trust: these have sadly gone missing from the nation’s plan for the health of the river system. Allegations of water theft, inequity for downstream communities and poor governance have all shaken the foundations of faith in the plan that state and federal governments agreed to in 2012.

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Emmanuel Macron | Butterfly Conservation | Country diary magic | Porton Down | Football fans

Why is Emmanuel Macron always described as a “centrist” in the Guardian (Strike chaos sets rail workers on collision course with Macron, 4 April)? He is hellbent on reducing employment rights and taking on the unions. He may be young and his party new on the political scene, but he is a conservative. Why not describe him as such?
Martin Childs
London

• As the Rolling Stones are touring in Britain this year – the 50th anniversary of the founding of Butterfly Conservation (Patrick Barkham’s Butterflywatch, 31 March) – the band should give a generous donation to the charity in recognition of the harm they did to thousands of large white butterflies released during their Hyde Park concert to remember Brian Jones.
Jacky Creswick
Chester

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A study of litter in UK seas shows the number of plastic bags has fallen, amid a rise in other types of plastic rubbish.