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Northern NSW and south-east Queensland hit by heavy rain, strong winds and king tides.

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A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

Angus Taylor's emissions reduction forecasts assume even faster cuts than those contemplated in AEMO's step change scenario, and accelerated coal closures.

The post Taylor’s emissions projections assume rapid and accelerated exit of coal power appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Tilt lands 15-year off-take deal with miner Newcrest to underpin development of biggest wind farm in NSW.

The post Tilt lands contract with Newcrest gold mine for biggest wind project in NSW appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Critics say ‘incredibly disappointing’ discussion paper contains no proposals to make EVs cheaper and reduces choices for Australian consumers

The Australian government has been accused of working for 18 months on a “nothing” electric vehicle strategy after a leaked draft policy paper included no policies that would make it more affordable to buy clean cars.

A discussion paper, first reported by the ABC and seen by Guardian Australia, does not propose direct financial help to encourage people to buy electric vehicles (EVs) or a phase-out date for the sale of new fossil fuel cars, as is planned in some countries including Britain, Japan and Norway.

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A Virginia court will hold a hearing early next year over a lawsuit filed by an industrial group that challenges the legality of the state’s RGGI-modelled carbon market regulation, court records show.

EUAs stretched their record high for the third successive session on Tuesday, as streaking energy prices added to bullish sentiment from a prolonged auction pause.

A UK-based low-carbon project developer has appointed a former Shell executive to lead its offering on nature-based activities, aiming to respond to heightened corporate offset demand from the sector.

Australia's plants help make our landscapes unique. But many are in grave danger of extinction, and in many cases, the problem is getting worse. Ayesha Tulloch, DECRA Research Fellow, University of Sydney Elisa Bayraktarov, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Conservation Biology, The University of Queensland Hugh Possingham, Professor, The University of Queensland Jaana Dielenberg, University Fellow, Charles Darwin University Jennifer Silcock, Post-doctoral research fellow, The University of Queensland Micha Victoria Jackson, PhD candidate, The University of Queensland Nathalie Butt, Postdoctoral Fellow, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Conservationists hope the presence of Maremma dogs will stop feral foxes from attacking eastern barred bandicoots when they return to the wild

For about a year, McKinnon and Quinta have been watching a flock of sheep in a nature reserve in western Victoria.

But the two Maremma dogs aren’t really there to look after 146 sheep.

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The Transportation & Climate Initiative (TCI) will release a finalised Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) next week, with the framework expected to outline the long-term climate goal for the proposed fuel sector cap-and-trade scheme, two regulatory sources told Carbon Pulse. 

Insect-destroying fungi ‘may represent the next frontier for drug discovery’

Two new fungi species that infect flies and eject spores out of a large hole in the insect’s abdomen “like small rockets” have been discovered in Denmark.

The new species, Strongwellsea tigrinae and Strongwellsea acerosa, are host-specific and rely on two species of Danish fly – Coenosia tigrina and Coenosia testacea, according to researchers at the University of Copenhagen.

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The US Congress will include bipartisan energy-related proposals to reduce potent HFC gases and incentivise research and deployment of energy efficiency and CCUS in a $1.4 trillion government funding package set for release as early as Tuesday, according to numerous media reports.

Environment Agency urges people in flood zones to plan ahead as Met Office forecasts wet January and February

The next couple of months are likely to be wetter than normal in the UK, experts have warned, raising the prospect of flooding.

The Environment Agency’s executive director of operations, John Curtin, said teams around the country were prepared for dealing with floods this winter in a Covid-safe way.

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Coronavirus closures will put millions of pounds worth of festive food at risk, firms warn

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Fresh festive food worth millions of pounds – including whole turkeys, lobsters and truffles – could be heading for the bin as restaurants and bars in London and parts of the south-east move into tier 3 coronavirus restrictions from midnight.

Under the tough new rules in England, hospitality venues have been ordered to close their doors – and cancel lucrative Christmas bookings – although they are allowed to offer limited takeaway food and delivery boxes.

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The organisation has applied to overhaul the current pay scheme which sees some workers earning as little as $3 an hour

Unions have mounted a legal push for casual fruit pickers to be paid a minimum of $25 an hour, putting an end to farmers paying as little as $3 an hour under piece rate arrangements.

The Australian Workers’ Union on Tuesday afternoon applied to the industrial umpire, the Fair Work Commission, to change the Horticulture Award to introduce a minimum pay rate.

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Angus Taylor seems to be wilfully ignoring Australia’s huge transport emissions problem

The announcement this week by energy minister Angus Taylor that he’s putting together a major package to prop up oil refineries to preserve dirty fuel supplies to one of the dirtiest car fleets on the planet simply beggars belief.

This week, we’ve seen king tides and storms hitting the country’s eastern coastline, changing the face of much-loved Aussie beaches, which were already feeling the effects of rising sea levels. This time last year, the country was on fire. In 2020 our Great Barrier reef was bleached for the third time in five years, the most widespread event ever. We just had the warmest spring ever, 2C above average, which would have been “virtually impossible” without our greenhouse gas emissions.

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Beijing is aiming to control rain and snow across half the country. But it is the reason it wants to do this that is really frightening

Remember when Donald Trump wanted to nuke hurricanes so they didn’t hit the US? Everyone laughed uproariously, but Trump’s warped little mind was actually on to something. You may not be able to bomb hurricanes into oblivion, but you can shoot things into the atmosphere in order to change the weather. It’s a process known as cloud seeding and a number of countries, including the UK and the US, have been experimenting with it for decades.

There hasn’t been a huge amount of mainstream attention paid to cloud seeding or other forms of geoengineering, but now is the time to sit up and take notice: China has massively ramped up its efforts to control the weather, a move that should alarm us all.

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A Virginia generator opened a RGGI account this week ahead of the state’s entrance in the Northeast US emissions trading scheme next month, joining at least two other entities from the jurisdiction.

The EU will not rush to introduce a carbon removals certification system because it wants to minimise the potential for errors, a senior European Commission official said Tuesday.