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First analysis of plastics’ hazards over life cycle – from extraction to disposal – also shows ‘deep societal injustices’ of impact

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Plastics are responsible for wide-ranging health impacts including cancers, lung disease and birth defects, according to the first analysis of the health hazards of plastics across their entire life cycle – from extraction for manufacturing, through to dumping into landfill and oceans.

Led by the Boston College Global Observatory on Planetary Health in partnership with Australia’s Minderoo Foundation and the Centre Scientifique de Monaco, the review found “current patterns of plastic production, use, and disposal are not sustainable and are responsible for significant harms to human health … as well as for deep societal injustices”.

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This weekend, 8,000 gallons of latex were accidentally dumped in the Delaware River – and tap water across the country is laced with disturbing chemicals

My wife is wonderful in every way, but I realised over the weekend that she is simply not built for the apocalypse. On Sunday, I was scrolling through Twitter and having a nice cup of tea when I saw a tweet from a guy called Ya Fav Trashman about a chemical spill that might affect Philadelphia drinking water. “Equipment failure” at a Trinseo chemical facility had dumped more than 8,000 gallons (about 30,000 litres) of “latex emulsion product” into the Delaware river. You can’t just boil or filter these chemicals out of your water.

I immediately spat out my Delaware River tea. (Perhaps the latex was why it was going down so smoothly?) “Yikes,” I said. “We’d better get some bottled water.” My wife volunteered to go to the nearest shop. She came back with … two bottles.

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European carbon prices jumped sharply on Tuesday morning as traders appeared to respond to a European Commission announcement on its plans to sell additional EUAs under the REPowerEU initiative, while a rally in crude oil prices late on Monday also added a bullish note to the early hours of trading.

Joe Public in the US would be willing to pay for carbon credits if they understood them, and knew about their own carbon footprint, a survey has found.

Environment Agency tells supplier to rethink plans to tackle droughts by pumping water from Thames and Severn

Thames Water has been told by the Environment Agency it needs to do more to fix the 630m litres of water it leaks a day before it starts taking water from the River Thames or from Wales to tackle drought problems.

The company has published its ideas for tackling climate crisis-induced droughts across London and the south-east, which include abstracting millions of litres a day from the River Thames and replacing it with treated effluent, to taking 155m litres a day from Wales.

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India’s power ministry has released a draft set of guidelines for administering the country’s forthcoming Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS) and has sought comments from stakeholders on its proposal by the middle of April.

Japan has issued more than 700,000 new offsets under its J-Credit scheme, increasing the total number of units created by almost a tenth, and registered over 30 new projects that can cut emissions by a total 7.3 million tonnes of CO2.

Japan has released rules making it possible for private-sector companies to participate in the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) without government assistance, in a bid to attract more involvement from businesses and increase the supply of Article 6-aligned carbon credits.

Ambiguities in Indonesia’s stated energy policies will allow for the continued growth of the country’s coal-fired power capacity, even though there is currently an oversupply of thermal power generation and despite the recent financial deals with international partners which aim to accelerate the transition towards renewables, a report released on Tuesday has warned.

Nasa grants last-minute reprieve to invaluable climate and biodiversity scanner on International Space Station, due to be incinerated in Earth’s atmosphere

Nasa has extended the life of a key climate and biodiversity sensor for scanning the world’s forests which was set to be destroyed in Earth’s atmosphere.

The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (Gedi) mission – pronounced like Jedi in Star Wars – was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the International Space Station (ISS) in December 2018, and has provided the first 3D map of the world’s forests.

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The shadow net zero secretary Ed Miliband to set out how plan will create jobs in clean energy

Labour is recasting its green growth plan as the British version of the US’s Inflation Reduction Act to underline its ambition to invest in good, clean energy jobs.

Ed Miliband, the shadow net zero secretary, will set out how the party’s green prosperity plan will deliver a multi-billion investment by government and businesses to drive jobs in green industries.

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Exclusive: Australian company resurrects flesh of lost species to demonstrate potential of meat grown from cells

A mammoth meatball has been created by a cultivated meat company, resurrecting the flesh of the long-extinct animals.

The project aims to demonstrate the potential of meat grown from cells, without the slaughter of animals, and to highlight the link between large-scale livestock production and the destruction of wildlife and the climate crisis.

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Four solar companies partner to create a lower-cost rooftop PV package that can slash power bills for social housing tenants by up to 40%.

The post Solar relief for social housing as four companies act to slash soaring power bills appeared first on RenewEconomy.

The new tunnel under the River Thames in London is 25km long was built at a cost of almost £5bn.

The world's most renewable grid is about to take another big step towards running truly fossil fuel free – at least on occasions.

The post South Australia about to take another big step towards fossil free grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Australia’s new climate deal contains wins for the Greens – but the negotiations were bruising Kate Crowley, Adjunct Associate Professor, Public and Environmental Policy, University of Tasmania Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The Coalition thought of it, and the Greens, Teals and Labor got rid of most of its warts. But exactly what will the Safeguard Mechanism do?

The post From Coalition fig leaf to Green-teal ALP deal: A closer look at Safeguard Mechanism 3.0 appeared first on RenewEconomy.

New figures show that small-scale rooftop solar systems provided the biggest chunk yet of Australia’s electricity needs during the summer months.

The post Rooftop solar’s dominant summer: Homes and businesses outpower brown coal appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Financial institutions should push to transform key pesticide companies and their significant contributions to global biodiversity loss, financial market campaigners ShareAction have urged.

The spot price for Australian Carbon Credits Units (ACCU) has risen 5% following the accord struck between the Greens and the government to further strengthen the Safeguard Mechanism, as the market mulls how the reforms will play out.