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Joy for environmentalists as California blocks bid for $1.4bn desalination plant
Poseidon Water sought to turn seawater into drinking water but activists said plan would devastate ecosystem on Pacific coast
A California coastal panel on Wednesday rejected a longstanding proposal to build a $1.4b seawater desalination plant to turn Pacific Ocean water into drinking water as the state grapples with persistent drought that is expected to worsen in coming years with climate change.
The state’s Coastal Commission voted unanimously to deny a permit for Poseidon Water to build a plant to produce 50m gallons of water a day in Huntington Beach, south-east of Los Angeles.
Continue reading...Euro Markets: Midday Update
Birds, beavers and microparks: experts plan to rewild London
Group commissioned by mayor Sadiq Khan in early stages of move to bring nature back to capital
London will be “rewilded” with new nature reserves, pocket parks and a mass community movement to bring nature back to the capital, the Guardian can reveal.
A group of rewilding experts commissioned by the mayor, Sadiq Khan, are in the early stages of drawing up the proposal. The idea came from Ben Goldsmith, a financier and environment campaigner who is on the board of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Continue reading...Danish farmers turn their backs on mink after Covid mutation cull
Just a handful of mink breeders in Denmark express an interest in re-entering fur industry, even if the current ban is lifted next year
Danish mink breeders have turned their backs on the industry en masse after being forced to cull their animals over fears a Covid-19 mutation could pose a risk to human health.
In November 2020, Denmark, at that point the world’s largest mink producer, controversially announced it would cull approximately 15 million animals due to fears a Covid-19 mutation moving from mink to humans could jeopardise future vaccines.
Continue reading...Sewage dumps into English rivers widespread, criminal inquiry suspects
Environment agency says initial investigation into all 10 water firms suggests possible ‘serious non-compliance’ with law
A criminal investigation into water companies in England has uncovered suspected widespread illegal sewage discharges from treatment plants, the Environment Agency has revealed.
The investigation into more than 2,200 water treatment plants run by all 10 water companies is examining whether the firms breached legal regulations about when and how frequently they are allowed to release raw sewage into waterways.
Continue reading...South Africa’s April floods made twice as likely by climate crisis, scientists say
Brutal heatwave in India and Pakistan also certain to have been exacerbated by global heating, scientists say
The massive and deadly floods that struck South Africa in April were made twice as likely and more intense by global heating, scientists have calculated. The research demonstrates that the climate emergency is resulting in devastation.
Catastrophic floods and landslides hit the South African provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape on 11 April following exceptionally heavy rainfall.
Continue reading...New £5.8m tree lab sends out SOS for public to report pests
Hi-tech UK laboratory launched to save trees from threats including oak processionary moth, emerald ash borer and citrus longhorn beetle
The public are being urged to keep an eye out for any signs of disease in local trees, as the UK launches a hi-tech, £5.8m tree laboratory to fight the spread of pests and diseases.
The UK is especially vulnerable to the growing spread of plant pathogens because of warmer, wetter winters, and because it is a hub for global trade. The new research laboratory is set to address these threats by clamping down on pests in the UK and abroad, including the oak processionary moth, emerald ash borer and citrus longhorn beetle.
Continue reading...JPX to operate exchange for Japan’s voluntary carbon market -media
CN Markets: CEAs barely budge as traders continue to cry out for policy direction
Chevron, Pertamina to collaborate on offsets, low carbon projects in Asian markets
Weather tracker: deadly floods follow week of torrential rain in Australia
Analysis: Queensland flash floods have cut off communities and killed one woman, swept away in her car
Torrential rain has been hitting eastern Australia since Monday, with rainfall totals on the north-east coast widely achieving in excess of 100mm. In Yabulu, north of Townsville, there was major flooding on Tuesday as 196mm of rain fell within 24 hours. This was not the highest total recorded, however, with 244mm of rain falling on Tuesday at Mourilyan, near Innisfail on the Cassowary Coast.
The threat of heavy rain sank south across Queensland to the south-east, reaching Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast on Wednesday; stations in the south-east recorded up to 100mm, with a station in Dayboro recording 161mm. A further 100-150mm of rain fell on Friday across the south-east.
Continue reading...Every drop is precious: the Mexican women saving water for their villages
The climate crisis has exacerbated drought across Mexico. But female-led projects to build harvesting and filtration tanks are helping communities conserve what rain there is, and make it safe to drink
Words and photographs by Matteo Bastianelli
Moon soil used to grow plants for first time in breakthrough test
We need optimism – but Disneyfied climate predictions are just dangerous | George Monbiot
Techno-utopianism is popular precisely because it doesn’t challenge the status quo, and lets polluters off the hook
In seeking to prevent environmental breakdown, what counts above all is not the new things we do, but the old things we stop doing. Renewable power, for instance, is useful in preventing climate chaos only to the extent that it displaces fossil fuels. Unfortunately, new technologies do not always lead automatically to the destruction of old ones.
In the UK, for example, building new offshore wind power has been cheaper than building new gas plants since 2017. But the wholesale disinvestment from fossil fuels you might have expected is yet to happen. Since the UN climate summit last November, the government has commissioned one new oil and gas field, and reportedly plans to license six more. It has overridden the Welsh government to insist on the extension of the Aberpergwm coalmine. Similar permissions have been granted in most rich nations, even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist
Continue reading...The week in wildlife – in pictures
The best of this week’s wildlife pictures, including a giant stingray, a lost tortoise and hungry monkeys
Continue reading...Vietnam signs carbon market MoU with US bank
Australian Market Roundup: Trading activity erupts ahead of assumed Labor victory
Australian voters deserve a ministers’ debate on climate and energy. They won’t get one
Given the world is in the midst of a major climate crisis, Australian voters deserved a climate ministers' debate.
The post Australian voters deserve a ministers’ debate on climate and energy. They won’t get one appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Direct switch from coal to renewables cheaper than going over gas “bridge”
New analysis shows it is cheaper to switch from coal-fired generation to renewables than to move from coal to gas as a bridge to renewables.
The post Direct switch from coal to renewables cheaper than going over gas “bridge” appeared first on RenewEconomy.
NSW energy roadmap at risk of shutting out big battery benefits
Will battery storage get a gig in the NSW energy roadmap? It will all boil down to how a single clause in the legislation is interpreted.
The post NSW energy roadmap at risk of shutting out big battery benefits appeared first on RenewEconomy.
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