Salinity crisis destroying Australia's farmland, but farmers hope to stop it

Australia has a silent crisis on its hands and the threat is looming just beneath the ground of the country's most fertile food bowls.

David Thompson is harvesting native succulent pigface to sell to high-end chefs.

Dryland salinity, which occurs when vast underground salt deposits rise to the surface with groundwater tables, could leave the productive farm lands that inhabit more than half of the country desolate and barren.

Federal Government estimates from the turn of the century put a $130 million price tag on lost agricultural production due to dryland and irrigation salinity.

Read the ABC News story by Kit Monchan and Benjamin Gubana - “Salinity crisis destroying Australia's farmland, but farmers hope to stop it.”

(Story posted on Beneath the Wisteria by Robert McLean)

China stakes claim on electric car market with 100 new models at auto show

Chinese car brands are staking a leadership claim in the global race to dominate electric vehicles, unveiling and promoting more than 100 new models at the country's annual auto show.

The LSEV is touted as the first mass-producible
3D-printed electric car in the world.

More than two-thirds of the hybrid and fully electric plug-in cars on display in Beijing are from Chinese brands, despite international car giants trying hard to court the huge local market with the unveiling of several new electric SUVs.

New energy vehicles (NEVs) aren't just fashionable in China's big cities — they are also being actively pushed by China's government through subsidies for manufacturers and a planned cap-and-trade quota system that will force car companies to make at least 10 per cent of their output NEVs or face fines.

Read the Bill Birtles story from ABC News - “China stakes claim on electric car market with 100 new models at auto show.”

Donald Trump nominates Dow Chemical Co lawyer Peter C. Wright to run EPA office

US President Donald Trump has tapped a chemical industry insider to run the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) office that oversees emergency response to hazardous spills and clean-ups of the country's most toxic sites.

Donald Trump seems pretty happy that he
 has put the fox in charge of the henhouse.

Peter C. Wright has worked as a corporate lawyer at Dow Chemical Co since 1999.

Dow merged with rival DuPont last year, creating the world's largest chemical maker.

Read the ABC News story - “Donald Trump nominates Dow Chemical Co lawyer Peter C. Wright to run EPA office.”