Sussan Ley: I'll be an environmentalist as minister

The new environment minister, Sussan Ley, has declared herself an “environmentalist”, saying she is prepared to fight for the environment around the cabinet table even when colleagues disagree with her.

Environment Minister, Sussan Ley.

Ley, who welcomed the Queensland government’s decision on Thursday to give the green light to the Adani coalmine, told Guardian Australia she wanted to see more action on recycling, threatened species and biodiversity protection, and a greater focus on individual action to achieve a better environment.

But in the lead-up to a 10-yearly review of the country’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, Ley has also flagged that she wants approval times for major projects cut, has left the door open to lifting the country’s ban on nuclear power, and has questioned whether land clearing is responsible for species loss.

Read the story from The Guardian by Sarah Martin - “Sussan Ley: I'll be an environmentalist as minister.”

(Minister Ley's claim that she wants to "cut red tape" and so reduce approval times for major projects is code for ignoring environmental matters, the very issues she is meant to represent - Robert McLean) 

Plastic waste reduced by up to 30 per cent with help from game-changing farmers' invention

Two brothers have taken on the fight to reduce plastic by inventing a solar shrink mulch film to help farmers minimise costs, wastage and to protect the environment.

Mark and Robert Trenchard launched their product
in 2015 and hope to tap into overseas markets.

Brisbane's Hydrox Technologies co-founders Robert and Mark Trenchard's patented solar shrink mulch film invention was named in the top 10 new agricultural products for 2018 at the world's largest agricultural show, The World AG Expo, in California earlier this year.

The film has a solar-powered shrinking action, allowing it to shrink and tighten at low temperatures as soon as it is exposed to the sun, reducing farmers' plastic usage by up to 30 per cent.

Fruit and vegetable growers use the film to control weeds. It stops weeds coming through the soil and taking up nutrients the plants require.

Read the ABC Rural News story by Jessica Schremmer - “Plastic waste reduced by up to 30 per cent with help from game-changing farmers' invention.”

Scientists call for action in fight against ‘fake news’

Legal scholars, social scientists, and researchers are joining forces in a global call to action in the fight against “fake news.”

Scientists need to join the fight against fake news.

The indictment of 13 Russians in the operation of a “troll farm” that spread false information related to the 2016 US presidential election has renewed the spotlight on the power of “fake news” to influence public opinion.

Read the Futurity story by Kevin Fryling - “Scientists call for action in fight against ‘fake news’.”

How a small town reclaimed its grid and sparked a community revolution

Martin Rühl never imagined this fight would define the rest of his life. Not for a moment did he reckon it would become so epic in length, in scale, in consequences. He just thought his speck of a town should run its own electricity supply.

Wolfhagen, a somnolent town whose biggest previous claim to
fame was that one of the Brothers Grimm had  swtayed there.

A modest proposal, but in the Germany of 2003 it was highly unusual. Gerhard Schröder was still chancellor and, although a social democrat, was pushing through more privatisations of public assets than any other leader in German history. This was in a Europe that had learned from Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan to stop worrying and start loving the private sector. Now here, swimming against history’s current, was one orderly, slightly anxious engineer.

Read the story by Aditya Chakrabortty on The Guardian - “How a small town reclaimed its grid and sparked a community revolution.”

APRA’s Summerhayes says 'weight of money' now driving response to climate change

Australia's financial regulator says the transition to a low-carbon economy "is in motion" and local companies can opt to "float with the transitional current" or fight "against the rising tide”.

The market for so-called green bonds soared from $US11
 billion in 2013 to more than $US65 billion so far this year.

Geoff Summerhayes, an executive board member of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, told a seminar on Wednesday the transition would be motivated in part by the investments needed to achieve the Paris climate goals.

The World Bank estimates that sum to be worth $US22 trillion ($29 trillion) to hit the 2030 targets. Meanwhile, the market for so-called green bonds – earmarked for environmental or climate projects – had soared from $US11 billion in 2013 to more than $US65 billion so far this year.

Read Peter Hannam’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “APRA’s Summerhayes says 'weight of money' now driving response to climate change.”