Supermarket ban sees 80pc drop in plastic bag consumption nationwide, retail association says

The ban on single-use plastic bags by Australia's two largest supermarkets has prevented the introduction of an estimated 1.5 billion bags into the environment — and the retail industry is hopeful this is only the beginning.

NSW is now the only state or territory in Australia
 that has not moved to legislate to phase out plastic bags.

Coles and Woolworths' decision to stop offering single-use disposable plastic bags mid-way through the year was initially met with swift public backlash.

But three months on, the radical change has translated to an 80-per-cent drop in the consumption of plastic bags nationwide, according to the National Retail Association (NRA).

Read the ABC News story - “Supermarket ban sees 80pc drop in plastic bag consumption nationwide, retail association says.”

Electric cars would save lives and cut costs, but Australians 'risk being left behind’

Deaths from air pollution would be prevented and the Morrison government would meet its pledge to make electricity more reliable and affordable if more Australians drove electric cars, but a lack of political will is holding back the benefits.

It is widely acknowledged that electric vehicles improve
 air quality, help address climate change, boost public
 health and are cheaper to run than conventional vehicles.

That is the widespread view expressed to a Senate probe into electric vehicles in Australia. Electric car maker Tesla, headed by controversial entrepreneur Elon Musk, is among those who assert that "government leadership" is the main barrier to increasing electric vehicle uptake in Australia, while the government’s own infrastructure adviser warned that Australians "risk being left behind" in the global transition.

Read the story from The Age by Nicole Hasham - “Electric cars would save lives and cut costs, but Australians 'risk being left behind’.”

UN climate chief: “Urgent requirement to cut emissions.”

Christiana Figueres.

Mission 2020’s Christiana Figueres says a clean energy policy with bipartisan support could have prevented many difficulties.

The former climate chief at the United Nations, Christiana Figueres, has urged the federal government to stop obsessing about the fate of individual power plants and seize the opportunity to recast its power system in line with the urgent requirement to cut carbon emissions.

Read the JP Pratt27 story - UN climate chief: “Urgent requirement to cut emissions.”