How a 'most beautiful plant' helped turn the conservationist tide

For Alec Costin, the discovery of a field of anemone buttercups in alpine grasslands near Mount Kosciuszko marked a turning point in that region's conservation.

Alec Costin, a retired alpine ecologist, with a painting in
 his house of "the most beautiful flower" - the anemone
 buttercup - that helped turn the conservation tide in the
 Kosciuszko National Park.

Six decades ago - when the environmental fate of the region was last up for grabs - Dr Costin helped get sheep removed from what was then the Kosciusko State Park.

Taking Sir Garfield Barwick - a prominent lawyer and park trustee who favoured extending leases graziers had enjoyed above 1300 metres since the 1920s - on a three-day mountain tour proved Dr Costin's master stroke.

Even today, the buttercup remains vulnerable, found only in a 32- by eight-kilometre strip near Guthega. But, back then, its future was precarious as it was a favoured sheep fodder.

Read Peter Hannam’s story from The Age - “How a 'most beautiful plant' helped turn the conservationist tide.”

A great year for clean energy in Australia ends, while bad news for coal continues

In 20 years we’ll look back on 2017 as a turning point for the climate challenge. It hasn’t been all good news – carbon emissions increased globally and in Australia – but the mission to avoid dangerous climate change no longer appears completely hopeless.

 ‘It’s undeniable that the energy transition is well under way — but
Australians could be forgiven for despairing when coal dominates our politics and media cycle.

Until recently few in the mainstream were calling time on coal – yet numbers out of China and India showed that the coal building spree is fast winding down and the International Energy Agency, who are traditionally coal boosters, reported that coal is facing a “decade of stagnation” after global demand peaked in 2014. In May, the head of infrastructure investment at BlackRock, the world’s largest investment manager, announced that “coal is dead”.

Meanwhile renewable energy broke new records — China installed seven solar panels a second and India’s energy minister now expects to install 200GW of renewables by 2022.

While it’s undeniable that the energy transition is well under way, Australians could be forgiven for despairing when coal dominates our media cycle. Who can forget the federal treasurer, Scott Morrison, brandishing a lump of coal in the first session of parliament, goading: “This is coal — don’t be afraid, don’t be scared”?

Read the piece on The Guardian by Simon Holmes à Court - “A great year for clean energy in Australia ends, while bad news for coal continues.”