Reports and emails show a landfill at the top of a hill is leaching dangerous toxins into the Napa River
Famous for its lush vineyards and cherished local wineries, Napa valley is where people go to escape their problems.
“When you first get there, it’s really pretty,” said Geoff Ellsworth, former mayor of St Helena, a small Napa community nestled 50 miles north-east of San Francisco. “It mesmerizes people.”
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
06/09/2024 - 10:00
06/09/2024 - 05:00
Groups linked to billionaire Leonard Leo, who seems to have ties to Chevron, are pressing the court to intervene in lawsuits that could cost billions
Far-right fossil fuel allies have launched a stunning and unprecedented campaign pressuring the supreme court to shield fossil fuel companies from litigation that could cost them billions of dollars.
Some of the groups behind the campaign have ties to Leonard Leo, the architect of the rightwing takeover of the supreme court who helped select Trump’s supreme court nominees. Leo also appears to have ties to Chevron, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
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06/08/2024 - 23:59
Federal government says opposition is saying ‘white is black’ following Peter Dutton’s comments to News Corp on Paris climate agreement
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The climate change minister, Chris Bowen, has savaged the Coalition after a frontbencher insisted the opposition was “absolutely committed” to the Paris climate agreement a day after leader Peter Dutton foreshadowed he would scrap Labor’s target to reduce emissions by 43% by 2030.
Dutton told the Weekend Australian he would oppose the legislated 2030 target – a 43% cut compared with 2005 levels – at the next election, declaring there was “no sense in signing up to targets you don’t have any prospect of achieving”.
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06/08/2024 - 21:48
Scheme would collect funds from power companies to pay communities affected by new transmission lines
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Victorian landowners whose views are spoiled by new power transmission lines on neighbouring properties could receive one-off compensation payments of up to $40,000 under a plan being considered by the state government.
The new transmission planning agency, VicGrid, has opened consultation on a scheme that would collect funds from power companies to pay communities affected by new transmission lines.
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06/08/2024 - 17:18
Riot police use teargas to disperse demonstrators at site of A-69 near Puylaurens in southern France
Police and masked activists clashed at a protest over a motorway project in southern France on Saturday, leaving five people hurt, local officials said.
Thousands of demonstrators ignored a ban on the gathering to turn out for the protest at the site of the A-69 motorway between Castres and Toulouse in the south-west.
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06/08/2024 - 09:00
Extreme temperatures and flammable grass fed by a wet winter are among this year’s biggest risks, experts say
This week’s broiling heatwave in the US south-west is just the start of what experts warn will be a brutally hot summer, setting the stage for an active wildfire season – even in places that don’t burn often.
Thanks to a wet winter, the dangers could be delayed in many fire-prone regions across the west, including in California forests where the threats from catastrophic blazes are often high. But the extra rainfall also helped seed invasive grasses that spread across sparse arid landscapes, and rapidly dried as temperatures rose.
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06/08/2024 - 01:00
Imogen May has withheld payments since 2019 and is thought to be one of thousands boycotting water charges
South West Water has taken a legal stake in a customer’s home after she withheld her bill payments in a protest over sewage dumping in rivers and the sea.
Thousands of water company customers are thought to be withholding payments but this is the first known case of a company enforcing a claim against a customer’s home.
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06/08/2024 - 00:43
Mt Buller had the country’s only ski-on chairlift operating on season’s opening day on Saturday – but snow is forecast for the week ahead
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It was a grassy start to Australia’s ski season, with one resort trying to remain upbeat “although we may not have snow on the ground” and a few pockets of human-made alternatives to play on elsewhere.
Mt Buller, in Victoria, was blessed with the only ski-on chairlift in the entire country on the opening day of the winter season on Saturday.
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06/07/2024 - 22:00
Opposition leader reportedly told News Corp he would oppose the legislated 2030 emissions target – a 43% cut compared with 2005 levels – at the next election
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Peter Dutton has been accused of planning to break Australia’s commitment to the landmark Paris climate agreement after he said he would reject the country’s 2030 greenhouse gas reduction target.
The opposition leader reportedly told the Weekend Australian that he would oppose the legislated 2030 emissions target – a 43% cut compared with 2005 levels – at the next election but remain committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050.
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06/07/2024 - 15:22
Biden’s rule for 2% fuel-economy increase a year met with disappointment by some environmental groups
New vehicles sold in the US will have to average about 38 miles per gallon (mpg) of gasoline in 2031 in real-world driving, up from about 29mpg this year, under new federal rules unveiled on Friday by the Biden administration.
The final rule will increase fuel economy by 2% a year for model years 2027 to 2031 for passenger cars, while SUVs and other light trucks will increase by 2% a year for model years 2029 to 2031, according to requirements released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
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