Vast array of projects included in sweeping package aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing and speeding up path to net zero
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The Australian government is trumpeting a $23bn package over the next 10 years to spur domestic manufacturing, speed up the path to net zero and bolster Labor’s re-election prospects.
The government has placed a range of budget measures under the banner “A Future Made in Australia” in a strategy that Labor hopes will boost its standing in key seats in Queensland and Western Australia.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
05/14/2024 - 04:47
05/14/2024 - 04:00
White House levy to protect US makers from cheap imports likely to inflame trade tensions
The US president, Joe Biden, has announced a 100% tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles as part of a package of measures designed to protect US manufacturers from cheap imports.
In a move that is likely to inflame trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies, the White House said it was imposing more stringent curbs on Chinese goods worth $18bn.
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05/14/2024 - 02:12
Weather bureau says there is now a 50/50 chance of La Niña forming this year
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Australia has been placed on La Niña watch by the Bureau of Meteorology with early signs the climate pattern linked to cooler and wetter conditions across most of the country could form later this year.
The bureau said there was now a 50/50 chance of La Niña forming this year with sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific steadily cooling since December.
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05/14/2024 - 00:00
Government told Net Zero Teesside gas scheme will be massive polluter despite its carbon capture claims
A multibillion-pound “net zero” project backed by two of the world’s biggest fossil fuel firms will be responsible for more than 20m tonnes of planet-heating carbon over its lifetime, according to research submitted to the UK government.
The Net Zero Teesside scheme to build a new gas-fired power station in north-east England is backed by BP and Equinor and says it will use carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to capture up to 95% of its emissions and bury them beneath the North Sea.
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05/13/2024 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 14 May 2024; doi:10.1038/s44183-024-00064-8
Electrochemical ocean iron fertilization and alkalinity enhancement approach toward CO2 sequestration
05/13/2024 - 17:19
Republican frontrunner vows to put an end to ‘horrible’ wind turbines, pledging to undo yet another key US green policy
Donald Trump has vowed to immediately halt offshore wind energy projects “on day one” of a new term as US president, in his most explicit threat yet to the industry and the latest in a series of promises to undo key aspects of the transition to cleaner energy.
Trump repeated false accusations about wind projects as being lethal to whales during a rally on Saturday in Wildwood, a resort city on New Jersey’s coast, promising to stamp out an industry that has been enthusiastically backed by Joe Biden.
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05/13/2024 - 14:28
State’s department of fish and wildlife says the brown pelicans are showing signs of malnutrition, but that the cause is still unclear
Hundreds of starving and stranded brown pelicans have turned up along the California coast in recent weeks in what wildlife advocates have described as a “crisis”.
In Newport Beach in southern California, lifeguards came upon two dozen sick pelicans on a pier last week. The Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach, the non-profit caring for the animals, said they had treated more than 100 other birds who were anemic, dehydrated and extremely underweight.
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05/13/2024 - 14:04
The researchers found that birds were more evolutionarily similar on smaller, more isolated islands than on larger, less remote places. The team had expected to find that forested areas had more numerous and more varied species of birds compared to farmland areas. But they were surprised to find that the opposite was true: Areas with farms and human settlements had more species of birds and greater diversity than forested areas.
05/13/2024 - 10:00
The ancient fish were successfully hatched by scientists in Tasmania using two adults and 50 eggs. The Maugean skate is thought to be found only in the vast harbour on the state’s west coast. Numbers have fallen sharply due to the impact of salmon farms, hydro power stations altering upstream river flows, gillnet fishing and rising harbour temperatures due to the climate crisis, studies have found
Politics and science: Tasmanian leaders back salmon farms ‘at all costs’ while researchers work to save endangered Maugean skate
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05/13/2024 - 09:13
To move away from a disposable culture, businesses need robust, efficient reuse systems, argue campaigners
For several months last year, patrons of a Seattle coffee shop called Tailwind Cafe had the option of ordering their americanos and lattes in a returnable metal to-go cup. They could borrow one from Tailwind, go on their way and then at some point – perhaps a few hours later, perhaps on another day that week – return it to the shop, which would clean it and refill it for the next person. If the cup wasn’t returned within 14 days, the customer would be charged a $15 deposit, although even that was ultimately refundable if the cup was returned by the end of 45 days.
But the system quickly ran into trouble. It was “overwhelming” trying to explain the return system to every interested customer, said Tailwind’s head chef, Kayla Tekautz. Many were hesitant to participate after learning that they could only return the cups to Tailwind or the other drop-off location, six miles away. Plus, Tailwind’s QR code reader kept malfunctioning, requiring repeated visits from a mechanic. At the end of last summer, Tailwind quietly ended the scheme. “It just didn’t work,” Tekautz said.
This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
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