New law is too weak and has been made harder to enforce, while transport ministry has not taken sufficient action, groups say
German climate activists are taking the government to court for “unconstitutional” climate policy, seeking to build on a landmark victory three years ago that they had hoped would force Europe’s biggest polluter to clean up quickly.
The activists argue that the new climate law is too weak, that a recent update makes it harder to enforce, and that inaction from the transport ministry, which has repeatedly failed to meet its emissions targets, will force tough measures on poor groups in the future.
Continue reading...
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
06/26/2024 - 06:00
Higher PFAS exposure could cause lactation to slow or stop altogether within six months, new research finds
Women exposed to toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” prior to pregnancy face an elevated risk of being unable to breastfeed early, new research finds.
The study tracked lactation durations for over 800 new moms in New Hampshire and found higher PFAS exposure could cause lactation to slow or stop altogether within six months.
Continue reading...
06/26/2024 - 04:00
Study finds carbon credits could raise billions for climate action but only with changes, such as rigorous standards
The carbon-credit market must reform or “go out of business”, leading scientists have concluded in an international review of the offsetting industry.
The market for carbon offsets shrank dramatically last year after a series of scientific and media reports found many offsetting schemes had little environmental impact.
Continue reading...
06/26/2024 - 02:43
Statutory nuisance complaint lodged by Save Windermere against United Utilities is a first over sewage pollution
Campaigners fighting to stop sewage discharges into Windermere, the Lake District’s largest lake, have made a statutory nuisance complaint against a water company in the first legal action of its kind.
The civil complaints are normally used in noise disputes, or over noxious smells. But the environmental barrister Nicholas Ostrowski has for the first time lodged a complaint on behalf of campaign group Save Windermere against United Utilities over raw sewage discharges into the lake.
Continue reading...
06/26/2024 - 01:28
Facing accusations from Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young that the approval of a Senex Energy coal seam gas project would threaten koala habitat, Labor senator Penny Wong defended the move, saying the approval comes with 'strict limits on habitat loss'
Gina Rinehart-backed company gets approval from Tanya Plibersek for coal seam gas project
Continue reading...
06/25/2024 - 20:44
Environment minister gives go ahead for Senex Energy to develop and operate up to 151 new coal seam gas wells in inland Queensland
Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates
Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, has given a company co-owned by Gina Rinehart approval to develop and operate up to 151 new coal seam gas wells in inland Queensland.
A spokesperson for Plibersek said the Atlas stage 3 project proposed by Senex Energy, which is jointly owned by South Korea’s steel giant Posco and Rinehart, would “primarily contribute domestic gas supply to households and Australian manufacturing – including for glass, bricks, cement and food packaging”.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup
Continue reading...
06/25/2024 - 17:04
National Transportation Safety Board faults railroad company and contractors with unnecessary pollution
The National Transportation Safety Board said that Norfolk Southern and its contractors unnecessarily burned toxic chemicals – including vinyl chloride – from its tank cars during the freight train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, last February, unleashing hazardous fumes into the air.
In a board meeting on Tuesday, the NTSB said that an overheated wheel bearing caused the derailment, adding that Norfolk Southern and its contractors “misinterpreted and disregarded evidence” in reaching its decision to execute a controversial controlled burn over concerns that the vinyl chloride could potentially explode.
Continue reading...
‘Most of it was dead’: scientists discovers one of Great Barrier Reef’s worst coral bleaching events
06/25/2024 - 10:00
Analysis of high-resolution drone imagery concludes 97% of corals died at a Lizard Island reef between March and June this year
Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates
Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast
At least 97% of corals on a reef in the Great Barrier Reef’s north died during one of the worst coral bleaching events the world’s biggest reef system has ever seen, according to new analysis.
Scientists at several institutions used high-resolution drone imagery to track the bleaching and death of corals on a reef at Lizard Island.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup
Continue reading...
06/25/2024 - 09:14
John Podesta, Biden’s top climate official, calls for other big economies to step in to help poorer states
The US will “continue to be a leader” in climate finance, the White House’s top climate official has promised, though without specifying how much it would provide to poor countries.
John Podesta, senior adviser to Joe Biden on international climate policy, also defended the large-scale US expansion of gas production, saying the world was fortunate America was strengthening its supply, given the demand for non-Russian sources after the invasion of Ukraine.
Continue reading...
06/25/2024 - 07:00
The movement is more than double that of east Africa’s renowned ‘great migration’ and has continued despite decades of war and instability
An extensive aerial survey in South Sudan has revealed an enormous migration of 6 million antelope – the largest migration of land mammals anywhere on Earth. It is more than double the size of the celebrated annual “great migration” between Tanzania and Kenya, which involves about 2 million wildebeest, zebra and gazelle.
“The migration in South Sudan blows any other migration we know of out the water,” said David Simpson, wildlife NGO African Parks’ park manager for Boma and Badingilo national parks, which the migration moves between and around. “The estimates indicate the vast herds of antelope species … are almost three times larger than east Africa’s great migration. The scale is truly awe-inspiring.”
Continue reading...
