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Climate
Labor’s stalled environmental agenda under pressure from left and right
While the Greens remain hopeful of compromise, the PM has indicated he wants a deal struck with the Coalition
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Anthony Albanese is rejecting demands from the Greens and some Senate crossbenchers to subject development projects to climate-impact assessments and remove forestry’s effective exemption from environmental protection law, as the government negotiates on stalled legislation with parties to the left and right.
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, is in talks with the Greens, crossbenchers and the Coalition over legislation to establish an environment protection authority.
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Continue reading...Youth Group Asks Supreme Court to Revive a Landmark Climate Lawsuit
Offshore Wind Slowed by Broken Blades, Rising Costs and Angry Fishermen
California firefighters take advantage of cooler weather to battle three wildfires
Wildfires east of Los Angeles threaten tens of thousands of homes since accelerating during weekend heatwave
Firefighters battling three major wildfires in the mountains east of Los Angeles took advantage of cooler weather as they slowly gained the upper hand, but not before dozens of homes were destroyed and thousands of people were forced to evacuate.
California is only now heading into the teeth of the wildfire season but already has seen nearly three times as much acreage burn than during all of 2023. The wildfires have threatened tens of thousands of homes and other structures across southern California since they accelerated during a triple-digit heatwave over the weekend.
The Airport fire in Orange county, which has burned more than 35 sq miles (91 sq km). The fire was 5% contained on Wednesday night and was reportedly sparked by heavy equipment operating in the area.
The Line fire in the San Bernardino national forest, which was 18% contained on Wednesday and had charred 57 sq miles (148 sq km). The blaze has injured three firefighters. Authorities said it was caused by arson in Highland. A suspect was arrested on Tuesday.
The Bridge fire east of Los Angeles, which grew tenfold in a day and has burned 78 sq miles (202 sq km), torched at least 33 homes and six cabins and forced the evacuation of 10,000 people. The cause of the fire is not yet known. It remained 0% contained on Wednesday night.
Continue reading...Burned-out firefighters are fleeing the US Forest Service amid labor disputes: ‘We are decimated’
As increasingly explosive fire seasons ravage the country, federal firefighters say their employer is exacerbating exhaustion by misclassifying their jobs
Firefighters are feeling the strain of another long and intense season, with months to go before the highest risks subside. But as they battle the flames, the thousands of people working for the US Forest Service (USFS), the largest federal employer of firefighters, are also fighting for changes within the agency to tackle issues they say have made the work even harder.
Federal firefighters have been waiting for years for revisions to outdated job descriptions, which have forced them to do more for less. Many have opted to leave altogether.
Continue reading...Big oil faces a rising number of climate-focused lawsuits, report finds
Communities, states and advocacy groups push to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for role in climate crisis
Big oil is facing a soaring number of climate-focused lawsuits, a new analysis has found. It’s a sign that more communities are demanding accountability for the industry’s contributions to the climate crisis.
For the report, published on Thursday, Oil Change International and the climate research organization Zero Carbon Analytics pulled data from a Columbia University database, focusing on cases in which the world’s 25 largest fossil fuel producers were named as defendants.
Continue reading...Consumerism and the climate crisis threaten equitable future for humanity, report says
The Earth Commission says hope lies in sustainable lifestyles, a radical transformation of global politics and fair distribution of resources
All of humanity could share a prosperous, equitable future but the space for development is rapidly shrinking under pressure from a wealthy minority of ultra-consumers, a groundbreaking study has shown.
Growing environmental degradation and climate instability have pushed the Earth beyond a series of safe planetary boundaries, say the authors from the Earth Commission, but it still remains possible to carve out a “safe and just space” that would enable everyone to thrive.
Continue reading...Massachusetts man buys $395,000 house despite warnings it will ‘fall into ocean’
David Moot nabs ‘dream’ Cape Cod home next to eroding cliff in imminent danger of crumbling due to climate crisis
A man who says life’s too short to resist buying a home that might fall off a cliff in a few years has taken ownership of a house with a beautiful view that’s just 25ft (7.6 metres) from a sandy, crumbling cliff.
David Moot paid $395,000 for the house on Cape Cod on the Massachusetts coast and said he intends to enjoy it while it lasts.
Continue reading...4 Climbers Are Found Dead on Mont Blanc in the French Alps
Save the Children pulls out of Science Museum event over sponsor concerns
Move follows London museum’s links to Adani Group, which has partnership with Israeli arms manufacturer
Save the Children has pulled out of an event at the Science Museum in London after coming under pressure from its supporters over the institution’s sponsors.
The charity said it had decided to withdraw from an evening event called Journey of Life Lates on 11 September “following concerns from supporters about one of the museum’s sponsors, in the context of current public campaigns”.
Continue reading...Climate experts lament Harris’s vow to keep fracking in debate with ‘walking oil spill’ Trump
Harris has a progressive record on climate but indicated a shift, probably to assuage voters in swing states
Kamala Harris stridently backed new fracking and expanded US gas production in comments that raised eyebrows among some environmentalists as, yet again, the unfolding climate crisis was largely overlooked during a set piece presidential debate.
Harris, in a televised debate with Donald Trump on Tuesday night in Philadelphia, rebuffed the former president’s claim that she will end fracking “on day one” if elected by touting booming levels of drilling during her term as vice-president, in which US oil and gas production has hit record highs.
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Continue reading...How Trump and Harris Talked About Climate Change During the Debate
TikToker Caleb Graves dies after running Disneyland half-marathon in heatwave
Content creator posted video expressing worry about high temperatures day before race in Anaheim, California
A 35-year-old runner collapsed and died on Sunday after completing a half-marathon at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, during a heatwave, only a day after expressing his concern about the searing temperatures in a video posted to TikTok.
Bobby Graves, who went by Caleb on his popular TikTok page, clutched his chest as he crossed the finish line of the Disneyland Halloween half-marathon around 7am, and was then caught by a race volunteer as he collapsed, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Continue reading...Resisting fascism includes respecting our environment and fellow species | Terry Tempest Williams
I do not think it is a leap to see our exploitive relationship with Earth as part of a centuries-long war against the environment
Standing on the edge of Utah’s terminal Great Salt Lake is to witness the religion of over-water consumption in the desert. Our thirst is greater than this inland sea can bare as it is disappearing in the shadows of climate chaos, extreme heat and a megadrought not seen in 2,500 years. Twelve million migrating birds depend on this water body for food, rest and breeding. Flocks of Wilson’s phalaropes, small and handsome shorebirds, spin in saline waters creating water columns alive with brine shrimp and flies and resulting in a feeding frenzy. American avocets and black-necked stilts stand stoically in the shallows. Thousands of ducks are sprinkled on the lake like pepper. Water and sky merge as one. There is no horizon. All appears well in this serene landscape of pastel blues animated by birds. It is not.
The health of the Great Salt Lake is only as strong as the health of the human community that surrounds it. And vice versa. If the 2 million people living within the Great Salt Lake watershed with Salt Lake City at its center do not mobilize to put more water in the lake, the death of the Great Salt Lake will be their own. This will also be the demise of millions of migrating birds.
Terry Tempest Williams is a writer, naturalist and activist
Continue reading...Resisting fascism includes respecting our environment and fellow species | Terry Tempest Williams
I do not think it is a leap to see our exploitive relationship with Earth as part of a centuries-long war against the environment
Standing on the edge of Utah’s terminal Great Salt Lake is to witness the religion of over water-consumption in the desert. Our inland sea is disappearing in climate chaos evidenced by extreme heat and a megadrought not seen in 2,500 years. Ten million migrating birds depend on this water body for food, rest and breeding. Flocks of Wilson’s phalaropes, small and handsome shorebirds, spin in saline waters creating water columns alive with brine shrimp and flies and resulting in a feeding frenzy. American avocets and black-necked stilts stand stoically in the shallows. Thousands of ducks are sprinkled on the lake like pepper. Water and sky merge as one. There is no horizon. All appears well in this serene landscape of pastel blues animated by birds. It is not.
The health of the Great Salt Lake is only as strong as the health of the human community that surrounds it. And vice versa. If the 2 million people living within the Great Salt Lake watershed with Salt Lake City at its center do not mobilize to put more water in the lake, the death of the Great Salt Lake will be their own. This will also be the demise of millions of migrating birds.
Terry Tempest Williams is a writer, naturalist and activist
Continue reading...Republican Science Denial Has Nasty Real-World Consequences
Trump Is, Was and Would Be a Gift to China
Brazilian president flies into Amazon amid alarm over droughts and wildfires
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva says Amazonia suffering its worst drought in more than 40 years
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has flown into the Amazon amid growing alarm over the droughts and wildfires sweeping the rainforest region and others parts of Brazil.
Speaking during a visit to a riverside community near the city of Tefé, the Brazilian president said Amazonia was suffering its worst drought in more than 40 years. He said he had come to discover “what is going on with these mighty rivers” that in some places now resemble deserts.
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