environment – Michmutters

Tag: environment

Categories
Australia

Aussie tourist arrested after illegally riding a moped through Pompeii heritage site

Aussie tourist arrested after illegally riding a moped through Pompeii heritage site

An Australian tourist has made international headlines and was labeled a “barbarian” after he was arrested for riding through a UNESCO world heritage site in Italy.

The male tourist, aged 33, was charged with “unauthorized access” by police after he drove a moped for almost two kilometers through the ancient ruins of Pompeii in the country’s south.

Italian police allege the Aussie man rode through the world-famous archaeological park via a service gate following the entry of cars from construction companies.

Australian tourist scoots through Pompeii. Picture: Supplied.
Camera IconAn Australian tourist was captured on CCTV scooting through Pompeii. Supplied Credit: NCA NewsWire

Security and guards apprehended the man before any damage was done to the 2000 year old site following a series of CCTV footage.

“The route taken is a dirt road outside the ancient city walls, used by site vehicles for excavation works,” the park said in a statement.

“It is safe, restored, and not accessible to the public. So there was no danger for either visitors or for the archaeological heritage at any point.”

The man claimed he was unaware he drove through the ancient site – which was destroyed in 79AD following a volcanic eruption.

The UNESCO world heritage site does not allow tourist vehicles to drive through.

No parts of the ancient city were accessed or damaged by the tourist, however Italian media has slammed the man, labeling him as a “barbarian”.

.

Categories
Australia

Bandicoot numbers boom in Dunbogan and Camden Haven after 2019 bushfires

A small brown marsupial, with short ears and brown fur.

Residents in the township of Dunbogan on the NSW Mid North Coast have been noticing an increasing number of small, conical holes appearing in their gardens and lawns.

They are created each night, under the cover of darkness, and those in the know are quick to point out what’s been digging around.

Bandicoots are experiencing a boom in the town and surrounding Camden Haven region, south of Port Macquarie.

Andrew Marshall, with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), lives on a rural property near Dunbogan and sees the small nocturnal marsupials outside his home most evenings.

He said it was the highest number of bandicoots he had seen in decades and the increase came after the region’s severe 2019 bushfires.

“In the past couple of years, it’s been very evident there has been a massive increase in the number of bandicoots … probably three to five-fold on the numbers we were seeing before the fires,” he said.

Mr Marshall said conditions after the fires had allowed bandicoots to thrive.

A small mammal with long nose and little arms standing upright spotlighted by flash in dark
A long-nosed bandicoot, which is among those being spotted in larger numbers in the Camden Haven region.(Supplied: Barbara Wilson)

“The bush has come back after the fires; the undergrowth is really dense and I think the bushfires probably also removed a large number of the local predatory animals,” he said.

“Things like foxes and feral cats, and the fires have potentially also displaced things like dingoes or wild dogs.

“In the coastal strip, where I am, the species that are doing really well include the northern brown bandicoot and we occasionally also see the long-nosed bandicoot.”

New green shoots emerge on a blackened eucalypt tree.
New growth is already emerging in the Lake Innes Nature Reserve.(ABC Mid North Coast: Emma Siossian)

Species adapts after hardship

Professor in Ecology at the University of Sydney Chris Dickman said certain bandicoot species typically did well after bushfires.

“It has been observed before, there have been some studies in the Top End and also the Myall Lakes area and in Victoria,” he said.

A small brown marsupial among barks on the ground.
A southern brown bandicoot.(Supplied: Ken Stepnell, Department of Planning and Environment)

Professor Dickman said the northern brown bandicoot in particular readily adapted to different environments.

“It does well after fires … it occurs from north of the Hawkesbury all up the east coast and across the top end to the Kimberley,” he said.

“They are quite mobile and very opportunistic.

“After a fire has gone through it opens up the habitat and provides new food sources that animals like bandicoots can access.

“The heavy rains [on the Mid North Coast] after the fires have probably also led to an increase in the complexity and density of the undergrowth and an increase in food sources.

“The bandicoots can move in and do quite well, that is if there aren’t many foxes and cats in the area.”

Professor Dickman said monitoring elsewhere in NSW had shown predators were not bouncing back as quickly after the 2019-20 fires.

“In some areas, like the Blue Mountains, there’s been a lot of monitoring happening after the big fires. Fox and cat activity hasn’t seemed to be as extensive after the fires as we might have expected,” he said.

Prolific breeders

Two eastern barred bandicoots being held in humans hands
The eastern barred bandicoot remains on the endangered species list but new populations are thriving after successful breeding and release programs.(Supplied: Zoos Victoria)

Professor Dickman said when conditions were right, bandicoots were also prolific breeders.

“They can produce three, four, even five litters a year and have a gestation period of just 12 or 13 days — incredibly short,” he said.

“They give birth to these baked-bean-sized youngsters that attach in the pouch and within a couple of months they are weaned, and the female is free to breed again.”

Learning to live with bandicoots

Professor Dickman said it was encouraging to see some east coast bandicoot species thriving, as other species had not fared so well.

“The east coast bandicoots are doing pretty well in general, including the northern brown bandicoot and common long-nosed bandicoot, and the southern brown bandicoot, which is not doing quite so well, but is still about in reasonable numbers from Sydney and south into Victoria and South Australia,” he said.

A small round hole in a sandy dirt.
A bandicoot hole at a Dunbogan nature reserve.(Supplied: Suzanne Siossian)

“Those species are exceptional because bandicoots, as a group, have done exceptionally poorly over the past couple of hundred years, with many species pushed to extinction.”

While not everyone enjoys having bandicoots in their backyard, Mr Marshall said they did a great job removing pests and turning the soil, helping plants regenerate.

“The bandicoots are digging up other grubs and insects, which would otherwise be damaging my garden,” he said.

“They leave the little conical holes and piles of dirt as a reminder they are there but, at the same time, the ground is pretty healthy.

“I’m happy to have bandicoots in my garden.”

dunbogan nature reserve
Bandicoots are often spotted at this Dunbogan nature reserve and experts say they help keep the vegetation healthy.(Supplied: Suzanne Siossian)

.

Categories
Australia

Experts say the net zero concept is often used to delay taking action against emissions

Two fire fires walk around a california wildfire as they undertake backburning

As large parts of Europe and North America swelter and then ignite, a future of endless climate destruction seems inevitable.

In Australia, we’ve already felt the flames and know we will again.

And many other places now find themselves stuck in an ecocidal tennis match, bouncing from one extreme to another, from devastating fires to heartbreaking floods.

A satellite view of the Australian continent and a reddish plume flowing over the ocean from the east coast
The Black Summer bushfires sent tons of ash and smoke into the atmosphere.(Supplied: CSIRO/Richard Matear)

There’s a growing consensus on the urgent need to bring down carbon emissions, and the global rallying cry is net zero. This isn’t just a climate target, it’s become a badge of commitment.

There’s also a realization that it won’t be easy.

“Transitioning to a net zero world is one of the greatest challenges humankind has faced,” the United Nations declares on its Climate Action website, urging a “complete transformation of how we produce, consume and move about.”

But a schism has emerged among the faithful, with major environmental groups and several leading climate experts now washing their hands of the net zero concept.

Their warning is blunt: the methods and technologies we’ve adopted to reverse global warming simply won’t work.

Worse still, they could do more harm than good.

hijacked for profit

One way that countries have sought to achieve their net zero ambitions is by setting up a carbon market to allow heavy-polluting industries to offset their emissions by buying carbon credits.

The money generated is then channeled into activities that help the environment, like growing more trees, for instance.

Carbon markets are still in their infancy, but the former Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney – who’s now a UN Climate Envoy – believes they have a significant future role to play.

.

Categories
Australia

Rural ecovillage harvests timber from nearby forest, with houses made from recycled materials

A man standing in a garden, with a mudbrick house in background

In the Fryers Forest, around 50 kilometers south of Bendigo, one group of residents isn’t feeling the rising cost of living as hard as most.

Hamish MacCallum is one of 30 people who live in a rural ecovillage, nestled in the forest in Fryerstown.

Standing in the kitchen of the house he built himself, he proudly explains the kitchen bench was a cypress tree that fell on a local farmer’s property during last year’s storms.

“[It’s about] taking a waste product, a fallen down tree, and turning it into something beautiful,” he says.

“The whole kitchen is recycled.

A man standing in kitchen, kitchen made from timber
A lot of the kitchen cupboards came from someone else’s kitchen.(ABC Central Victoria: Shannon Schubert )

“All the cupboards and drawers, everything came from other kitchens that had been pulled out.”

There’s no heater inside, with the firewood stove in the kitchen emitting more than enough heat to warm the house.

“That’s only been running now for about half an hour,” Mr MacCallum says at 10am.

“It’s generating our hot water and providing us with an oven and a stovetop for cooking on as well.”

A man putting firewood into an oven
Powered by firewood, the house’s stove and oven generates hot water and cooks the family’s meals.(ABC Central Victoria: Shannon Schubert)

Mr MacCallum estimates his power bills are a third of the price of the average family’s electricity bills.

“I’m spending $150 on electricity for three months for the two households,” he says.

“It’s $100 a year for the gas bill.”

The bushfire management consultant and landscape designer put a huge amount of thought into designing and creating the house, with insulation and solar passive design a main priority.

“With a solar passive design, it’s using the sun to heat or cool the house by including or excluding it at particular times of year,” he says.

What looks like a cabin, with wood and roof of foyer room made from wood
The entrance to the houses, also a mudroom, was made from recycled wood, including old furniture.(ABC Central Victoria: Shannon Schubert)

Timber from surrounding forest

Mr MacCallum has become an expert at reusing and recycling.

The house is made from 50 per cent recycled and reused materials, most of which were locally sourced.

On the verandah, two pieces of wooden ‘bush poles’ were eleven trees on this block of land.

A photo of the front door
The two wooden poles were trees on this block of land, which used to be a quarry.(ABC Central Victoria: Shannon Schubert)

Other pieces of wood were collected and stored from unexpected places.

“A lot of the timber came from a timber furniture maker who decided to give up his profession and sell it all on,” he says.

In the Fryers Forest eco-village, residents do forestry work, harvesting timber from the forest around them.

“Our expense is the time we spend collecting the wood from the forest, when we’ve done some tree thinning,” Mr MacCallum says.

A picture of the middle wall of the house, which is mud brick, bordered by wood from trees
The mud brick wall, made from milled timber from the site, collects heat in winter and cool air in summer.(ABC Central Victoria: Shannon Schubert)

“Always when we’re doing forestry, we get the highest value out of the timber as possible.

“Each season, we cut enough to provide the whole village with enough firewood to last them a season.

“The firewood [for the stove] is just a good solid day’s labor and a few days of forestry [work].”

A photo of a wooden frame of a house, when straw was being added as insulation
Some of the materials used for insulation include straw and wool.(Supplied: Hamish MacCallum )

Mr MacCallum refers to the concrete floor as a ‘thermal mass’ which holds the heat and keeps the house warm in winter and cool during summer.

In the middle of the house, a mud brick wall has the same function.

“It stores the cool over the summer and the heat over the winter and then releases it back into the household so you can wake up in the morning without any heating and the house will still be warm,” he says.

“The eaves that overhang the north side of the house, where most of the windows are, stop the sun coming into the house.”

Sharing food eliminates waste

Mr MacCallum’s family shares the house with another family, with two separate living quarters under the one roof.

Their efforts to live sustainably, with as little waste as possible, mean sharing a bathroom, laundry and food.

“A part of our strategy is to buy in bulk foods and to store in a big freezer,” he says.

“I might go hunting and harvest a lot of meat and then store the meat, the fat and the bones … make bone broth or render the fat down into lard or tallow and use that for cooking.”

A man watering a conservatory garden with a hose.
The conservatory stays hot and is able to mimic a tropical climate, for optimal growth conditions.(ABC Central Victoria: Shannon Schubert)

He’s also committed to growing his own fruit and vegetables.

“80 per cent of our fruit and veg can come from [the garden] here,” he says.

But recently Mr MacCallum has been sourcing more of his produce from his local market, rather than his own garden.

“I help him [the seller] pack up and we get to take home a whole heap of fruit and vegetables,” he says.

“Sometimes that means that I’ve got to spend hours or preserving that produce.

“[Sometimes] that’s a few months’ worth of passata bottled and stored in an afternoon.”

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
Hamish MacCallum has built his house using 50 percent second hand materials(ABC Central Victoria: Shannon Schubert)

Built to withstand bushfire

Mr MacCallum has spent years teaching others how to retrofit their houses for bushfire safety, so it was always going to be front of mind in designing and building his own eco-friendly house.

“I wanted to demonstrate how landscapes can reduce bushfire risk and be productive at the same time and beautiful at the same time as well,” he says.

Everything in his yard was planted for bushfire mitigation.

Fruit trees border his backyard, providing a heat shield against the fire front.

“The fruit tree hedge, also protected by the stone wall from radiant heat, acts as a heat and ember filter, as well as wind protection for the fruit and vegetable garden,” he says.

It may have taken years to build, and countless tutorials and tradesmen to help him learn new skills, but Mr MacCallum was never going to shy away from the challenge of living as sustainably and efficiently as possible.

“I wanted to take a piece of degraded land and turn it back into something beautiful and productive,” he says.

.

Categories
Business

Potential curb on Australian LNG exports is another blow to Asia-Pacific gas markets

Potential curb on Australian LNG exports is another blow to Asia-Pacific gas markets

The Asia-Pacific gas market has suffered another blow after major natural gas producer Australia signaled it could potentially cut down liquified natural gas exports as the region battles tight gas supplies, high prices and competition from gas-short European buyers.

Australia is looking to trim its overseas sales in favor of domestic consumption ahead of a projected shortfall in local supplies next year

As energy protectionism takes hold globally, last week, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission called on Canberra to protect domestic gas supplies and curb LNG — cooled natural gas — exports after projecting the east coast of the country could face a shortfall of 56 petajoules of gas next year.

For months, the Asia-Pacific region has faced competition for fuel from European buyers looking to replace restricted Russian gas.

These European countries, in scrambling for LNG to mitigate a shortage of pipeline gas ahead of the northern winter, have outbidden some less developed Asian countries.

“To protect energy security on the east coast we are recommending the Resources Minister initiate the first step of the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism (ADGSM),” ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said last week.

“We are also strongly encouraging LNG exporters to immediately increase their supply into the [local] market.”

A liquefied natural gas tanker berth in Japan, on Dec. 17, 2021. Should Japan ever exit the Sakhalin energy projects in Russia and their stakes were acquired by Russia or a third country, this would weaken the effectiveness of Western sanctions and benefit Russia, Japan’s industry minister said on Friday.

Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Most of the gas used on Australia’s east coast is produced by companies that are also LNG exporters to Asia-Pacific and other countries. The ADGSM stops these producers from exporting LNG if there is a shortfall domestically.

While most LNG sales to overseas buyers are made through long-term contracts, Australian LNG producers also sell ad-hoc and non-contracted LNG on the spot market. Countries without the ability to strike competitive long-term contracts are forced to buy them on the spot market.

It is this LNG supply that the ACCC says producers should avoid selling to the overseas market — currently flushed with gas-starved buyers — and save it for local consumers.

Gas lobby group the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association however has assuaged markets, saying despite the ACCC warning, there is more than enough gas next year and that there has never been an actual shortfall previously.

“It’s certainly been the case throughout the existence of the export industry, that there has been a surplus of gas into the domestic market. So we have been able to achieve both. We don’t go for the idea that it is one or the other,” acting chief executive Damian Dwyer told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Tuesday.

“There’s been significant investment into the export industry. And that investment has brought on significant domestic supply. One complements the other.”

But if the mechanism is successfully invoked, new supply and price pressures will be felt by the region’s biggest LNG buyers such as Japan and South Korea as well as newcomers to LNG imports such as the Philippines, analysts say.

LNG prices have soared nearly 80% since before the Ukraine war started in late February, according to the Platts JKM pricing index.

“Since April, there had been no [spot] tend sales from the three major LNG export facilities on Australia’s east coast, indicating that some exports were slowing down,” S&P Global Market Intelligence APAC LNG pricing regional manager Kenneth Foo said.

The Philippines is entering the global LNG market at a time of extreme uncertainty. Global LNG supply is constrained due partly to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and LNG prices continue to hit record highs.

Sam Reynolds

Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis

“The lack of spot availability from East Coast Australia could in turn further tighten LNG supply within the Asia-Pacific region, especially heading into peak winter demand season in the fourth quarter,” Foo said.

Developing Asian countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan have had to bow out of buying LNG on the spot market, Sam Reynolds, an analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, said.

“Inability to procure LNG volumes in these countries has caused fuel shortages and blackouts, pushing countries to the brink of economic collapse,” he said.

The Philippines, a debutant to the LNG import market, will face tough conditions when it tries to import its first ever shipment of LNG, he adds.

Read more about energy from CNBC Pro

“Inability to buy LNG at competitive rates could leave new terminals and LNG-fired power plants unused and stranded,” he said.

Such setbacks may derail the Philippines’ efforts to boost its LNG sector, already suffering from years of setbacks, Reynolds says.

While countries without long-term contracts like the Philippines may suffer, generally the region’s LNG supply is secure.

Proposed cuts are small

The proposed Australian cuts amount to roughly 14 LNG charges. This is a drop in the ocean of contracted charges shipped each month. In July, Australia exported 100 cargoes among over 300 cargoes shipped into Asia, Reynolds says.

“Cuts would only limit exports of LNG that is not sold under long-term contracts. This means that cuts would have minimal effects on buyers like Japan, Korea, and China, which buy 70% to 80% of their LNG via long-term contracts,” Reynolds said.

LNG markets have bigger problems than Australian curbs. Europe’s jostling for Asia-Pacific’s LNG supply remains the biggest threat, Reynolds says.

Consequently, the rise in energy prices globally have contributed to the surging inflation that many central banks are racing to rein in.

.

Categories
US

Here’s how the Inflation Reduction Act’s rebates and tax credits for heat pumps and solar can lower your energy bill

Here's how the Inflation Reduction Act's rebates and tax credits for heat pumps and solar can lower your energy bill

It’s not the prettiest, or even most fulfilling, part of upgrading a home. But more energy-efficient heating, cooling, power and water usage can net savings that really adds up for household budgets and for doing right by the planet.

Congressional action this weekend and into next week looks to return more incentives, mostly via tax credits and rebates, to the pockets of homeowners who opt for energy-efficient choices, replacing fossil-fuel furnaces, boilers, water heaters and stoves with high-efficiency electric options that can be powered by renewable energy.

Read: Senate passes Democrats’ big healthcare, climate and tax package after marathon session

Of course, more of the nation’s electricity grid, currently run on natural gas NG00,
-2.15%,
along with lingering coal, and expanding wind and solar ICLN,
+0.76%,
will have to be powered by renewable energy for home upgrades to be truly green. But, alternatives are rising in use, and home efficiency has long been considered a good place to start.

The bill, a long-fought and greatly-downsized Democrat-crafted spending bill now known as the Inflation Reduction Act, includes rebates or a tax break for qualifying consumers who add efficient heat pumps (which, despite their name, move cold air around too ), rooftop solar, electric HVAC and electric water heaters.

The IRA was passed Sunday in the Senate and now makes its way to the House next week, where it is expected to be approved by a narrow majority for Democrats in that chamber. The Republicans who have opposed the bill have done so based on disagreements, they say, with the level of spending, but also because some support US oil and gas production on the grounds of cost savings and global security. And Democrats did agree to a future look at expediting environmental approvals for fossil fuels and clean energy.

“American families need relief from Democrat policies that attack American energy, send utility bills soaring and drive up prices RB00,

at the pump,” said Sen. Barrasso, a Republican of Wyoming who is a ranking member on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Climate Nexus, an advocacy group, says a survey has shown 67% of voters support providing tax credits and other incentives to homeowners, landlords and businesses to purchase appliances that don’t use fossil fuels (such as electric water heaters, heat pumps, and electric induction cooktops).

What’s in the Inflation Reduction Act for home energy?

The legislation provides for $9 billion in total energy rebates, including the $4.28 billion High-Efficiency Electric Home Rebate Program, which returns a rebate of up to $8,000 to install heat pumps that can both heat and cool homes, and a rebate up to $1,750 for a heat-pump water heater. Homeowners might also qualify for up to $840 to offset the cost of a heat-pump clothes dryer or an electric stove, such as a high-efficiency induction range.

Read: Gas stoves targeted as US congressman alleges consumer watchdog has sat on decades of worrisome health data

and: More and more right-leaning Americans worry about climate change, but aren’t ready to give up gas stoves

Many homes will need their electrical panels upgraded before getting new appliances, and the program offers up to a $4,000 rebate toward that initial step.

“A household with an efficient electric heat pump for space heating and cooling, a heat pump water heater, one electric vehicle and solar panels would save $1,800 a year,” says Jamal Lewis and team, writing a brief on the legislation for the organization Rewiring America.

“These savings will be reflected in lower monthly energy bills, reduced bill
volatility and a lessening of disproportionately high energy burdens within disadvantaged communities,” Lewis said. “Importantly, these savings add up — so much so that if a household invests their energy bill savings from electrifying their home appliances, these savings will grow to over $30,000 after 10 years and $140,000 after 25 years (assuming an 8% annual return). ”

There are also funds in the IRA to be claimed for smaller actions: a rebate of up to $1,600 to insulate and seal a house, and a rebate of up to $2,500 for improvements to electrical wiring.

The program, to be administered at the state level, will run through Sept. 30, 2031, and homeowners would be able to collect a maximum of $14,000 in total rebates. To qualify, household income cannot exceed 150% of the area median income.

For homeowners who do not qualify for the rebates, the IRA provides for a tax credit of up to $2,000 to install heat pumps. And, installing an induction stove or new windows and doors, for example, qualifies for tax credits up to $1,200 a year.

What are heat pumps exactly?

Electric heat pumps, which replace a furnace, for instance, are energy efficient because they don’t create heat by burning fuels but rather move it (during the heating season) from cold outdoors to warm indoors. The downsides can include upfront costs and their suitability for all regions.

Still, over its lifetime, electric heat pumps generally offer the cheapest way to cleanly heat and cool single-family homes in all but the coldest parts of the US in coming decades, according to recent research from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). In very cold places, the analysis finds, electric heat pumps with an alternative fuel backup for frigid periods minimize costs.

“Our findings are good news for consumers and for the climate. Electric heat pumps, which heat and cool, are the cheapest clean heating option for many houses, especially now that we have cold-climate models,” says Steven Nadel, report coauthor and ACEEE’s executive director.

Cold-climate models, an advance in the technology, operate efficiently at temperatures as low as 5°F. Their energy costs, however, are minimized if an alternative fuel backup kicks in when it gets colder than 5°F for long periods.

EPA Energy Star program

EPA Energy Star program

The analysis finds that higher-income households are more likely to minimize costs with electric heat pumps, because they have newer—and more likely, single-family—homes with air-conditioning and improved energy efficiency.

The group backs congressional help for low- and moderate-income households, whose homes are often the most difficult to decarbonize. Notably, ACEEE calls for help to reduce the costs of ductless electric mini-split heat pumps in multifamily buildings.

And what about solar?

The legislation revives a 30% tax credit for installing residential solar panels and extends the program until Dec. 31, 2034.

The tax credit would decline to 26% for solar panels put into service after Dec. 31, 2032 and before Jan. 1, 2034.

What’s more, homeowners who install solar battery systems with at least three kilowatt-hours of capacity would also qualify for the tax credit.

The heating-and-cooling provisions are in addition to tax credits of up to $7,500 for the purchase of a new electric vehicle TSLA,
-6.63%

F,
-0.46%
and $4,000 for lower- and middle-income families who purchase a used EV. Early versions of this spending bill included help for e-bikes, but they are excluded in the final. Read more about those EV incentives.

Other programs

Homeowners can look beyond federal programs.

Safak Yucel, assistant professor of operations management at Georgetown University, who studies government policies relating to renewable energy and carbon emissions, said legislative uncertainty given the long slog to get this bill passed, and the risk that executive action is challenged in the courts, means that state and city incentives, and those offered by utilities, may make homeowners more assured.

“A lot of state governments, a lot of cities, they offer quite lucrative deals,” he said. “When it comes to rooftop solar, for example, Massachusetts comes to mind, which is not necessarily the sunniest of states, right, but they have quite a significant adoption of rooftop solar panels thanks to these state-level policies. I think as consumers look forward, they are more likely to see even broader involvement from state governments.”

Website EcoWatch, for instance, allows users to search by zip zode and ranks solar-friendly states.

Will incentives nudge consumer buy-in?

Broadly speaking, the new bill is meant to return more green technology manufacturing back to the US by tagging $60 billion to accelerate domestic production of solar panels, wind turbines and batteries, as well as support the critical minerals processing that are a must-have for the batteries that power EVs and help households leverage their solar power.

More domestic production could help alleviate the supply-chain issues that have hobbled markets during the COVID-19 recovery, and it could create more jobs, all of which is seen helping Americans “green up” their homes and businesses at a lower cost historically, bill proposers argue.

Biden has said the US will work to align with most major economies in the world, hitting net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and at least halving current emissions as soon as 2030.

“Electrification will play a crucial role in decarbonizing homes, but the transition will happen slowly as long as inexpensive fossil fuels are widely available,” says Lyla Fadali, an ACEEE senior researcher.

Targeting manufacturing changes can also trickle down to consumers.

“Rather than focusing on whether or not a consumer will buy into the product at this point, what we’re seeing is that the consumers’ hand is sort of going to be pushed over a certain amount of time because so many manufacturers and producers are incentivized to build more solar, more EVs and so on,” said Shannon Christensen, an attorney and a tax and accounting specialist editor with Thomson Reuters Checkpoint, an online research platform.

“When gasoline-powered vehicles came into popularity in the beginning, nobody wanted to switch from their horse and buggy. It took quite some time to get consumers at that time to go over into that new technology. And I think we’re seeing the exact same thing,” Christensen said. “But the technology is getting good enough. And Congress has made it available to lower-income folks and through tax credits. I think that you’re going to see a [demand] shift, and I think it will rise quickly.”

.

Categories
US

More human remains discovered as drought dries Lake Mead

University instructor charged in shooting death of student

LAS VEGAS — More human remains have been found at drought-stricken Lake Mead National Recreation Area east of Las Vegas, authorities said Sunday.

It’s the fourth time since May that remains have been uncovered as Western drought forces the shoreline to retreat at the shrinking Colorado River reservoir behind the Hoover Dam.

National Park Service officials said rangers were called to the reservoir between Nevada and Arizona around 11 am Saturday after skeletal remains were discovered at Swim Beach.

Rangers and a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police dive team went to retrieve the remains.

Park Service officials said the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office will try to determine when and how the person died as investigators review records of missing people.

On May 1, a barrel containing human remains was found near Hemenway Harbor. Police believe the remains were that of a man who died from a gunshot wound and the body was likely dumped in the mid-1970s to early 1980s.

Less than a week later, authorities say human skeletal remains were found at Calville Bay.

More recently, partial human remains were found in the Boulder Beach area on July 25.

Police have speculated that more remains may be discovered as the water level at Lake Mead continues to recede.

The discoveries have prompted about long-unsolved missing person and murder cases dating back decades speculation — to organized crime and the early days of Las Vegas, which is just a 30-minute drive from the lake.

The lake surface has dropped more than 170 feet (52 meters) since the reservoir was full in 1983.

The drop in the lake level comes while a vast majority of peer-reviewed science says the world is warming, mainly because of rising levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Scientists say the US West, including the Colorado River basin, has become warmer and drier in the past 30 years.

.

Categories
Australia

Meet Australia’s oldest little penguin, who has fathered chicks across the country

An aging little penguin.

Just shy of 21 years old, Gordon is the oldest Australian little penguin on record and is still maintaining an active love life despite his age.

Outliving the average life span of his species for more than 14 years, the senior penguin has also been busy safeguarding his species’ declining population.

Gordon’s bloodline runs strong, and he has successfully raised four adult daughters, who have gone on to breed in other colonies around Australia.

His minder at Adelaide Zoo, Amelia Kennett, said that it was no small feat for an animal that usually mates for life.

“He has had quite a number of different partners, which is a little bit unusual for little penguins,” Ms Kennett said.

“Especially because he does have a variety of partners it means he’s not over-represented genetically too much … so he’s done well in that part.”

Despite having arthritis and partial blindness, Gordon continues to amaze, hatching another chick just the other day.

A little penguin in its enclosure.
Gordon is Australia’s oldest little penguin at almost 21 years old, which is about 89 in human years.(ABC News: Ethan Rix)

His keepers are hopeful the new hatchling will pull through.

“He just powers on,” Ms Kennett said.

“As he’s getting older and older, we’re realizing how significant that is and I guess he’s quite a special one in the group.”

Gordon is one of 14 little penguins at Adelaide Zoo.

With only half of little penguins surviving past their first year and the continuous loss of habitat, small populations like this one help ensure the existence of the species.

“By having a breeding population in captivity, it means we’ve got a little bit of a backup just in case things go south out in the wild,” Ms Kennett said.

A woman with glasses and khaki uniform in the zoo
Zookeeper Amelia Kennett says Gordon has fathered many children.(ABC News: Che Chorley)

Parenting is a fifty-fifty job between little penguins, with the mother and father usually splitting feeding shifts between morning and night.

But with more parenting experience than any other, Gordon has learned to pick up the slack.

“For Gordon, if his mate is letting down the relationship a bit, he’ll definitely step up and sometimes he’ll do both feeds in a day,” she said.

Since arriving from Sydney’s Taronga Zoo two decades ago, Gordon has become a beloved character at Adelaide Zoo.

“They all have their unique personalities and attributes but Gordon is certainly one that stands out,” Gordon’s keeper chuckled.

“He’s very routine based … which I guess comes with his age.”

Gordon’s nest is fittingly placed at the highest point of the enclosure, overlooking the pond and his penguin mates.

“We moved his nest box once and he was very determined that we never move it again,” Ms Kennett said.

A little penguin in a zoo enclosure.
Gordon is popular with visitors at Adelaide Zoo.(Supplied: Zoos SA)

With an eagerness like his, the only sign of Gordon’s age comes from his name, which was inspired by a brand of gin.

“We did have a number of birds named after alcohol, that has since been changed,” his minder said.

“We do have a theme with names every year and way back then that’s what that was.”

Gordon currently sees an eye doctor once a year and occasionally takes pain medication but overall Ms Kennett said he was fit and healthy.

“He is more than comfortable at the moment but we keep a close eye on him,” she said.

.

Categories
US

Parliamentarian weakens Democrats’ drug plan in Inflation Reduction Act, as Senate prepares to vote

Parliamentarian weakens Democrats' drug plan in Inflation Reduction Act, as Senate prepares to vote

The Senate parliamentarian on Saturday dealt a blow to Democrats’ plan for curbing drug prices but left the rest of their sprawling economic bill largely intact as party leaders prepared for the first votes on a package containing many of President Joe Biden’s top domestic goals.

Elizabeth MacDonough, the chamber’s nonpartisan rules arbitrator, said lawmakers must remove language imposing hefty penalties on drugmakers that increase their prices beyond inflation in the private insurance market. Those were the bill’s chief pricing protections for the roughly 180 million people whose health coverage comes from private insurance, either through work or bought on their own.

Other major provisions were left intact, including giving Medicare the power to negotiate what it pays for pharmaceuticals for its 64 million elderly recipients, a longtime goal for Democrats. Penalties on manufacturers for exceeding inflation would apply to drugs sold to Medicare, and there is a $2,000 annual out-of-pocket cap on drug costs and free vaccines for Medicare beneficiaries.

Her rulings came as Democrats planned to begin Senate votes Saturday on their wide-ranging package addressing climate change, energy, health care costs, taxes and even deficit reduction. Party leaders have said they believe they have the unity they will need to move the legislation through the 50-50 Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris expected to cast votes to break ties, since all of the Republicans are expected to oppose the bill.

“This is a major win for the American people,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., said of the bill, which both parties are using in their election-year campaigns to assign blame for the worst period of inflation in four decades.

“At a time of seemingly impenetrable gridlock, the inflation reduction act will show the American people that when the moment demands it, Congress is still capable of taking big steps to solve big challenges,” Schumer said. “We will show the American people that, yes, we are capable of passing a historic climate package and rein in drug companies and make our tax code fairer.”

In response, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Democrats “are misreading the American people’s outrage as a mandate for yet another reckless taxing and spending spree.” He said Democrats “have already robbed American families once through inflation and now their solution is to rob American families yet a second time.”

Dropping penalties on drugmakers reduces incentives on pharmaceutical companies to restrain what they charge, increasing costs for patients.

Erasing that language will cut the $288 billion in 10-year savings that the Democrats’ overall drug curbs were estimated to generate — a reduction of perhaps tens of billions of dollars, analysts have said.

Schumer said MacDonough’s decision about the price cap for private insurance was “one unfortunate ruling.” But he said the surviving drug pricing language represented “a major victory for the American people” and that the overall bill “remains largely intact.”

The ruling followed a 10-day period that saw Democrats resurrect top components of Biden’s agenda that had seemed dead. In rapid-fire deals with Democrats’ two most unpredictable senators — first conservative Joe Manchin of West Virginia, then Arizona centrist Kyrsten Sinema — Schumer pieced together a broad package that, while a fraction of earlier, larger versions that Manchin derailed, would give the party an achievement against the backdrop of this fall’s congressional elections.

The parliamentarian also signed off on a fee on excess emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas contributor, from oil and gas drilling. She also let stand environmental grants to minority communities and other initiatives for reducing carbon emissions, said Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Thomas Carper, D-Del.

She approved a provision requiring union-scale wages to be paid if energy efficiency projects are to qualify for tax credits, and another that would limit electric vehicle tax credits to those cars and trucks assembled in the United States.

The overall measure faces unanimous Republican opposition. But assuming Democrats fight off a nonstop “vote-a-rama” of amendments — many designed by Republicans to derail the measure — they should be able to muscle the measure through the Senate.

The House is returning Friday to vote on the bill.

“What will vote-a-rama be like. It will be like hell,” Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, said Friday of the approaching GOP amendments. He said that in supporting the Democratic bill, Manchin and Sinema “are empowering legislation that will make the average person’s life more difficult” by forcing up energy costs with tax increases and making it harder for companies to hire workers.

The bill offers spending and tax incentives for moving toward cleaner fuels and supporting coal with assistance for reducing carbon emissions. Expiring subsidies that help millions of people afford private insurance premiums would be extended for three years, and there is $4 billion to help Western states combat drought.

There would be a new 15% minimum tax on some corporations that earn over $1 billion annually but pay far less than the current 21% corporate tax. There would also be a 1% tax on companies that buy back their own stock, swapped in after Sinema refused to support higher taxes on private equity firm executives and hedge fund managers. The IRS budget would be pumped up to strengthen its tax collections.

While the bill’s final costs are still being determined, it overall would spend more than $300 billion over 10 years to slow climate change, which analysts say would be the country’s largest investment in that effort, and billions more on health care. It would raise more than $700 billion in taxes and from government drug cost savings, leaving about $300 billion for deficit reduction — a modest bite out of projected 10-year shortfalls of many trillions of dollars.

Democrats are using special procedures that would let them pass the measure without having to reach the 60-vote majority that legislation often needs in the Senate.

It is the parliamentarian’s job to decide whether parts of legislation must be dropped for violating those rules, which include a requirement that provisions be chiefly aimed at affecting the federal budget, not imposing new policy.

.

Categories
Australia

Critically-endangered Capricorn yellow chat given a fighting chance by graziers’ soft touch

Little yellow bird standing on a blade of grass

Central Queensland’s Shoalwater Bay may be better known as a military training ground for human conflict, but nearby graziers and conservationists are fighting for the survival of a unique species.

The Capricorn yellow chat is a critically endangered flycatcher unique to the region including near the bay better known for military training and war games involving soldiers from across the world.

Birdlife Capricornia secretary Allan Briggs said the endangered species survives in a flat environment which is also attractive for cattle grazing.

“Wherever we find them they are in what we call a marine plain environment which is basically a treeless environment, that’s right on the [coastal] edge and experiences some tidal flooding,” he said.

“That’s one of the reasons why people don’t see yellow chats, because they’re in very harsh environments and they’re difficult to access.”

Flat, green land with small lakes.
Marine plains are treeless, flood plain country with some tidal inundation.(Supplied: Craig Mace)

Grazier Craig Mace lives at Toorilla Plains and has about 4,000 hectares of marine plains on his property.

Rather than seeing it as lost productivity he said preserving the yellow chat habitat as a healthy environment benefited his business.

“If you look after the environment it looks after you, and the birds, that’s the environment they love,” he said.

“It’s just an aviary for birds and waterbirds. There’s plenty of them out there at the moment.”

He said that his cattle and the natural ecosystem worked effectively side by side.

“The birds just fit in with the cattle,” he said.

“I think the cattle keep the grass down to a degree and you just have to make sure you don’t overgraze the country.”

Cattle in water.
In the event of heavy rainfall graziers have to muster cattle from marine plains to higher ground.(Supplied: Lawson Geddes)

Down the road, Lawson Geddes also has marine plains on his property Couti-Outi.

He said it was a simple question of healthy environment, healthy cattle.

“They’re all animals,” he said.

“I think it’s all part of the environment isn’t it? They’re all a part of the ecosystem and I think they seem to get along quite well.”

The habitat has been working so well that Mr Geddes was surprised to hear the bird was endangered at all.

“Until a few years ago I didn’t know they were endangered,” he said.

“An environmentalist came back very excited one day because he’d found a bird that, apparently, they thought was extinct elsewhere.

“He showed us a photo and it was this yellow chat and we just said ‘Oh, we see that all the time’.”

Bird on the brink

Mr Briggs said the population of yellow chats is on a knife edge and any loss of population or habitat could have a detrimental impact.

“There’s only 250 left in the wild,” he said.

“That means the bird is critically endangered and you can well imagine if we had a major environmental event, like a cyclone or a huge fire that went through, we could end up reducing the population to a level that is not viable and it would end up going extinct.”

Mr Briggs said it made the landowners’ management of marine plains critical to the survival of the species.

“These land managers do a really great job,” he said.

“There’s, for example, invasive weed species and ferals which affect the yellow chat’s habitat and the landowners, the graziers, are keeping these problems under control.

A windmill, cattle, and flat plain.
Craig Mace said his cattle have lived alongside endangered Capricorn yellow chats for years. (Rural ABC: Pat Heagney)

“The cattle as well, they graze the grass and weeds down to a manageable level so they are effectively controlling the fire risk.

“Without them there is no management, and I don’t think the habitat would last very long if it was just left to be in its wild condition.”

Conservation cooperation

Mr Geddes said their work with the Capricorn yellow chat was an example of farmers working with the land, and that agriculture and the natural environment can co-exist.

“This bird has been here as long as I can remember, the cattle don’t worry about it at all,” he said.

“You can see the cows lying down and the bird on its back just going around doing its thing.”

A very green pasture.
Graziers say marine plains are home to a unique ecosystem and cattle feed almost all year round.(Supplied: Craig Mace)

Mr Mace agreed and said it was rewarding to challenge the negative perceptions of agriculture, but they needed to showcase more examples.

“I think the only thing you can do is to get people out and look at it,” he said.

“You can tell people all you like but they have to see it for themselves.

“That’s why we have a lot of environmental groups that come out and survey the place and count the birds”

Mr Briggs said that without the cooperation and management of the graziers it would be a very different story for the Capricorn yellow chat.

“I do want to congratulate the landowners that we’ve been working with,” he said.

“It’s a really delicate balance in these complex environmental scenarios and it really needs the cooperation of everybody — land managers, conservationists — all working together to maintain that population into the future.”

.