Australian PM's Next Campaign Is to Secure COP31 Climate Talks
Today's newsletter looks at what the results of the Australian election mean for climate action and the country's bid to host next year's COP. Plus, we explore how a major South Australian power outage in 2016 may offer some guidance for Spain as it responds to a nationwide blackout last week. For unlimited access to climate and energy news, please subscribe.
By David Stringer
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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Controversial $350,000 hunting plan for 16 Aussie parks
A $350,000 government splurge on shooting wild kangaroos roaming in parks surrounding an Australian city has opponents up in arms. They say it's time for the ACT government to get smarter about how it manages the native marsupials, rather than spending up big on bullets. When darkness falls and walkers and picnickers return home from 16 grassy reserves that surround Canberra, shooters will move in. They're contracted to shoot thousands of kangaroos this year to manage what it says are 'environmental, economic and social impacts' caused by 'overpopulation'. 'Leading scientists and land managers with decades of experience in ecology, land management, and kangaroo management have calculated an operational target of 2,981 kangaroos to be removed,' an ACT government spokesperson told Yahoo News. Culling kangaroos so close to a city is a complex operation, meaning the government has to pay for staff overtime, contractors, planning, monitoring and equipment. Gwenda Griffiths from Save Canberra's Kangaroos thinks the money could be better spent on creating overpasses or underpasses. This would mean they aren't hit by cars when they leave the reserves and the grasslands they live on don't become denuded. Since Canberra was established as a city, the reserves where kangaroos live have become surrounded by development, so the only way in or out for animals is via roads. 'It's not rocket science and we're not reinventing the wheel, these overpasses are used successfully elsewhere around the world,' Griffiths told Yahoo News. 'Sure, they're expensive, but they could benefit humans as well.' Doing this would not only reduce the risk of conflict, it would allow kangaroos to naturally traverse the landscape so numbers don't build up in reserves. This short-term expenditure could reduce any ongoing need for yearly culls, freeing up more money in future for important issues like health and education. "We need to stop thinking the only solution is to shoot them. We need to get better at sharing the environment," Griffiths said. Griffiths doesn't believe there should be any need for culls in Australia, and that it's on planners to properly design cities that allow for wildlife movement. "They talk about welfare concerns that when there's a drought, they starve, and when there's a rain they overproduce. But for thousands of years, kangaroos have lived in varying conditions and have regulated their own reproduction," she said. While shooting remains the government's dominant method of control, it has also invested in fertility controls. So far this year, just 18 females have been treated with the GonaCon vaccine, but there are plans to expand its use. 'GonaCon contraceptive vaccine is currently being used at three nature reserves. To reduce population growth, we are aiming to treat between 60 per cent and 80 per cent of the adult females at these sites with GonaCon,' a government spokesperson said. Females only need to be treated once so there aren't ongoing costs with this population control method. 'Most of the GonaCon treatments required at these sites were administered in previous years, so only a low number of additional treatments were required this year to maintain the desired number of infertile females in these populations,' the government said. The government's use of the carcasses also remains controversial, because it's a rare jurisdiction where there isn't commercial harvesting of their meat and skins. While some bodies are given to Traditional Custodians for cultural use, and some are used in baits to kill native dingos and invasive foxes, the majority are disposed of. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
Hamilton Spectator
2 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Hundreds kept out of meeting on controversial Crownest Pass coal mine
The Premier's Coal Town Hall event held on Wednesday evening at the Fort Macleod and District Community Hall was described as 'a gong show' by many in attendance, with several being left outside, including the media. Hundreds of people lined up down the street hours before the doors opened, many of them protesting the new coal policy the province recently approved that will potentially allow an Australian company to open a mine on Grassy Mountain in the Crowsnest Pass. Prior to the event, musician Corb Lund, who has been very vocal against the coal policy since it first surfaced in 2020, said he was tired of having to continue protesting. 'It's annoying to be fighting the same exact coal mine that the provincial government and the federal government and the courts turned down a number of times already,' said the award-winning country music artist. 'But here we are.' While many were vocally opposed to the coal policy, there were some supporters in attendance. Bonnie Castellarin, a founding member of Citizen's Supportive of Crowsnest Coal in the Crowsnest Pass, was one of the attendees who not only was able to make it inside, but also to vocally share her support of the mine to the premier at the mic. Castellarin said many southern Albertan municipalities, including Lethbridge, Coaldale, Crowsnest Pass as well as many others, were founded on coal. 'I grew up in the Crowsnest Pass, I grew up below a coal mine and I'm nearly 74 years old,' said Castellarin. 'I'm still here and that was back in the day before environmental constraints and things like that.' She added that there would be no chance she would be in support of reopening the Grassy Mountain mine if she thought it was going to have a negative effect on her community. Many community members questioned the government's organization and promotion of the event, as they either found out about it through social media or via the grapevine. 'The only reason I knew about it is because my mom heard from a friend,' said one community member. 'You'd think the premier is coming so close to you, you would know about that.' Lund also commented on the last-minute timing of the event, saying it was typical of the UCP government around the issue of coal. 'Everything the government seems to do around coal is last minute,' Lund pointed out. 'When they make a policy change, it's on a Friday night before a long weekend at five o'clock, I don't know if it's on purpose, but most of the announcements and decisions around this whole issue seem to be very last minute.' Right before the event, media were allowed to participate in a scrum with Premier Danielle Smith behind the community hall, but in plain view of protesters. During the scrum, Smith said she wanted attendees to know that the province intends to extract the coal from Grassy Mountain in the most ethical and responsible way possible. 'I hope what happens this evening is people know we took to the recommendations of the Coal Policy Committee and implementing a new policy, that we are going to be banning any new open pit mines and mountaintop removal, making sure best available technology is used to manage water and where possible, start using some of the new underground mining and techniques to avoid disturbing the surface,' said Smith. She added that coal is necessary to forge steel, which is used in items such as farm equipment, windmills and other renewable resources tools. And since the election of Donald Trump as president of the U.S., Canadians realize they need to be self-sufficient. 'We've got to find new markets,' said Smith. 'We've got to make sure we're developing our resources and we've got to do it in the most responsible way possible, because we're the best at it in the world.' Within a couple of minutes, a handful of vocal protesters had gathered around, kept at a distance by security. Smith then turned to them and asked for them to stop. 'You got interviews without me interrupting your interviews,' she told the crowd. 'I'm just asking for the same courtesy.' Smith then spoke about researching the high selenium levels in the Crowsnest lake and reassuring the public that it's safe for consumption. 'We'll be doing additional follow up research to see if we can find out the reasoning for the bioaccumulation in the fish, but we were encouraged to see the level of selenium in the water is well below what the recommended level is for drinking water standards.' Smith also admitted the reclamation of the former mine at Grassy Mountain should have been handled better when it closed in 1960, adding that if it were to be reopened, the reclamation would be done properly. 'I think we should be concerned that 60 years ago, it was not reclaimed to a standard we would accept today and the company as part of developing the resource would also reclaim the project to a higher standard. I think that would be good for the environment and something we should encourage.' She recommended municipalities against coal mining should follow the Crowsnest Pass's example and hold a referendum on the issue. Following the interview, media were denied access to the meeting itself. Organizer said the hall was already at capacity and allowing any more inside would violate fire regulations. Many citizens expressed shock at hearing the media weren't inside covering the meeting. 'That is just absurd to me because it's for everybody, especially the press to cover this meeting and to get as much actual evidence about it as possible,' said one person. 'So the fact that anyone is excluded or not let in or allowed an opportunity to come in and speak shows exactly the intensions of the event.' Another mentioned how the community hall is just two blocks from an ice arena, which has a much higher capacity. There were a couple of people were live-streaming parts of the meeting from inside the hall, and there were many disapproving groans from the crowd following the responses from the panel. After the event, it was clear people on both sides were unhappy with the result. One citizen who was able to go in halfway through the meeting noted that many questions were being redirected rather than answered, which added fuel to the already fiery audience. 'I think a lot of chaos in there came from the fact that people weren't getting their questions answered cut and dried, they weren't getting responses they liked,' the person said. He added that, while he understood there were a lot of people who wanted to have their voice heard, the panel did a poor job of answering the questions. Like many others, he noted how poorly the event had been executed, adding that he believed it was designed to be that way. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Australia awaits American decision on AUKUS nuclear submarine pact
June 12 (UPI) -- Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles announced Thursday he feels that the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal which connects with the United Kingdom and United States, will continue after the Trump administration reviews the pact. "I am very confident this is going to happen," he told ABC News, as he believes AUKUS is of strategic interest to all three nations. The Pentagon has expressed that the 2021 deal is being reassessed to make sure it's a fit with President Donald Trump's "America First" agenda before he meets with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the G7 summit taking place in Canada next week. U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also had met with Marles, who is also Australia's Minister for Defense, earlier this month and recommended Australia increase its defense spending to 3.5 percent of its GDP. Albanese said in a press conference Tuesday that he thinks "that Australia should decide what we spend on Australia's defense" when asked about a defense spending boost, while not directly addressing if he would risk losing the AUKUS deal over that decision as questioned. The Pentagon review is being led by U.S. Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby, who in the past has been critical of the deal made under the Biden administration to arm Australia with nuclear subs that use advanced American and British technology. "In principle it's a great idea," Colby posted to X about AUKUS in August of 2024," but added he's "agnostic" about the program. However, Colby also posted that day he was "convinced we should focus on Asia, readying for a war with China" in order to avoid it. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian announced Thursday in a press conference when asked about his nation's opinion on the possibility of an end to AUKUS that China opposes "manufacturing bloc confrontation and anything that amplifies the risk of nuclear proliferation and exacerbates arms race."
