Australian carbon tax dead. Or is it?
News
Australia carbon tax repeal ambitions thrown intodisarray
Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s plan to scrap Australia’s tax oncarbon emissions has been thrown into disarray after minority partysenators combined with the Labor opposition to block the levy’srepeal. The legislation to scrap the tax had been widely expectedto pass the upper house on Thursday, but was defeated when senatorsincluding those from the party of Clive Palmer, who had originallypromised to back the repeal of the tax in return for retainingother climate change measures, raised objections.
Climate and energy news
Monsoon rains sharply lower thanaverage
Monsoon rainfall was 41 percent below average for the weekended July 9, the weather office said on its website on Thursday,the fifth straight week of poor rains after a late start to theseason. A poor monsoon season cuts exports, stokes food inflationand leads to lower demand for industries ranging from cars toconsumer goods, while even a slow start can delay exports of somecrops and increase the need for imports.
Carbon import tariffs could torpedo global climatedeal- EU official
European leaders have agreed to decide by October whether toset a 2030 goal to cut carbon emissions as the EU contribution to aglobal pact to tackle climate change, due to be signed in Paris inlate 2015 and take effect from 2020. Last month France suggestedmeasures could be taken against imported goods to ease concernsthat the 2030 goals could threaten heavy industries competing withforeign rivals that might be subject to laxer environmental goals.But Jos Delbeke, director general of the European Commission’sclimate department, said that raising the possibility of importtariffs in the run-up to the global agreement would risk angeringthe bloc’s trading partners.
Safety regulations could be relaxed to keepnuclear power stations open
Britain’s ageing nuclear reactors are close to reaching keysafety thresholds, which will have to be raised to allow them tokeep generating power, according to the Times.
Poland threat to EU 2030 climate ambition -Davey
Poland is “the real challenge” to a European agreement oncarbon cutting targets for 2030, the UK energy secretary haswarned. Speaking to a parliamentary committee, Davey said there ishuge overlap between most EU countries’ energy objectives becausemore renewables will mean greater energy security. But Poland’s useof coal already provides that – so it will be important tounderstand what Poland wants in order to bring the country to thenegotiating table.
Labour: CCS is a necessity, not anoption
Labour yesterday published a detailed policy position paperon the future of the carbon capture and storage (CCS) sector,outlining how it plans to mobilise significant investment in thefledgling industry if it wins the next election. The document,which comes in the same week as the White Rose CCS demonstrationproject in Yorkshire secured 300 million of funding from the EU,accuses the government of failing to deliver sufficient progress onCCS after repeatedly delaying the award of £1 billion indemonstration funding.
UK admits that air quality targets will be missedby 20 years
The air quality in some of the UK’s biggest cities isunlikely to meet EU standards on pollutants that harm respiratoryhealth before 2030, according to the government. Member states weresupposed to meet targets on pollutants from diesel cars and trucksby 2010. But in a civil case brought by air quality activists, theEuropean Court of Justice heard that London, Leeds and Birminghamcould still be above these goals in 2030. The Timesalso has thestory.
Climate and energy comment
Video: New green schemes planned for UKcoastline
Director of the Crown Estate, which manages much of the UK’scoastline, explains that the potential for new coastal energysources like offshore wind and tidal power is huge. The company isco-investing up to £100 million to improve a range of renewableenergy projects across Britain.
Negotiating a cheaper clean energy deal forall
World Trade Organisation delegates are meeting to discusstariffs on environmental goods, such as photovoltaic panels, windturbines, wastewater filters and air pollution scrubbers. Reducingbarriers to trade in environmental goods could see increased accessto affordable and sustainable energy, this article argues, reducingcosts and advancing the scaling up of technologies like wind andsolar power.
New climate science
Polar Bears from Space: Assessing SatelliteImagery as a Tool to Track Arctic Wildlife
A new paper demonstrates how satellite imagery is a promisingtool for monitoring polar bears on land and could be used to assessother Arctic wildlife, where remoteness and logistical constraintshinder traditional ground studies.
Attributing the increase in Northern Hemispherehot summers since the late 20th century
A new paper concludes anomalously high summer temperatures -which have occurred with increasing frequency since the 20thcentury – can continue to become more frequent in the coming decadeeven with the persistent slowdown in surface warming.
Weather does not affect back pain: Results from acase-crossover study
Scientists reveal that sudden, acute episodes of low backpain are not linked to weather conditions such as temperature,humidity, air pressure, wind direction and precipitation. Findingssuggest the risk of low back pain slightly increases with higherwind speed or wind gusts, but was not clinicallysignificant.