Dead whales can cost beachside ratepayers a lot to clean up. The alternative is to tow them away before they wash up - but the legal question of who does the job is far more complex than it sounds.
A coal seam gas field in New South Wales. The independent review concludes health impacts can be regulated; experts say otherwise.
Jeremy Buckingham/Flickr
The long-awaited independent review of coal seam gas (CSG) in New South Wales, released last week by the NSW Chief Scientist, highlighted many risks and uncertainties around human health from exposure…
Under a Greens-PUP deal, the senate inquiry into the Queensland government will investigate coal seam gas approvals granted under the previous Queensland government.
Jeremy Buckingham/Flickr
The Greens have secured a deal with the Palmer United Party (PUP) and Labor that effectively kills the federal government’s plan to hand its environmental approval powers to the states under its “one-stop…
Under federal law, coal seam gas projects must be approved by the environment minister if they could have a significant impact on water.
Jeremy Buckingham/Flickr
The Palmer United Party (PUP) has added to the Coalition’s headaches in the Senate by announcing this week it would seek to remove the so-called “water trigger” from the government’s “one-stop shop” for…
Putting a price on things you can’t even put words to.
Malene Thyssen
Journalist and environmentalist George Monbiot recently wrote a powerful polemic against the concepts of ecosystem services and natural capital, arguing that they were leading us on a neoliberal “road…
Australia has a strategy for abandoned mines - but it needs implementing.
Caveman/Flickr
Wandering around Australia, you might want to watch your step — the country currently has more than 50,000 abandoned mines. Some represent a significant threat from contamination; others may pose safety…
It seems that talk is at last followed by walk.
Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA
As it had already been cancelled once, due to the US government shut-down last October, the latest developments in Iraq made it seem likely the Our Ocean conference, organised by the US State Department…
Multilateralism, so much hot air.
Sebastian Kahnert
As delegates gather once again for climate talks in Bonn, the question has to be asked: after decades of conferences, committees, procedures and protocols, is the multilateral approach to tackling climate…
Part of Shoalwater Bay in Queensland, where the federal government blocked a major new coal port in 2008 over its “clearly unacceptable” environmental impacts".
Daniel E. Smith/Wikimedia Commons
Deep cuts to environmental programs and staff predicted in today’s federal budget aren’t the only “green” cuts that Australians should be concerned about. The federal government is currently holding an…
Could UCG be the best way to clean up coal?
Jeffrey Beall/Flickr
Recent news that a gas project in Queensland has been charged with environmental harm has put the spotlight on underground coal gasification, or UCG. Linc Energy’s Chinchilla project was a pilot UCG project…
Underwater cabinet meetings may soon be all too common.
Mohammed Seeneen/AP
Given that the IPCC now considers that climate change is “unequivocal”, that human influence is “95-100%” likely to be the dominant cause, and that its effects are already being felt around world, it is…
It’s 100 million years since Pangea, and we’re still waiting.
cleanbiz.asia/Cesar Herada
It seems an anomaly that among the 15 autonomous, specialised agencies within the United Nations – such as the FAO, WMO, WHO, or UNESCO – there is no dedicated environmental organisation. This secondary…
Firefighters say they have the Hazelwood mine fire under control, but it’s still expected to burn for some time.
AAP Image/Incident Control Centre hazelwood
The Hazelwood coal mine fire shows that Victoria’s current mining laws are not strong enough to prevent a similar disaster in the future. While the mine’s owner GDF SUEZ has vehemently rejected claims…
Greg Hunt, and all environment ministers past and future, could be protected from legal challenge over mining approvals.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Earlier this month, a Senate inquiry paved the way for the Parliament to give Environment Minister Greg Hunt legal immunity against future legal challenges to his decisions on mining projects. If it passes…
The closed-door policy wins the TPP few friends.
Public Citizen
Jane Kelsey, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
The secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, a free trade agreement being hammered out between twelve countries, has received another broadside from Wikileaks. The third leak in three months, this…
Climate lawyers suggest a clean and healthy future could be paid for with litigation.
EPA/RADEK PIETRUSZKA
Research published last month in the journal Climatic Change may provide an essential building block in proving corporate liability for current and future climate change damage. Researcher Richard Heede…
Veerle Heyvaert, London School of Economics and Political Science
In the days after typhoon Haiyan tore through the Philippines, David Cameron said that such extreme weather demanded that we take steps to prevent and mitigate against climate change. These are encouraging…
It ain’t easy being green, especially when your home’s been turned into (other people’s) houses.
Andrew Milligan/PA
In its report published last week, the UK Parliament’s green watchdog, the Environmental Audit Committee, was far from convinced by the government’s proposed policy of biodiversity offsetting. The committee’s…
England’s green and pleasant land: will biodiversity offsetting help or hinder it?
Gareth Fuller/PA
The idea behind biodiversity offsets is to develop a new way of preserving nature that more accurately accounts for the value to us of the natural world. The abundance and diversity of plants and animals…