Australia urged to boost clean energy spending

After mammoth commitments to invest in green energy by the US, clean energy advocates are warning this may now see critical resources, investment, and talent drawn to the US unless governments led by the Commonwealth boost their efforts to keep pace.

Climate advocacy groups have raised concerns about the role carbon credits will play in the reshaped "safeguard mechanism", which will be used to force Australia’s 215 biggest industrial emitters to cut their climate pollution. A new report by Climate Analytics has found the proposal “would only serve to enable the continued extraction and burning of fossil fuels”.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) is in discussions with international atmospheric agencies to overhaul how the weather events La Niña and El Niño are defined, after a year of occasional confusion when meteorological agencies released contradictory declarations on the state of the Pacific Ocean.

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Australia urged to boost clean energy spending over claims 'mammoth' US green subsidies bill a threat
Renewable energy developers and operators are warning that Australia's decarbonisation efforts risk being derailed because of "mammoth" green spending plans by the United States. 

Climate groups fear a key government policy to drive down emissions will instead push them up
Climate advocates are insisting changes be made to one of the federal government's key emissions-reduction tools, warning it currently risks perversely allowing emissions to increase.

Bureau of Meteorology considering change to El Niño and La Niña definitions
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Offsetting Beetaloo Basin emissions would require unproven CCS technology, off-limits international credits, CSIRO finds
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Burrup's World Heritage nomination 'inconsistent' with heavy industry, former WA Premier says
Former West Australian premier Carmen Lawrence says a World Heritage nomination for the Burrup Peninsula is "entirely inconsistent" with ongoing industrial development near ancient Aboriginal rock art in the area.

Common kinds of air pollution led to changes in teens’ blood pressure, study says
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Call for clarity on $57b oil and gas ocean clean-up bill
Lurking beyond stellar revenue from war-boosted energy prices, Australia’s offshore oil and gas producers have an outstanding $57 billion-plus decommissioning bill that until recently investors cared little about.

Record flooding in New South Wales wetlands triggers bird breeding bonanza
Mass flooding has rejuvenated wetlands parched by years of drought, triggering a widespread bird breeding event which researchers say are perfect conditions for helping to restore water bird numbers.

Fears for Fitzgerald River National Park native species as bushfire burns UNESCO biosphere
A bushfire has burned more than 4,400 hectares in the UNESCO-listed Fitzgerald River National Park, with local experts saying some species in the park may not be recovering from historic blazes.