Plibersek halts Burrup Peninsula urea plant over threat to ancient rock art as EV bodies urge FES acceleration

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek is considering a temporary halt on the $4.3 billion urea plant on WA’s Burrup Peninsula that traditional First Nations owners say will threaten ancient rock art. 

It comes as more than 500 appeals have been lodged on the Western Australian EPA’s recommendation to extend Woodside’s dirty North West Shelf gas project on the Burrup Peninsula - including many others who have been unable to lodge due to technical errors with the website. 

And the federal government is under pressure to act to increase the uptake of electric vehicles through the introduction of a strong fuel efficiency standard after the ACT became the first state or territory to announce a phase out deadline for fossil fuel-powered cars. 

Plibersek considering request to halt $4.3b Burrup urea project in WA

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek is considering whether to impose a temporary halt on the development of a $4.3 billion WA fertiliser plant that Indigenous leaders say will threaten ancient rock art.

Federal government under pressure to increase EV uptake after ACT announces petrol car ban

Electric vehicle advocates say Australia needs nationally mandated fuel efficiency standards in order to increase the uptake of electric vehicles after the ACT became the first state or territory to announce an end to the sale of petrol cars.

Coalition changes allowing renewable energy agency to fund fossil fuel projects to be scrapped

The Albanese government will scrap changes to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency introduced in the dying days of the Morrison government that would have allowed it to fund some fossil fuel developments.

Green energy backers attack capacity market proposal, saying we 'shouldn't be paying to keep coal and gas'

Clean energy advocates are urging governments to avoid extra payments to coal and gas power stations to ease Australia's energy woes, warning they could derail the move away from fossil fuels.

‘What the hell just happened’: Fires force UK to face climate change future

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s Dave Walton said this week highlighted the challenges the country’s firefighting fleet will face as climate change continues to cause more intense and frequent extreme weather.

Elevated flooding risk lingers over NSW for months to come

NSW has already experienced three major flooding events this year and the wet weather is expected to linger over much of the east coast until November.