The Canopy is a weekday morning email newsletter provided by the team at Greenpeace Australia Pacific.

WA budget  "clean transitions" held back by gas industry

The Western Australian budget has been delivered, with a commitment to a green energy transition away from coal and a new large-scale 500-megawatt battery. Greenpeace Australia Pacific’s Head of Clean Energy Transition Jess Panegyres said that this commitment could mark a historic turning point in Western Australia’s energy transition but warns the gas industry could hold the state back from becoming a green energy leader. 

Meanwhile, the federal government has given the green light to the new Isaac River coal project in Central Queensland in the face of grave environmental concerns it will have a detrimental impact on climate change. 

And, Toyota is being urged by its shareholders to accelerate its transition to electric vehicles. Greenpeace Australia Pacific said it would support the move and called for Toyota to halt efforts to water down Australia’s fuel efficiency standards which the government is taking submissions on this month.

Top stories:

Greenpeace Backs Large Climate Budgets
Greenpeace Australia Pacific has welcomed the Western Australian Government’s Budget investment in coal transition, renewable energy and transmission upgrades, but warned the Government must not let the gas industry undermine progress.

Federal budget 2023: Labor’s tick of approval for coal
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has given the green light for a new coal project to proceed in central Queensland and progressed approvals for a further three after proponents proved they would not have a “substantial” impact on climate change.

Toyota under fire for anti-climate lobbying as protestors storm VW annual meeting
The world’s two largest automakers have been accused of climate wrecking policies by protestors and their own shareholders, and have been urged to accelerate their transition away from fossil fuel vehicles and to provide more transparency around anti-EV lobbying. 

Italian energy company Eni to develop Evans Shoal gas field described as 'carbon bomb'
An Italian energy company has quietly revived plans to develop a new gas field in the Timor Sea which contains some of the most carbon-intensive gas in Australia.

New study suggests Australia’s Black Summer bushfires contributed to rare triple-dip La Niña
Smoke from Australia’s devastating Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20 may have contributed to the onset of a rare triple La Niña responsible for major flooding events of the past few years — a new study published in the journal Science Advances.

Do the PRRT changes in the budget go far enough to fix a 'broken' Petroleum Resource Rent Tax?
Economists and energy experts say the government is short-changing Australians with planned changes to the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) that will only raise an additional $2.4 billion over five years.

Tasmanian Herbarium keeps Eucalyptus regnans from Styx Valley, state's tallest grove of flowering plants
Yoav Daniel Bar-Ness knows he is only a "mega-fire" away from losing clues to Tasmania's past which is why the forest ecologist is creating an archive of specimens of the state's tallest grove of flowering plants, Eucalyptus regnans.

Scientists say WA government's prescribed burns targets have no scientific basis
The WA government's fire management strategies are outdated and damaging to the bushland burned and the surrounding communities, according to a range of scientists, medical experts and Indigenous leaders.  

 

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