Past week in Australian climate and nuclear news

COP 25 – a chance to avoid catastrophic climate change. Not a lot happened in the first week of the COP25 climate talks in Madrid.  Dr Katharine Hayhoe on The Bible and Climate Change. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpjL_otLq6Y&feature=emb_title  Disasters fuelled by climate change are the top driver of human displacement.

A bit of good news – Renewable cities arising around the world. or  listen on You tube

AUSTRALIA

BUSHFIRES and CLIMATE CHANGE. Australia on fire. Scott Morrison under fire over bushfire emergency. UN climate talks: what’s on the agenda in Madrid and what it means for Australia. COP25, and Australia’s position at the Madrid climate talks. Australia is copping it at COP25 – and rightly so. Australia slammed for using First Nations people to try and dodge climate bill.

Australian govt’s dodgy climate accounting tricks to be tested in Madrid. Energy Minister Angus Taylor escapes the House and heads for Madrid, where more fact checkers await. Australia burns, as government leaders choose not to discuss this. Fire? What fire? It’s business as usual in Morrison’s Canberra bubble.

Hypocrisy of Australian Labor Party on climate change. Peter Garrett urges Labor to reconnect with environmental movement, warns ‘true believers are dying’. To National Party members. “Climate Change” is real, not “dirty words”.

Morrison sponsored report says reef tourism may be virtually wiped out by climate change .  Australia warned on climate refugees .

NUCLEAR. Community of small rural town Kimba “blown apart” by nuclear waste dump plan.  Money, Money, Money, or perhaps not. Plan to dump nuclear waste in the Flinders Ranges.  Dr Jim Green busts ANSTO’s spin about nuclear wastes.

Federal Nuclear Inquiry Report expected this week.

Traditional Aboriginal owners will not give up fight against planned WA uranium mine, despite legal loss.

BHP’s Olympic Dam expansion plan deserves serious scrutiny. BHP’s plan to take yet more water for huge copper-uranium mine.

ENVIRONMENT Investigative journalism – Victoria’s chemical waste scandal.  Australia – water ownership and the politics of water.  Environment is downgraded, as Morrison merges government departments.  Morrison carves up environment and energy, praises Angus Taylor for waving big stick.

RENEWABLE ENERGY.

Coalition said 50% renewables would wreck the economy. Now their modest climate targets depend on it. Australia’s biggest businesses could deliver “a Yallourn” of new wind and solar. Huge influx of solar will reduce risk of power outages this summer, says AEMO

How Australia’s rooftop solar boom can be good news for the grid. Electricity prices set to plummet as strong wind and solar investment kicks in.  NSW installs record 60MW of rooftop solar in November.   NCH Launches built-for-purpose solar Panel cleaner for harsh Australian conditions.  Cattle Hill wind farm starts sending power to the grid in Tasmania .

INTERNATIONAL

Water shortages to hit 1.9 billion people as glaciers melt.

Research shows that Climate models have correctly predicted global heating. UN chief praises youth leadership on climate action, deplores government inaction.  Coal power becoming ‘uninsurable’ as firms refuse cover.

9 climate tipping points pushing Earth to the point of no return.

Bacteria to consume CO2 – a climate change solution?

ANTARCTICA. .Antarctic ice sheets could be at greater risk of melting than previously thought.

JAPAN.  The status of Japan’s nuclear policy and future prospects.  ‘ Scorpion‘ robot mission inside Fukushima reactor aborted.  Fukushima nuclear debris removal to begin in 2021.    High-level radiation hot spots found at J-Village, the starting point of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay.  Korea to bring food, check for radiation at Tokyo Games.

EUROPE. Nuclear power headed to be excluded from EU green finance scheme. European report: don’t sacrifice the planet’s ecology in the drive for economic growth.  Technical fault shuts down Belgian nuclear reactor.

FRANCE. France’s nuclear industry in dire straits.  Another shutdown at French nuclear power station Golfech.

ISRAEL. Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz suggests bombing Iran to stop its nuclear program.

IRAN. Britain, France and Germany press Iran over its ballistic missile program. Rafael Mariano Grossi, new UN nuclear agency chief, states he will be“firm and fair” stance on Iran.

UK . UK election. Nuclear power is a hot topic in Wales.      Significant obstacles to Rolls Royce’s fantasy of “clean” nuclear-supplied jet fuel.  Need for scrutiny of troubled Hunterston nuclear reactor before restarting it.

IRAQ. First the U.S. invaded Iraq — then left it poisoned .

CANADA. Ontario’s First Nations to vote on nuclear waste plan near Lake Huron. To store Canada’s nuclear wastes close to Lake Huron – the worst of the worst.  Small Modular Nuclear Reactors – many pitfalls, including security risks.

USA.

• Chaos ahead in international relations due to Trump’s chaotic nuclear weapons policies.  U.S. election – views of Presidential candidates about nuclear weapons.
•  Investigative journalism – Paducah, Kentucky – its nuclear waste tragedy is compounded by climate change.
• Magical thinking of the nuclear lobby as it jumps on the Green New Deal bandwagon.
• NRC Approves Transfer of Nuclear Plant Operating Licenses From FirstEnergy Solutions to Energy Harbor.
• The Santa Susana nuclear waste scandal.
• It’s time to reset US nuclear waste policy.
• Pentagon to get more control over the news? Is this a GOOD idea?

ARCTIC. Floating small nuclear reactors bring serious risks.