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News for February, 2026

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Hello once more for your roundup of environmental news for the past month. While I had hoped to be able to adopt a more optimistic tone this year, it seems the worst continue to be too full of passionate intensity for that. Nevertheless, the good do possess some conviction. This is  particularly true in the energy sector, where the momentum toward renewable energy is in full swing. Being a glutton for organisational punishment, I have added yet another section to cover health articles that appeared this month. Not all it relates to what RFK Jr is doing. Environment A newly discovered coral reef that appears to be thriving (from Jan Pope via ABC)  The Ugly Using the current turmoil in the Liberal Party, and the time honoured tactic of a Friday afternoon, the Albanese Government snuck out a raft of reports and announcements that they deemed to be potentially unpopular. These days, this tactic does get noticed, so it isn't even clever any more.  Anyway, here's what the Alb...
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News for January, 2026

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Hello, and welcome to the first roundup of environmental news for 2026. I think a theme that should be pushed this year is recovery and restoration. True: there is much news that belittles the idea (as you will see below). Nevertheless, the notion is underscored by: the recent enactment of the UN High Seas Treaty, by which 60+ signatory countries pledge to provide biodiversity protections to 30% of the ocean and shorelines by 2030.*, the level of renewable uptake that is beginning to meet and exceed fossil fuel capacity, and despite the best efforts of a clade of usurping tyrants, the rule of law and the will of the people is still hanging on. Despite massive depredation, the oceans are remarkably resilient, if they are given time to recover  
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News for November, 2025

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Welcome to some environmental news for November. As usual, it is just a fraction of the environmental news available. If you want to start seeing what I've missed or left out, I have added a list of common articles sources to the left hand margin. Environment The news of the moment is that Australia's revised environment laws have been passed. The revisions represent a substantial improvement over the original, closing loopholes in logging, and reducing ministerial interference in project approvals. Nevertheless, there is still a lot of room for improvement, especially in the recognition of climate change being a fundamental driver of environmental degradation. It seems the message got through (- ACF) Reviews of the legislation are required to take place every ten years, so we get to go through all this in 2030! Hopefully, there will be fewer weeds to clear out.  The Ugly A report alerting the NSW Environment Protection Authority to elevated lead levels in children was b...
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News for October, 2025

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  Prolonged dry spells are causing Australian rainforests to flip from carbon sink to source (- Wikimedia) Welcome to another month of a conglomeration of news articles concerning environment and climate issues. This is by no means a complete coverage, by the way. I might start adding some links to my more frequent news sources for you, the occasional reader, to investigate for yourself. In the meantime...  Environment While some nuggets of good environmental news occurred this month, the general trend is gloomy (this might have a bit to do with the Climate news which is, frankly, dire. Mind you, we're not dead yet!)  If the environmental news is getting you down, have a numbat (-dilettante wordpress) The Ugly In approving the operating extension to the NW Shelf gas project to 2070(!), it seems the Environment Minister weakened laws protecting the neighbouring rock art . EPBC reforms are about to be tabled in Parliament , with the usual run of back-room deals intended to ...
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