News for February: 2025

Welcome to the collection of news articles gathered throughout February. The overriding theme for this month has undoubtedly been the rise of the 'broligarch'. Anyone with a smattering of history will be aware that the chief official of the Italian city states of the fifteenth Century was referred to as the 'Doge', which Elon Musk has appropriated for his canine currency, and 'Department of Government Efficiency'. The efficiency clearly refers to the application of wrecking balls rather than effective running. Many stand appalled. Many are fighting back. Since autocracies have no interest in the fate of the planet, I have added a new section: the Resistance, which may refer to good political initiatives as well as bad.

I hope you find items here interesting, and some nuggets of hope because, in the end, the only thing looking out for us is the rest of us.

Okay, dive in where you like:

Environment:

The Ugly:

• Possibly a case of 'monkey see, monkey do', but over half of countries are not honouring their biodiversity pledges.
• Australia is far from innocent in this. The Albanese Government may have put the long overdue EPBC environment law overhaul into the 'too hard for now' basket, but the damage does not stop. 
• The latest casualty is the Ningaloo Reef off WA, which is experiencing its first coral bleaching event on record.
  

The Bad:

• Life on Earth is a diverse, resilient ecosystem with few single points of failure. One exception is an enzyme involved with photosynthesis, and it doesn't cope well with global warming. Can it be improved on? Is this a good idea?
• The issue of microplastic pollution is becoming increasingly irksome, and it seems Sydney's archaic sewage system is not helping.
  

The Good: 

• While AI is getting a bad rap for various reasons, it does have uses, when applied properly. One example is the analysis of birdsongs leading to the rediscovery of  the Plains Wanderer in Melbourne's western grassland areas.
  
• Do the ground covering panels in solar farms block out other forms of agriculture? Well, the sheep seem to love them. (plenty of other benefits are being found in co-existing as well).
• Farm activities generate a lot of greenhouse gases. Could they be improved by going all electric? Perhaps they could.
  
• As we run out of it, land use is becoming an increasingly hot topic . What if we could obtain our protein needs from a tiny fraction of the land currently needed? Precision fermentation appears to offer that possibility. The drawback? The protein comes from bacteria. Not very appetising, perhaps, but wait! Let George Monbiot explain... 
• When assessing the pros and cons of civic dam projects, and ruminating for years on the complaints of nimby objectors, sometimes nature throws a squad of beavers at the problem.

Climate:

The Ugly:

• Climate change is here. What does that mean? Fires. Floods. Storms. Unlike politicians, actuaries cannot afford to ignore real risks. In the US alone, insurance for over a trillion dollars worth of property is about to become unobtainable.
• That's just the start. Climate shocks may cause the global economy to shrink by 50% between 2070 and 2090. Perhaps it's time to actually do something about it?
• What happens when people can't keep cool by sweating? They die. It may soon become impossible to live in some areas, literally.
  
• Not surprisingly, even without Trump's petty edicts about banned words on websites, climate change is a mental health hazard to researchers.
• All this is enough to make one seek out some comfort food, except chocolate is also in trouble.
• Rice is a more fundamental staple and, due to drought, Japan has had to release 200,000 tonnes from the strategic reserve to meet demand.
• Higher temperatures bring a higher risk of pre-term births, and a greater incidence of disease bearing mosquitoes at higher (and formerly cooler) altitudes. Oh yes, it may cause premature ageing as well.

The Bad:

• In the depths of winter, the North Pole records temperatures 20 degrees C above average (above freezing, in fact)
  
• Climate change is not only here, but it's been accelerating. Scientists have been unsure why that is, but now have a possible reason: fewer clouds.
• 2024 was the hottest year on record, and 2025 opened with the hottest January on record. (Fortunately this month looks set to be only the third warmest February.)
• Tasmania's been burning in places that don't normally burn this year. An increase in dry lightning strikes is increasing the risk.
• As direct methane measurements from space ramp up, it is becoming clear that the bulk of emissions are from smaller, dispersed sources. Looks like the distribution network has leaks...

The Good:

•  After the preceding litany of woe and despondency, you may feel on the point of giving up. However, there are some good things going on. Reading about them can be a challenge, though, especially as many of them are legal wins.
• If you don't have time for such dry reading (or this blog), Assaad Razzouk provides a weekly summary of good climate news on his BlueSky account.
• NSW coal mines are about to be more closely monitored for their methane emissions. 

Energy:

Before we get into this section, I would just like to present these two charts from the IEA showing projected global uptakes in nuclear and solar energy vs reality over time.

 

A case of seriously wishful thinking? I'm not sure whether to place this in the good, bad, or ugly category. Frankly, I would be ashamed to present these charts as serious forecasting. 

(For direct comparison, if we assume an average 8 hours/day of operation, 600GW of solar translates to about 2000TWhr pa. While this peak is below the nuclear plateau, for how much longer is that likely to be?)

The Ugly:

• Dutton recently released the costing rationale behind his nuclear fantasy. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't stand up to scrutiny: on four counts, at least.
• ... but Trump's energy minister thinks Australia should go nuclear. That alone should be enough to persuade you otherwise! Read on, though: the report also includes a case study of what a nuclear power plant would cost and take to build here. (hint: a *lot* more than is publicised)
•  Like it or not, it seems AI is being shoved into every online app possible. The data centres behind AI consume vast amounts of energy. So much so, that they keep coal power plants from being retired. Unfortunate.

The Bad:

• Nuclear power stations consume water. A *lot* of water. 
• If you recall, gas was meant to be a 'bridging fuel': a filler as coal was (slowly) phased out for renewables. Turns out it's more of a 'barrier fuel'.
• Apart from greenhouse gases, fossil fuels give rise to another severe pollution problem: plastic 
• ... a-and so, of course Exxon is planning a new plastics factory in Texas.

The Good: 

• It says a lot about the Coalition's nuclear fantasy that even power companies won't sign on to it.
• Increased demand during heatwaves hit coal stations hard. (Nuclear ones as well: if the cooling water intake temp. is too high, they are forced to shut down). Solar and wind? Not so much.
• Indeed, it seems NSW is (finally) developing a taste for renewable systems, having just announced three new energy storage systems. 
• While Trump attempts to choke them in the US (see below), investment in renewables in Australia appears to be on track to provide 82% supply by 2030 (it's currently 40%, or was a month or two ago)
•  Meanwhile California just provided 100% renewable power for 98 out of 110 days... in winter! (all the more impressive, considering that California's economy is a substantial portion of the US.)
• ... and Pakistan is going through its own energy transition, having added 30GW of solar since 2020. Remarkably, most of that is 'rooftop' solar rather than commercial arrays.
  
• For when the Sun doesn't shine, home batteries are becoming increasingly more affordable, convenient, and safe.
• The 'greenlight' permit given by the UK Government to develop the Rosebank oilfield has been ruled unlawful, as it failed to take greenhouse emissions into account.

Resistance: 

The very need for this section might be deemed 'ugly'. Nevertheless, it is clear the fossil fuel oligarchy is now moving openly to destroy the renewables industry and establish a mode of government more to their liking. This isn't just wrecking balls. Disinformation campaigns are a large part of the push. What's being done about it? Hopefully you can find out here.

The Ugly:

• Trump has wasted no time attacking diversity in the US civil service. Starting with cancelling DEI and sacking transgender people, the attacks have quickly expanded to include non-whites and women. Killing objectivity is what autocrats do, so it is predictable that science be part of the pogrom. Wiping websites. Cancelling and defunding research programs across the board. Firing personnel en masse without regard for what they actually do. Efficiency has nothing to do with it.
• Weaponising the judiciary: a company who was prevented from laying an oil pipeline is running a SLAPP suit against Greenpeace to the tune of 300 million dollars.
• The two major Australian parties recently combined to push through changes to electoral laws that benefit... the two major parties at the expense of independents and minor parties. NB; these changes do NOT come into effect until the next electoral cycle, and are likely to face legal challenges.
• The reputation of Murdoch Press was never high, but the baiting exercise they got caught trying to pull is pretty disgusting. Not climate related, but you can see how it could be applied.
• As the internet subsides into a morass of AI generated gibberish, Wikipedia remains one of the few reliable sources of online information. So, of course, there are threats to identify and reveal the editors.
• Liberals attacking the head of the Climate Authority for 'political bias'? (Matt Kean was delivering a report on the effect of delaying energy transition to allow nuclear to turn up.) We've seen this play out before, when Abbott (via Joe Hockey) abolished the Climate Commission as his first act of Government. It's why we now have the publicly funded Climate Council.
•  Victoria may have legislated to stop new buildings from requiring gas connections, but the fossil fuel lobby is not going to stand for it.

The Bad:

• The latest in disinformation: the electric currents from offshore windfarm cables kill whales.
• While it's not actually illegal for a political ad to lie, it's not a good look when a major party is caught funding lies and disinformation promoted by the fossil fuel industry.

The Good: 

• Trump's made no secret of his plans to 'drill, baby, drill!' and exploit fossil fuel reserves to their fullest potential. Except Biden may have seen him coming... (The large IRA grants given to renewable projects in 'red' states may also cause some heart-searching somewhere. Here's a map of how they're distributed.)
• ... and there's actually not much appetite for more drilling.
  
• In response to Musk's wrecking ball handling of the US public service, the protests are here, just unevenly distributed.
• Breaking: some sanity from a California Federal Court ruling that blocks the mass firing of personnel by the OPM. Note, though, that this is only a temporary stay, which may or may not be obeyed (another feature of the autocracy)
• Written by the US Office of Strategic Services during WWII, the Simple Sabotage Field Manual is declassified, and available from the Gutenberg Press. Mostly harmless, but handle with care.
• Meanwhile, the EU Court of Human Rights has found the failure to curb pollution is a violation of human rights.
  
• APB, the largest Dutch pensions fund, has divested itself of all Alphabet (Google), Meta (Facebook), and Tesla stock (roughly 7 billion Euros in total). While not directly related to Musk's current antics, 'no longer meeting governance criteria' may be considered a subtle rebuke.
• This is part of a larger push from  insurance and superannuation funds: align business climate action with retirees expectations, or else risk losing over a trillion dollars in investments.
• Locally,  someone's noticed the smell. The Ad Standards Council has found that all those advertising references to 'clean gas' are misleading, and the producer, Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting, has been rapped on the knuckles.
• Feedback works! The Victorian State Government's plan for growing Melbourne has been modified. The initial iron-clad proposal with 'activity zones' containing Hong Kong high rises have been reduced to 4-6 stories. Granted, Melbourne needs to increase its living density, but it needs to do so in a way that emphasises the benefits of closer connections. Masses of 30 storey tenements are unlikely to provide this.