News for April, 2025

 The April roundup of news coincides with Donald Trump hitting his stride after 100 days in office. The resulting craziness is best understood from the notion that 'governing a country' is not his intention. As a consequence, the 'ugly' sections of this post are a little more lengthy than I would like. Nevertheless, they need to be noted: memory holing is a dictator's secret sauce. Indeed, a theory I have as to why Trump was allowed in a second time involves the stress induced amnesia of several years of Covid lockdowns.

Consecutive social media postings can sometimes exhibit a snarky synchronicity

But 'in' he is and, with him going all in to destroy the economy for his own benefit this time (an intention he stated in 2014), it is more important than ever to note the good, inspiring, even slightly silly things that are happening. As Alex Steffen once said: "Cynicism is obedience. Optimism is a political act".

 

So with the caveat that 'Pollyannish' optimism is possibly the most cynical form of it, let us proceed.

Environment

The Ugly

• In addition to pushing for drilling in national parks, Trump has signed an executive order boosting deep sea mining (ie harvesting manganese nodules). It sidesteps an international embargo on the practice. Why is this a problem? Among other unknowns, the nodules appear to be a source of deep ocean oxygen. What would be the effect of removing them on the creatures that live down there?
• The recent 'de-extinction' of dire wolves is an issue with its fair share of pros and cons. It shouldn't be used by Trump as a cynical excuse to reduce the endangered species list. 
• Whistleblowers have published a report warning of the parlous state of the UK food supply (See also the issues Japan is facing)
• A local issue! Having banned logging of state forests (kind of), the Victorian Government is now passing the responsibility of approving private logging off to local councils.

 The Bad

• This is probably fine: New Jersey bushfires reach nuclear power station.
• The use of fire management practices by indigenous Australian is being investigated for improved land management. Even here, though, predatory elements are to be found.
• Australians care about their environment. So why isn't the extinction crisis of local fauna getting more attention this election? The economy rules! Read this series in the Guardian
• Even gumtrees are succumbing to high temperatures.
• Despite assurances to prevent extinctions, 2m hectares of koala habitat have been erased since 2011.
• This habitat destruction is now found to be impacting greater gliders: another endangered species.
• Drought has been forcing Japan to increasingly rely on imported rice.
• Rising temperatures appears to be increasing the levels of arsenic in rice.
• ... but, more generally, high levels of toxic metals has been found in 15% of agricultural land.

The Good 

• Adding state forests to the carbon credit scheme?
• Adding to the listed benefits of hosting solar farms in farmland: it encourages birdlife.
• Australians care about their wildlife, which is why Farmers for Climate Action hail a recent ACF report emphasising the need to conduct the energy transition in an environmentally friendly manner.
• Melbourne Zoo has had success in breeding critically endangered frogs 
• Chill out with a watch of... Sweden's annual moose migration!? (quite popular, apparently.).

Climate

The Ugly

• The Greenhouse Effect was first noted by Eunice Foote in 1856. 82 years later, an account of the first direct measurement of global warming due to CO2 emissions was published this month in 1938. Another 87 years later, and far too many vested interests continue in their refusal to acknowledge the effect of science.
• Nearly ten years after the Paris Agreement was struck (Tony Abbott: I signed *what*!??), neither of Australia's main parties appear keen to abide by it. (Trump's immediate notification of withdrawal on assuming office hasn't bolstered resolve.)

The Bad

• As inferred in the opening image, CO2 readings exceeded the 430 mark on April 14 for the first time on two million years. Homo Sapiens weren't around then. So here we are indeed.
• More than 80% of the world's coral reefs were hit with severe bleaching events due to overheated oceans.
• Changeable weather isn't just annoying. What are the effects on an environment when climate change leads to increasingly chaotic and unseasonable weather patterns?
•  It leads to a grim situation that Alex Steffen calls 'Unpatterning', and ties into the food supply issues noted previously.
• What are the climate tipping points we should be most concerned about?
• Housing crisis is a big issue in the 2025 Federal election. The effect climate calamities are having on the cost and availability of housing insurance? Not so much. (It should be a concern: without insurance, a house becomes unsellable: a 'sunk' asset. The Climate Council has a map of risks for your area)
• What is Climate Realism: a pragmatic approach to adapting to a climate change with greater emphasis on adaption and remediation than emission reduction, or a cynical ploy: a new name for the old motivation to do nothing that upsets business?
• "We must adapt!" proclaim the climate realists. Can we, though? Humans are thought to be able to handle heat stress quite well, but not as well as was believed. (and spare a thought for your pets!)

The Good 

• We are told that dealing with climate change is everyone's concern... except that science is zeroing in on the ones who are really responsible. (Feel free to remain concerned though)
• The MethaneSat crew are now providing monthly newsletters. The first one can be read here.
• In his enthusiasm to let fossil fuel extraction rip, Trump is trying to stop and roll back climate change measures. He is unlikely to succeed at the state level.

Energy

The Ugly

• Queensland Liberal Government orders review of 75% emissions reduction target.
• If elected, the LNP would designate gas as a critical mineral so as to gain access to the zero emissions fund. If elected...
• Santos has just received final approval for an extremely dodgy Barossa NT gas extraction project.
• Data centres are driving a demand for gas turbines. Supposedly cheap, yet their construction costs are expected to triple by 2028
• Example: Musk powers his new XAI data centre with 35 gas powered generators.
• Trump, of course, is endorsing coal for the same purpose.
  
• Monitoring is crucial to controlling anything. It therefore stands to reason that, under Trump, the EPA has been ordered to cease collection company emissions data.

The Bad

• The explosive growth of data centres is increasingly being seen as a drag on energy transition efforts. Operating continuously, they prop up demand for baseload power (as seen in Musk's admittedly extreme example). This IEA report shows just how explosive the growth may be.
• Touted as an option for industries finding it difficult to switch to renewable energy, carbon credits are also villified as being so easy to obtain that they become an excuse to do nothing (eg Chevron Gorgon). The situation may be brought to a head by a group suing EnergyAustralia for misleading consumers.
• Despite achieving 50% renewable energy, the UK has one of the most expensive energy markets in the world. The reason is gas.
• Australia is in a similar position, as this description of the NEM shows (most expensive generator in use sets the market price at any given time). What to do...?
• Why do we continue to rely on gas when it doesn't do much for our economy?
• What's going on with community batteries? Shenanigans.
  
• One more point against nuclear power in Australia: there isn't enough water available (no, the proposed sites are not by the sea.)
• Although Australia currently derives 40%  of its energy from renewables (and rising rapidly), not many Australians are aware of it.
• Providing more emissions exemptions than the emissions we actually generate, Australia's Safeguard Mechanism is not fit for purpose.
  

The Good

• The economic benefits of renewables are clear to anyone who encounters them, even in Missouri.
• Trump's rollback decrees have had little effect on business plans to switch to green energy.
  
• In 2024, over 40% of global energy demand was provided by renewable energy, with many countries achieving 75%. (Australia is just over 40%)
• South Australia's largest wind farm project has just had its final (75th) generator installed.
• 'When the wind don't blow...', EnergyConnect project allows for better distribution of Australia's renewable energy.
• '...and the Sun don't shine...', Grid battery storage capacity continues to increase.
• Overall 40% reduction in Australia's emissions expected by 2035.
  
• Sodium ion EV batteries are expected to be in production by end of year.
• Anyone care for a cruise in a hydrogen powered ocean liner? (due in 2027)
• Speaking of shipping, 40% currently is used to move fossil fuels. This doesn't sound good, so why does it make Bill McKibben happy? The answer is 'feedback'.
• It's good to see that the deletrious effect data centres are having on energy transition has been noted, and that people are looking into what can be done to improve matters.

Resistance 

Welcome to Trump's own little piece of Hades. Given what's been going on in his first hundred days, I have been tempted to add a new section: 'the downright sadistic', but will stick to the merely 'ugly'.

 

While this section serves as a record of what has been happening, the full extent of Trump's awfulness need not be dwelled upon. Even the 'good' sub-section has a Kafka-esque air to it. Dip in when you're feeling strong enough.

The Ugly

• Have you heard of the Atlas Network? Perhaps you don't want to but, since they fund much of the right wing disinformation found on the internet, perhaps it's time you did. 
• Trump hath decreed he is entitled to deport anyone without trial, and is. Here's Chris Hayes on 'disappeared' people.
• Children are being deported without legal support.
• In fact, 90% of those deported have no criminal record, or charges against them. Just 'yeet'.
• After several cases of people being refused entry to the US because of unfavourable remarks about Trump they made on social media (ie enemy aliens), the EU has begun issuing burner phones to staff heading to the US.
• Don't think US citizens are safe, either.
• The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has long had a reputation. Keeping its excesses in check used to consist of knowing rights: refusing entry, and demanding proof of proper search warrants. ICE have now been told the sections of the Constitution that limit their actions in this way can be ignored(!), and this is the result. Pure jackboot. Expect to hear of a lot more home invasions like this.
• Border Force is the Australian equivalent. Without wishing to make too many parallels, I will note it shot to prominence ten years ago, under then Immigration Minister Dutton, during the infamous 'Operation Fortitude'.
• US social security applicants get listed as dead to deny them funding.
• A Wisconsin judge refused to allow ICE officers to arrest a defendant in her court. She was subsequently arrested for 'obstructing justice'. (and later released)
• Trump's tariffs (ie charging Americans for imported goods) are ruinous to the economy, and are  reaching ludicrous levels in some cases, with... 3,500%(!) decreed on Asian solar panels.
• It was funded, approved, and half built. So, Trump halted work on an offshore wind farm because of the whales. The whales are fine. See the Atlas Network for more information
  
• The US power industry may prefer more gas. Trump wants more coal, and has signed Executive Orders to reopen coal power stations.
• It's not just energy that's being targeted by Trump's backsliding, revanchist agenda. Medical journals are being targetted for being 'woke'. The Ptolemaic model of the Universe will be reinstated shortly.
• NIH scientists are being purged in accordance with the rescinding of DEI. This, of course, means that all the women and non-white scientists must go.
• The department tasked with investigating viral outbreaks has been shuttered... in the middle of a hepatitis (and measles) outbreak.
• Looking for a seasonal COVID vaccine in the US? Good luck.
• Trump seeks to end climate research at NOAA. (we've seen versions of this at Australia's BoM)

The Bad

• It appears that 89% of people want something more to be done about climate change. If only they knew it.
• Australia, and others, are wooing US academics disenfranchised by Trump's policies. This is how the US got the likes of Einstein in the first place.
• RFK Jr tells CDC to stop recommending fluoridation of drinking water. As they say: "Drill, baby, drill!"
  

The Good

• The only good thing that can be said about Trump is that he's provided a clear example of who not to vote for in other countries. This was shown in stark clarity last Monday, when Canada rejected a Trump wannabe and re-elected a Liberal government that had been on the ropes. The same looks to be true of Australia: Dutton's adoptions of policy (coupled with his woeful nuclear stance) has backfired spectacularly. We shall see the result this weekend.
• While not precisely good news, there may be hope for the supposedly insatiable 'Homo Economicus' yet. One quarter of BP shareholders voted against the chairman after he announced an abandonment of green energy projects.
• A federal judge has blocked Trump from dismantling the Voice of America.
• Another judge blocked cuts to University research funding.
• Yet another judge blocks Trump from cutting funding for legal for migrant children
• Law firms who bend the knee to Trump's demands of 'pay to play' in federal matters (aka 'extortion') are facing hiring boycotts from law students.
• Having noted that 89% of people don't realise others want to do more about climate change, the Guardian has started to do something about it.
• Trump is now encountering increasing resistance to his rule. 'Thousands of people' in 'hundreds of locations' have been turning out in protest. The total being estimated at 4 million.
• A recent national protest against Trump's authoritarian overreach drew out far more people that expected at the Easter weekend. What was truly remarkable were the number of traditionally conservative communities that joined in. As noted by the Guardian above, many of the participants were themselves surprised by seeing their neighbours. Finding out you're not alone is a major point of these events.
• Has Musk discovered being a nazi is bad for business? Tesla quarterly report has just seen a 71% reduction in profits.
• While Musk decries the evils of empathy, a community spirit is seen in a town who form a bucket brigade to transfer a local bookseller's stock from its old location to the new.
• Carole Cadwallader calls out the digital coup under Trump in this recent TED talk. Interestingly, she refers to the line up of 'tech bros' at the inauguration ceremony as 'hostages': having license to profit in exchange for utter loyalty. This is the same method used by Putin in Russia. Tellingly, the decision by Bezos to publish the tariff markup alongside goods sold on Amazon has received immediate Presidential rebuke. We will see if he suffers the same fate as Russian oligarchs who get out of step.
• While Trump justifies his flurry of executive orders with the declaration of an 'emergency' at the Mexican border, Bill McKibben ponders what an emergency is actually, and why conservatives are so eager to declare them.
• Given such scenes as 'Nemiks Manifesto', I am truly amazed that the second season of Andor is currently being allowed to air. Well, it's only science fiction...
• A bit of general advice on how you can join the (peaceful) resistance in Australia.