News for November, 2025

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 buried for four years so as not to annoy mining companies. (who votes for these people?)

The Bad

• Alaska has a wildlife refuge area, which Trump has opened for oil exploration. There is a good part, though: nobody appears to be interested in exploiting it!
• The Earth is getting dimmer, but more so in the Northern Hemisphere. Melting Arctic ice reveals more heat absorbing dark areas.
• Shark nets at bathing beaches trap many more creatures than just sharks. A more effective way to protect bathers is to use spotter drones. However, the Qld Government intends to continue using nets as well. 

The Good

• While they are usually associated with runaway disaster scenarios, tipping points are not necessarily bad if people push them in a desirable direction.
• Improving indoor air quality is now seen to have major health benefits, including reduced transmission of pathogens. It may be considered a fundamental human right.
• Cultivated meat is a technology that promises to drastically reduce the amount of land needed for agriculture. Even so, it's early days, and gut reactions (sorry!) to the idea will vary. One thing it does now mean is that you can have your pig and eat it, too.
• What can we expect the new environmental laws to achieve? 
• Didn't we do numbats last month? Never mind! Unwind once more with twenty years of numbat observations. 

Climate

COP30 took place in Belem, Brazil, this month. After three such conferences held in the heart of fossil fuel production countries, expectations were not high, and the outcomes were certainly not great. Not all was bad news, however. A summary of proceedings can be read here.

The Ugly

• These days, the federal Coalition is increasingly resembling a dead dog whose National tail is being wagged by the mining and fossil fuel lobbyists. Following the National Party's obsessive (and electorally devastating) call for nuclear power, the Liberal party Australia's have officially withdrawn their support of a net zero target. They claim (incorrectly) that their inaction will continue to adhere to the Paris Accord. As a former Liberal leader once noted: "All politicians lie". Left unsaid was that some lie more than others.
• A Senate inquiry into climate misinformation is being targetted by the same campaigns it is seeking to investigate. (An ugly matter. The good news is that the campaigns being waged are rather obvious.)

The Bad

• Two thirds of corals on WA's Ningaloo reef have died in a marine heatwave.
• The jacuzzi may be nice for a dip, but what if you can't get out? Following prolonged drought and heat wave conditions, river dolphins in a Brazilian lake died when the water became too hot for them.
• Not just dolphins. Heat is now killing one person a minute.
• Drought and bushfire aren't just affecting the carbon sink capacity of Australia's rainforests. Europe's forests are slowing down their uptake as well.
• Systems exhibit complicated behaviour that is hard to predict. Much of this complexity arises from delays in feedback responses. So, it should come as no surprise to learn that the Southern Ocean is storing heat which may get returned to the atmosphere at a later, indeterminate date.

The Good

• Monash University has announced the end of its partnership with fossil fuel giant Woodside Energy.
• At a time when resolve on climate action appears to be faltering, a review of what ten years of the Paris Accord *has* achieved. (a global switch to renewable energy being one)
• Brazil records its largest fall in greenhouse emissions in 15 years.
• Even better news, China's emissions have been constant, possibly falling, for the past eighteen months.

Energy

The Ugly

•  The WA Government's claims that gas production is assisting the world to decarbonise. A secret Deloitte report claims it does anything but.
• It's no longer the economy, stupid! Trump continues to force unprofitable coal power stations to remain open.
• One of reasons the coalition has been claiming for renouncing net zero is that its pursuit will lead to increased power bills. Not so, says the AEMO.

The Bad

•  In one of the examples in her book 'Thinking in Systems' Donella Meadows demonstrates why it is virtually impossible to profitably extract all the oil in a reserve. Similar factors are at play as the number of renewable project commencements slow to a halt. (Although demand remains high, consider the economic returns when cost of production drops to virtually zero). A bit of political will may be called for.

The Good

• Early this month Jamaica was hit by a Category 5 hurricane which caused estimated damage equivalent to one third of the economy, the one bright spot in this calamity is that the uptake in renewable energy has allowed many neighbourhoods to retain power.
• This post by Ember likens the effect of batteries on the energy grid to grain silos on agriculture.
• Battery innovations continue, using... concrete??
• Pacific nations plan to switch from spending 25% of GDP on fossil fuel to 100% renewables.
• Obtaining 'rooftop' solar is problematic when you live in rented accommodation. However,  balcony mounted solar panels have caught on big in Germany.
• South Korea intends to close all coal power stations by 2040.
• The state of New York has announced a $32 million incentive to switch kitchens to use induction stove tops.
• Article showing how professional chefs are starting to embrace induction cooking. 
• Given the WA Government's ongoing commitment to gas, there's a certain irony in the report that 89% of WA energy demand was recently met by renewables.
• In appreciation of what the Paris Agreement has achieved, ten years ago the IEA forecast a tripling in India's coal demand by 2040. A year later, the forecast underwent a subtle but fundamental adjustment, when 'energy' was substituted for 'coal'. India now obtains 51% of its energy from renewables.

Resistance

The Ugly

• The heavy handed tactics of ICE is, of course, the point. This account from Chicago will provide a taste of just how brutal they are. Reputable sources agree.
• Meanwhile, the brutes move on to New Orleans 
• Reacting in kind will provide the perfect excuse for them to clamp down as hard as they like. Not just on undocumented immigrants, either. Everybody knows this and, so far, the restraint has been commendable. Of course, the response is for the hand to grow heavier anyway. A point has now been reached where two National Guardsmen are shot in DC by an Afghan refugee. Trump has reacted by starting a freeze on further immigration. 
• Eighty years ago, Heinz Wilhelm Eck, a German U-boat captain, was executed for ordering the shooting of survivors of a Greek merchant vessel after it was torpedoed. This type of  action is specifically given as an example of an illegal order in the US Code of Military Conduct. Secretary of Defence Peter Hegseth issued this order in relation to the attack on Venezuelan vessels supposedly smuggling cocaine, and there are calls for him to be investigated and charged with war crimes after issuing similar orders.

The Bad

• Think the freedom of  the Australian Press isn't at risk? Kerry O'Brien sounds a warning.

The Good

• Judge gives a permanent ruling that Trump may not deploy National Guardsmen to Portland.
• There is a line from the movie 'Casablanca' where a German Major is told "there are certain sections of New York, Major, that I wouldn't advise you to try to invade". This quote may have been the minds of the ICE warriors who were scheduled to commence a pickup raid on Chinatown NYC, only to be thwarted by hundreds of New Yorkers blocking the exit to the car park they were staging at.
• The passage of the updated Environmental Act, welcome though it was, has not addressed the impact of climate change. This hasn't stopped a flotilla of boats from temporarily blocking three coal tankers from entering Newcastle Harbour at the weekend. 

Housing

Once more, the housing news is good.

The Good

• When it comes to defining needs, having a home is a fundamental one. With home ownership becoming increasingly difficult to achieve, is it the only way to provide security? With its social housing schemes, Vienna offers an alternative.
• Adopting electric technologies has saved US households billions over the past decade.
• Meanwhile, Santa Fe tries tying the minimum wage to rental costs.
• ... and in Connecticut, a bill that accepts public housing to be a thing gets passed, with reluctance. 

Transport

Where are you on the map? (- Elsevier)

The Good

• Heavy trucks contribute a substantial amount of emissions to the transport sector. An electrified fleet is starting to change that, and NSW is starting to provide the support infrastructure.
• ICE vehicle sales in Australia drop below 70% of market share in September quarter.
• Why would you make buses free? Iowa City tried it, and found out the benefits.
• A (serious) overview of EV battery tech which may be coming, sooner or later.
• An interesting paper comparing three modes of transport (car, public transport, pedestrian) in various cities.

Plaigue

The news on this topic veers from the apocalyptic, to the just plain sad. Although, when it comes to a potential global economic crash,  'sad' may be an understatement. 

The Ugly

• Latest trend in AI 'slop': generated facebook videos of ICE arrests. One might almost think the US population consists of 90% undocumented immigrants...
• Almost like a suicide note. An AI crash is now being discussed, not in terms of 'if', but 'when'. 'How' has also entered the conversation.
• When data centre energy demands exceed supply, older sources (ie coal) are kept on that much longer, to the discomfort of locals, like those in Mumbai.

The Bad

• Google thinks that Christmas Island is a prime location for a data centre. Really?
• Following laws of supply and demand, having a very power hungry AI data centre near you causes electricity prices to rise.
• It was inevitable. AI cultists who insist that there are 'souls in the machine'.
• AI tends to make people overrate their intelligence. Well, it's what sycophants are for, and that's how LLMs have been programmed...

The Good

• Waking up to the issue of excessive energy demands, calls to block commissioning of new data centres until it is shown the demand can be met by the grid. 
• Local opposition in the US has blocked $64 billion in data centre developments. Maybe those opposed are following the same script used by the anti-renewable lobby. Maybe they've also heard about the energy price rises.
• Critical thinkers at universities suggest that the wholesale (and non-critical) adoption of AI at universities is neither inevitable, nor necessary. 
• A paper from Samsung outlines an alternative approach to AI problem solving that provides more accurate results using far fewer resources. Interesting development to keep an eye on, although the inner cynic suggests that reducing energy consumption misses the point.