News for February, 2026

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 Albanese Government would like to tell you without telling you:
• a report recommending a form of carbon tax to reduce pollution
• deciding the maugean skate is not endangered, along with...
• an update to the endangered species list, with 34 new entries 
• and... oh yes! Yet another fossil fuel project approval (their 35th)
• Mind you, the Queensland government isn't coy about approving new exploration tenders. 
• Under Trump, the US EPA has become the Environmental Pillaging Authority. Having pared back regulations for serious pollutants, like lead and mercury, they now want to revoke the 'endangerment finding' that CO2 is a pollutant (erm... apart from the greenhouse effect, it also causes ocean acidification.)

The Bad

• Concerns are starting to be raised about the lack of regulation on commercial space flights and what they deposit in the upper atmosphere. (interesting aside, Arthur C Clarke cited a similar concern in his 1979 novel 'The Fountains of Paradise')
• It's ba-ack! South Australia's toxic algal bloom is resurging in parts of the Cape Yorke Peninsula. It has apparently eliminated Port Jackson sharks from Adelaide environs.

The Good 

•  Once occurring in plague proportions (remember Dame Kiri te Kanawa's incidental brooch at the 2000 closing ceremony?), and a significant food source for both indigenous Australians and mountain possums alike, Bogong moth numbers have taken a serious hit in recent years. To assess their current status, scientists are going to track 10,000 of them
• Why search for a resource that will have no value by the time you get around to exploiting it? Gas companies continue to do so, using techniques that have serious environmental impacts, like seismic testing. So, it is nice to hear that occasionally, as at Warrnambool, a permit application to do so is rejected.
• Murray Watt often (and rightly) gets the stick for the excessive amount of fossil fuel approvals he's issued since becoming Environment Minister, but he occasionally deserves some credit, like fining Alcoa $55 million for illegal clearing of jarrah forests in WA.
• The recent discovery of an extensive colony of an unusual coral species gives some hope that reefs will persist on a warming planet 

Climate

"The situation is hopeless... we must take the next step!"

Yes, much of the climate news continues to be dire, with Trump's outright vandalism, warming rates exceeding modelling, and talk of civilisation ending scenarios. 

If China can do this... (Ketan Joshi augmenting a Carbon Brief graph)

On the other hand, the Pareto Principle (aka the '80-20 Rule') holds that the bulk of any quantity is provided by only a few contributors, and that this is where the leverage for change lies. In that light, while China is responsible for about 20% of global emissions, it has managed to put the brakes on.

Now for the next step... 

The Ugly

• Approving a coal mine expansion whose CO2 output could match 50% of Australia's current emissions suggests the Albanese Government isn't serious about capping emissions.
• It appears Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post in order to destroy it. The recent round of mass layoffs includes the entirety of its well respected climate reporting department. (However, see below)
• The insidious effect of  'climate hushing': where the US administration's policy of actively smothering all climate related issues is having a subduing effect on the world's politicians, and with them, the voters. This is the sort of scenario it's leading to.
• What is the 'Endangerment Finding' and what does its repeal tell us about Trump? 

The Bad

• The Climate Council have published Code Blue: a report on the various crises facing our oceans.
• As ocean acidity increases, coral diversity diminishes: branching corals give way to boulders.  
• Following economic models that ignore the effects of climate change is likely to end as well as you'd expect.
• We may be closer to irreversible climate tipping points than people realise.
• Storm warning: The UN Climate Chief foresees climate chaos and warns that nations must adapt their security plans accordingly. (At 3-4 degrees warming, there may not be any nations!)

The Good 

• China's emissions, while still enormous, have been 'flat or falling' for 21 months. Based on prior trends, this represents about a gigatonne of CO2 that has not entered the atmosphere. (This year's emissions amount to about 60GT)
• One way to counter 'climate hushing' is to talk about the causes, and the effects, however unpalatable. MethaneSat's latest findings are that methane emissions are intermittent, but around 50% higher than commonly cited. The situation is worse in basins where methane is a by-product.
• As a rule of thumb, animal protein requires about ten times more acreage than vegetable. Real meat requires a lot of arable land that we can ill afford. Fake meat offers an out, as discussed in this Volts podcast.
• Amsterdam has become the first city to ban fossil fuel advertisements for climate damaging activities, like fossil fuels and meat. Will it influence people to stop using these products, or revolt?

Energy

At this point, the world wide transition to renewable energy has acquired a momentum that is very hard to check (although there are certainly efforts to do so by the usual suspects). The main concern now is whether it can proceed quickly enough to curb the amount of greenhouse emissions before damage is irreversible.

The Ugly

• In a cynical act of Trump appeasement that has nothing to do with economics or public opinion, Tennessee Valley Authority reverts from renewables back to coal.
• Public outcry is about to prevent the development of a solar farm in Ohio. Except the outcry appears to be an artefact. (whatever happened to the folk not from around Waubra?)
• Michigan accuses an oil cartel of buying up clean energy and vehicle patents in order to prevent their development.
• As the centre for global gas distribution, Japan is keen to keep the stuff flowing from Australia, judging from the amount of lobbying going on.
• Trump having raided the place and set up a puppet show in Venezuala, Shell now acquires pillaging rights for gas exploration.

The Bad

•  While Australia's battery boom is overall a good thing, it's not without associated risks: one of which is product lock-in.

The Good

•  Adoption of renewable energy in Africa is rapidly picking up pace, showing the largest global growth in 2025. Similar trends are being seen in Romania and Cuba.
• Home battery uptake in Australia is booming.
• South Australia's energy prices drop 30% in the past year as renewables take-up approach 100%.
• With 50% of energy now being provided by renewables, the energy transition in Australia has now gained momentum, although there is still a lot of work to be done.
• Even in the US, despite the administration's recidivist efforts, 99% of new electricity generating capacity is forecast to come from renewables this year.
• For those recalling that Alcoa demanded reliable 'baseload' energy sources for its smelting processes, this is an interesting piece about an aluminium company (Century) choosing Oklahoma over Kentucky, because Oklahoma has more renewables that are more reliable, and cheaper.
• Geothermal energy ('hot rocks' not to be confused with fracking) has the potential to power half of the EU.
• Too big to know what they're doing? Although fossil fuel companies continue apply for gas exploration licenses and maintain supplies, the fact is that the rapid uptake of renewables is causing a global gas glut. As a result, Shell and Mitsubishi are withdrawing from a big LNG project in British Columbia.

Resistance

 

... and so they have been (image: AP/Alex Brandon)

Ugliness (as defined by intentional disruption) still abounds in this section. Perhaps we should coin the term 'trumpiness' as a synonym? The only bright spots appear to be when the culprits overplay their hand, and are forced to retract. Even then, they may not actually do so.

The Ugly

• On January 24, 2026, Alex Pretti was executed in broad daylight by two ICE officers. It was filmed by several witnesses. The FBI have taken over the investigation, but refuse to share evidence with state authorities.
• ICE has always had a reputation for thuggery. A former ICE instructor has given evidence that officer education programs have been cut in half, with training about legal authority, use of force, constitutional rights, and weapon handling omitted.
• Granted a budget of about $165 billion (because illegal immigrants may be trying to steal a cookie), ICE has embarked on a spree of buying warehouses to turn into detention centres. Think 8000 detainees per centre.
• So ICE is awful, but at least their influence doesn't spread to Australia. Oh, wait... perhaps it does!
• Peter Thiel's Palantir surveillance system is used by ICE. It is becoming embedded in the UK, and perhaps Australia 
• Despite several court decisions overturning funding cuts to various science and social programs, Trump has responded in standard fashion, and refused to provide funding. This is a pattern repeated again, and again.

The Bad

• Following the killing of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, ICE is supposed to have toned it down in Minneapolis. Locals beg to differ. ICE is being less obvious, but appear to have switched their attention to the outer suburbs. People remain in hiding.
• A well regarded reference to the world in general, it was abruptly announced at the beginning of February, that the CIA World Fact Book would be 'sunset'. No reason was given and the site maintaining the online version has been deleted. Older versions up to 2025 can be obtained from various archives.
• Trump is unlikely to survive the mid-terms (whose running he is actively trying to control through the SAVE Act and Executive Orders) Even so, his assault on US democracy has been so severe, that some fear it will not recover. Can the course be reversed?
• ... perhaps. Perhaps not. It does seem that some countries have managed it. 
• An article on the pervasive influence of the Atlas Network. While we do focus on Trump's antics to a large degree, never lose sight of the powers behind his throne, and others. Incidentally, Gina Rinehart donated $900,000 to local chapter Advance during the last election. (We are unsure what 'Trumpet of Patriots' did with Palmer's $53M contribution!)
• The savagery of the NSW police crackdown on people non-violently protesting the presence of Israeli President Herzog makes one question the degree of influence Israel has over other nations. 

The Good 

• Under Trump, the US is being viewed increasingly as less of an ally. Certainly not one whose sourced software should be allowed to pervade the running of your government. For this reason, the French government will be replacing its Zoom and Teams videoconferencing software with its own open source Visio system. (Germany and Denmark are replacing Office365 with Libre)  
• While mainstream media moguls seem intent on shutting down and censoring climate journalism. Some climate journalists are routing around the damage by going independent.
• ICE has hit a snag with its warehouse buying spree: many states, and cities, local residents, and warehouse owners are refusing to allow it. As Alexandra Cortez-Ocasio puts it: 'Local zoning is the way'
• Three Republicans were persuaded that ceding authority to Trump was not in their best interests, and so Congress blocked legislation preventing it from striking down Trump's bully boy tariffs. Trump has responded by invoking a temporary measure to place 10% tariffs on all goods.
• Splashing paint around a government establishment might be considered uncouth. A misdemeanour, certainly. A crime, perhaps. An act of terrorism, though?? This is what caused the UK Government to declare Palestine Action a proscribed organisation, with any public voice of support being liable to a hefty prison sentence. The over-reaction is now being addressed. The accused have been cleared of aggravated burglary charges, and the High Court has upheld an appeal, ruling the ban of Palestine Action to be unlawful.
• Having faced down a police state takeover without resorting to violence (unlike said police state), the people of Minneapolis have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. 

Health

This month's collection of links threw up a noteable number of medical related articles, and not just all about the latest thing Kennedy has been doing to destroy the US health system (although there's quite a bit of that!). It was enough to try giving them their own section. Let's see if it continues.

The Lancet's opinion of what RFK Jr has achieved to date.

The Ugly

•  In what universe does the FDA refuse to even consider a new mRNA flu vaccine for approval? The one where the FDA has been stuffed with anti-vaccination quacks, apparently. While the decision was later quietly reversed, under RFK Jr, the US Health Department has become so compromised that the AMA is seeking ways to independently assess vaccines.
• The NIH has instructed staff members to remove references to 'pandemic preparedness' and 'biodefence' from publications. It's almost as if someone wants to prepare for something...
• It is estimated that dismantling USAID has so far led to 750,000 deaths in the developing world, mostly children. 

The Bad

• The fad for vegan dining seems to be fading, and meat is coming back into vogue. Fads come and go, of course, but there is concern that reduced opportunities for a new generation of vegan chefs will stall a cultural shift away from animal protein.
• ICE stops all movement at a detention facility following a measles outbreak. When you concentrate people in a camp in questionable conditions, outbreaks of contagious disease are to be expected.

The Good 

• A very promising treatment for AIDS has received clinical recommendation.
• Another treatment appears to prevent 'long COVID'.
• Anatomy continues to throw up surprises, like the discovery of a network of drainage vessels in the brain that may offer insights into the causes of Parkinson's disease 

Housing

A small trickle. Some good. Nothing terrible.

The Bad

•  As housing prices rise, and property ownership increasingly falls to the wealthy, is Australian society heading towards a form of feudalism?
• It was always a highly questionable concept. Now Saudi Arabia's 'Line' city of 9 million is reported to be getting vastly scaled down, and repurposed as... an AI data centre (what else?)
• Melbourne is about to replace a number of elderly housing towers. This is probably long overdue. On the other hand, the approach may be seriously inconveniencing elderly residents.

The Good 

• When it comes to rating a house for overall energy efficiency, it may surprise you to learn that the biggest factor is not how much double glazing and insulation the house has, but whereabouts it is located in relation to required amenities. It is increasingly being recognised that a good housing policy is a powerful tool for managing climate change. This was covered in a Volts podcast about a year ago, and this US report lays out a few of the town planning principles to apply.

Transport

Another small trickle. Some bad. Nothing terrible.

The Bad

• Several car makers have failed to meet new Australian emission standards, and may face heavy fines as a result. 
• Plug-in hybrids are found to use three times as much petrol as claimed.

The Good 

• Take up of electric vehicles is starting to have an impact on Australian emissions. 
• Electric buses now dominate the European market
• Are hired e-bikes, like Lime, passing muster? Yes, but there's definitely room for improvement (which is occurring).
• Another high speed rail link proposal? This one (Sydney-Newcastle) doesn't yet include Canberra in the route, so there's still hope. 
• Seems the best way to encourage people to walk more is to make the cities they live in more walkable.

Plaigue 

While there's no shortage of 'class ugly' articles, there's nothing much new to report in that section. AI continues to be shoved as the Great Hope. That feverishly stoked expectation fuels the boom in AI, which continues to lead a boom in data centres, whose energy demands promote a boom in gas generators, which... is basically the point of the whole exercise.

Cynical though this chain of thought is, a more worrying effect is what exposure to AI chatbots and algorithms appears to be having on people.

Feeding LLMs can work both ways: just ask a dalek, or the X algorithm

The Bad

• The current surge in demand for data centres is now so large in the states, that domestic electricians are in short supply.
• For the same reason, Western Digital has announced its entire supply of hard drives has been bought up.
• Utilities in the US are also booming with gas installations occurring at a rate that exceeds the demand for data centres. I think the expectation is that, after the AI crash, other uses will be found for infrastructure with a thirty year life span. I also think the people who believe this are in for a rude shock.
• Following up on earlier reports, Prof. Toby Walsh sounds a warning about the psychosis induced by sycophantic chatbots.
• Following Musk's takeover of Twitter, the site (now rebranded 'X') has become notorious for promoting neo-nazi sentiments. Have they just turned up, or are they being created, though? It's been found that the algorithmic feed employed by X induces greater sympathy to right wing radical thinking. Are X users being reprogrammed?

The Good 

• In a move reminiscent of peoples' reaction to ICE buying warehouses, a Penn. farmer has turned down a $15M offer for his land for a data centre. "I was not interested in destroying my farms," he said.
• Can an AI model help stop poaching in rainforests?
• Attempting to forestall the US experience, Australian environmental groups have presented a proposal requiring that new data centres must provide their own energy sources, and that they must be from renewables.

Congratulations to all who have made it this far.