Environment news

• New Crop – the vegan venture fund fighting for animal rights

  06-04-2016 22:37 via theguardian.com
  
  A collective of animal welfare activists are gaining ground with an investment fund that supports businesses developing alternatives to meat, cheese and other animal productsImpossible foods: how startups are changing what we eat – in picturesMost investment funds are, first and foremost, about making money. Not New Crop Capital, a venture capital fund started by animal-welfare activists to support entrepreneurs whose products will save the lives of cows, pigs, chickens and fish.Launched l
  
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• Oil, healthcare boost global stocks; dollar weak after minutes

  06-04-2016 22:22
  By Chuck Mikolajczak NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global equity markets posted solid gains on Wednesday, aided by a climb in oil prices and a surge in healthcare stocks, while the U.S. dollar hit a fresh 17-month low against the yen after the minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting. Stocks on Wall Street and in Europe bounced from declines of more than 1 percent in the prior session, led by energy and healthcare sectors. The healthcare sectors , were the top performing groups in both the United
  
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• Exploding stars left mark on Earth

  06-04-2016 20:26 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Two studies confirm that multiple supernovae have showered the Earth with radiation within the last few million years.
  
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• UK nuclear security is better than North Korea’s | Letters

  06-04-2016 20:10 via theguardian.com
  
  Dr David Lowry (Letters, 5 April) presents a highly selective and misleading view of the recent Nuclear Threat Initiative report. Britain does indeed come bottom and below North Korea in the theft rankings – but on one aspect only: the number of sites and quality of material held. As a longtime nuclear weapon state and user of nuclear power, it is hardly surprising that we have a lot in quite a few places. Places like Australia and Argentina will inevitably “win” this category.
  
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• NHS embraces on-site generation with new Ecotricity windmill

  06-04-2016 19:10
  
  The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn, Norfolk, will now make use of renewable electricity generated on-site thanks to a new wind turbine installed bygreen energy supplier Ecotricity.
  
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• Oil prices jump 5 percent after surprise U.S. crude stockpile draw

  06-04-2016 19:02
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices surged more than 5 percent on Wednesday, heading for their largest gain in three weeks, after the U.S. government reported a surprise draw in domestic crude stockpiles versus market expectations for a new record high. Crude stocks unexpectedly fell 4.9 million barrels last week as refineries continued to hike output and imports dropped, the Energy Information Administration (EIA), a division of the U.S. government's Department of Energy, reporte
  
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• U.S. dealerships owner sues Volkswagen over diesel emissions scandal

  06-04-2016 18:59
  (Reuters) - The owner of three U.S. Volkswagen dealerships filed a lawsuit against the German automaker on Wednesday over its massive diesel emissions scandal, along with pricing and distribution practices. The suit filed in federal court in Illinois is the first brought by a VW franchise dealer over the automaker's admitted use of software that allowed nearly 600,000 vehicles to emit up to 40 times legally allowable pollution, a lawyer for owner of the dealerships said. A Volkswagen spokeswoman
  
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• No prison terms for Gulf spill as final defendant gets probation

  06-04-2016 18:42
  A former BP Plc rig supervisor who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanour charge in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill was sentenced to 10 months of probation on Wednesday, concluding a federal criminal case in which no one received prison time over the disaster. Donald Vidrine, 68, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval in New Orleans, in accordance with a plea agreement in which the defendant admitted to the negligent discharge of oil, a Clean Water Act violation. Vidrine and another sup
  
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• Glass Lewis tells shareholders to vote against BP CEO's pay

  06-04-2016 18:02
  By Ron Bousso LONDON (Reuters) - Shareholder advisory firm Glass Lewis has recommended that investors in BP vote against Chief Executive Bob Dudley's proposed $19.6 million remuneration for 2015 after the British oil and gas company recorded its biggest annual loss. BP, like its rivals, has faced a near 70 percent drop in oil prices since mid-2014, which has led to thousands of job losses and spending cuts in the industry. "We have strong concerns regarding pay outcomes relative to financial per
  
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• Oil jump helps stocks with Fed minutes on tap

  06-04-2016 17:51
  By Chuck Mikolajczak NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar hit a fresh 17-month low against the yen on Wednesday, while a climb in oil prices helped global equity markets advance modestly ahead of minutes from the most recent meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve. Stocks on Wall Street and in Europe moved slightly higher, buoyed by gains in the energy and healthcare sectors. The healthcare sector continued to garner attention in the wake of the decision by Pfizer and Allergan to scrap their $160 billion
  
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• Oil prices jump 4 percent after surprise U.S. crude stocks draw

  06-04-2016 17:29
  By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices surged by 4 percent or more on Wednesday after the U.S. government reported a surprise draw in domestic crude stockpiles last week, versus market expectations for a new record high. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude stocks unexpectedly fell by 4.9 million barrels in the last week as refineries continued to hike output and imports fell. U.S. crude futures were up $1.60, or 4.4 percent, at $37.49 (27 pounds) a barrel by 1
  
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• WRI: 21 countries are reducing emissions while growing economies

  06-04-2016 17:05
  
  The UK is listed among 21 nations that have achieved annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions while experiencing continued growth in GDP since the turn of the century, in a new report from the World Resources Institute (WRI).
  
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• Tesla loses latest battle with Ecotricity

  06-04-2016 16:25 via theguardian.com
  
  Advertising watchdog dismisses complaint from US electric car maker about UK company’s green energy claimsTesla, the US electric car and battery maker, has lost the latest round of a long-running spat with UK energy company Ecotricity.The company, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, had lodged a complaint with the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) about claims on Ecotricity’s website that it supplies “Britain’s greenest energy” and “greenest electri
  
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• Good news for the Iberian lynx!

  06-04-2016 16:04 via feedproxy.google.com
  WWF welcomes the 2015 Iberian lynx census released today by the government of Andalusia. The survey shows a significant increase in population with the Iberian lynx reaching the highest number since the species was found to be the most endangered cat in the world in 2002. The latest population figure of 404 individuals is up from the 327 recorded in 2014. The survey identified 120 breeding females divided into five areas of the Iberian Peninsula including four in Spain – Doñana
  
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• Six things we know about the plastic bag charge in England

  06-04-2016 16:01 via theguardian.com
  
  It’s been six months since the 5p charge was introduced for single-use plastic bags. So what have we learned? It is six months since the introduction of the 5p charge for single-use plastic carrier bags in England, the last part of the UK to implement a charge. Here are six things we have learned since then:Continue reading...
  
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• After Their Egg Is Stolen, Condors Raise Foster Chick

  06-04-2016 15:24
  
  After a California condor pair's egg went mysteriously missing in the middle of the night, the duo is back on track, raising a foster chick that biologists surreptitiously slipped into the birds' mountain nest. The two began courting in 2014, and nested together near the Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge in southern California, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. A team of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) biologists snuck into the nest on March 2 to set up a bird cam and ch
  
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• Coryton oil storage terminal opens as glut grows

  06-04-2016 15:11
  By Ron Bousso and Libby George LONDON (Reuters) - The Thames Oilport terminal near London opened on Wednesday after nearly four years of development, at a time when a global oil glut and a collapse in fuel prices are making storage an attractive investment. A first tanker, the Seaconger, carrying 21,000 tonnes of diesel was discharging at the terminal, built on the site of the Coryton refinery whose owner Petroplus went bankrupt in 2012, operator Greenergy said. The terminal is due to be filled
  
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• EU vows tough enforcement of circular economy package

  06-04-2016 15:07
  
  The circular economy package of waste and recycling laws will be backed by tougher European Commission enforcement than seen under previous administrations, an official yesterday (5 April) told plastic industry delegates.
  
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• In Chernobyl nuclear zone, animals thrive without humans

  06-04-2016 15:01
  Thirty years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, booming populations of wolf, elk and other wildlife in the vast contaminated zone in Belarus and Ukraine provide a clue. On April 26, 1986, a botched test at the nuclear plant in Ukraine, then a Soviet republic, sent clouds of smouldering radioactive material across large swathes of Europe. Over 100,000 people had to abandon the area permanently, leaving native animals the sole occupants of a cross-border "exclusion zone" roughly the size of Lux
  
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• Could the UK's first Green ISA create a £60bn investment pot?

  06-04-2016 14:47
  
  The UK's first 'Innovative Finance ISA' launched today (6 April) from investment platform Abundance, allowing investors to finance renewable projects through an operative tax ISA that could boost the green economy by £28.5bn.
  
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• Commission vows tough enforcement of Circular Economy Package

  06-04-2016 14:14
  
  The Circular Economy Package of waste and recycling laws will be backed by tougher European Commission enforcement than seen under previous administrations, an official yesterday (5 April) told plastic industry delegates.
  
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• Sustainability simplified - cutting the complexity

  06-04-2016 14:10
  
  The sustainability management role is a complex one and individual needs and priorities are different depending on organisation type, business focus and sometimes even the day of the week. So, to cut through the complexity, we are bringing the edie experience to life.
  
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• Chevron's $3 billion Asian geothermal assets to draw global suitors - sources

  06-04-2016 14:09
  By Anshuman Daga and Saeed Azhar SINGAPORE (Reuters) - French utility Engie and Japan's Marubeni are among several suitors preparing to bid for Chevron Corp's Asian geothermal energy blocks valued at about $3 billion (2 billion pounds), sources familiar with the matter said. Potential buyers including Southeast Asian firms are attracted by the opportunity to gain control of large blocks of geothermal assets located in Indonesia and Philippines. Like many rivals, Chevron is selling assets, cuttin
  
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• Can urban gardeners benefit ecosystems while keeping food traditions alive?

  06-04-2016 13:51 via feedproxy.google.com
  When conjuring up an image of a healthy ecosystem, few of us would think of a modern city. But scientists are increasingly recognizing that the majority of ecosystems are now influenced by humans, and even home gardens in urban landscapes can contribute important ecosystem services.
  
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• Computer paints 'new Rembrandt'

  06-04-2016 13:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A team of technologists working with Microsoft and others produce a 3D-printed painting in the style of Dutch master Rembrandt.
  
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• Tata Steel crisis: Four green solutions for the struggling steel industry

  06-04-2016 13:17
  
  As the Tata Steel crisis rumbles on, commentators are pointing fingers at energy prices and green policies as key reasons behind Tata's decision to exit the UK. Are they right, or could a reformed green policy landscape and enhanced focus on sustainability actually end up convincing energy-intensive manufacturers to stay put?
  
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• Norway oil minister says most layoffs probably behind us

  06-04-2016 12:57
  Tens of thousands of petroleum jobs in Norway have been lost due to the collapse in global oil prices and the reduction in investment which has ensued. "There are six months yet to go before the crisis starts to change to a more uplifting mood," Tord Lien said in a speech at a subsea conference on Wednesday. "The point is that I expect we have finished most of the reductions in capacity but it will still be tough times ahead of us," Lien told Reuters afterwards.
  
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• Ukraine to ban imports of Russian oil products - PM

  06-04-2016 12:48
  Ukraine plans to ban imports of Russian oil products, and to remove import duties on second-hand cars except for Russian ones, Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said in a televised cabinet meeting on Wednesday. The announcement is the latest move in an ongoing trade war between Russia and Ukraine that follows Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. "I am asking the Ministry of Economy to prepare a mechanism for banning the purchase of petroleum products from the country of the aggresso
  
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• World Bank does not necessarily see large rise in oil prices following Doha deal

  06-04-2016 12:43
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - The World Bank does not necessarily see a large rise in oil prices if oil output freeze deal is reached between major oil producing nations later this month in Doha, Birgit Hansl, lead economist for Russia, told a briefing on Wednesday. (Reporting by Alexander Winning; writing by Katya Golubkova; editing by Vladimir Soldatkin)
  
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• Bangladesh coal plant protests continue after demonstrators killed

  06-04-2016 12:28 via theguardian.com
  
  Villagers stage further protests following the deaths of at least four people demonstrating against plans for two Chinese-funded coal-fired plants Bangladeshi villagers staged further protests on Tuesday after police opened fire and killed at least four people demonstrating against the planned construction of two large Chinese-financed coal-fired power stations.
  According to police and eyewitness reports, several thousand villagers gathered in the coastal town of Gandamara near Chittagong on Mon
  
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• Exclusive - Russia sees oil price of $45-$50 per barrel 'acceptable' as it prepares for freeze deal: sources

  06-04-2016 12:14
  By Vladimir Soldatkin MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia believes an oil price at $45 (31 pounds)-$50 per barrel is acceptable to allow the global oil market to balance, as it prepares to meet leading oil producers in Doha later this month, sources familiar with Russian plans said on Wednesday. Leading oil producers plan to meet in Doha on April 17 to cement a preliminary deal reached between Russia, Venezuela, Qatar and Saudi Arabia in February to freeze oil output at levels reached in January, to curb
  
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• Jonny & the Baptists review – spirited environmental rallying cry

  06-04-2016 11:52 via theguardian.com
  
  Orange Tree, Richmond
  Inspired by a promise about climate change to a four-year-old girl, Jonny & the Baptists add some moral ballast to their usual gags and gigglesome wordplayA previous Jonny & the Baptists show set out to Stop Ukip – a noble aim, if a soft target comedically. That can’t be said of their new subject, climate change: Armageddon seldom reduces audiences to stitches. Happy to report, then, that The End Is Nigh is the musical comedy duo’s most satisfying
  
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• Tigers declared extinct in Cambodia

  06-04-2016 11:38 via theguardian.com
  
  Conservationists say Indochine tigers are ‘functionally extinct’ as they launch action plan for reintroductionTigers are “functionally extinct” in Cambodia, conservationists conceded for the first time on Wednesday, as they launched a bold action plan to reintroduce the big cats to the kingdom’s forests.
  Cambodia’s dry forests used to be home to scores of Indochinese tigers but the WWF said intensive poaching of both tigers and their prey had devastated the nu
  
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• China switches on lighthouse on artificial island in South China Sea

  06-04-2016 11:14
  China has begun operating a lighthouse on one of its artificial islands in the South China Sea near where a U.S. warship sailed last year to challenge China's territorial claims. China claims most of the energy-rich waters of the South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. China's transport ministry held a "completion ceremony", marking the start of operations of the 55-metre (180-ft) high lighthouse on Subi Reef, where construction began in October, s
  
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• Electricity emissions surge by 5.5% since removal of carbon price

  06-04-2016 10:57 via theguardian.com
  
  Pitt and Sherry analyst declares era of falling demand for electricity has ended after increase in use of black coalAustralia’s emissions from electricity generation continue to rise and are now 5.5% higher than when the carbon price was repealed, new data reveals.
  The environment minister, Greg Hunt, claimed recently that Australia’s total greenhouse emissions had “peaked” in 2005. Continue reading...
  
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• First Sumatran rhino found in Borneo in 40 years has died

  06-04-2016 10:50 via theguardian.com
  
  WWF said there were indications that the endangered rhino was suffering from a severe infection caused by snares from an earlier poaching attemptThe first critically endangered Sumatran rhino to be found in an area of Borneo for 40 years has died, wildlife experts said. The species had been thought to be extinct in Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, until a few years ago when surveying found evidence through camera traps and footprints of 15 Sumatran rhinos in the area.Continue reading...
  
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• 'Mystery voyage' of Scottish island deer

  06-04-2016 09:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Red deer on the outer Scottish islands were probably brought there in boats by Neolithic humans from as far away as mainland Europe, according to a study of ancient and modern deer DNA.
  
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• Cumbria rebuilds after the flooding – a photo essay

  06-04-2016 09:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Since the disastrous floods caused by Storm Desmond in 2015, road and bridge closures have hit Cumbria and the tourism it relies on hard. Photojournalist Christopher Thomond went to see the rebuilding in the region and spoke to some of the business owners and householders, in the lull before the busy summer season Continue reading...
  
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• Mammal Society photographer of the year 2016 - winners in pictures

  06-04-2016 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Charismatic yet elusive, wild mammals can be challenging for photographers. The Mammal Society’s annual competition showcases the best efforts from around the UK in four categories. A free exhibition of the winning photographs will be held at the society’s spring conference in Stafford Continue reading...
  
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• Winged sisters bound through the cool hazy sky

  06-04-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Shropshire Hills A vocal flock of linnets add their song to a spring day on the commonA choir of birds flew over Clee Liberty. Their voices sharply urgent, excited. Once perched in a tree all facing north, they fell silent. Apart from a bounding flight and ardent voices, their distinguishing marks were dark streaks that fell across their bodies like the shadows reaching across fields from great oaks in the valley below. The birds were female linnets, I think, birds that Aristotle could not ident
  
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• Queensland tree clearing blamed for dramatic rise in wildlife needing rescue

  06-04-2016 05:59 via theguardian.com
  
  Wildlife rescue numbers more than doubled over three years in which land-clearing laws were relaxed by the former Liberal National state governmentWildlife carers have blamed a surge in tree clearing in Queensland for a dramatic rise in the number of native animals needing rescue. Figures from the RSPCA show wildlife rescue numbers swelled to 18,413 in 2014-15, more than doubling over three years in which land-clearing laws were relaxed by the former Liberal National government. Continue reading
  
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• Mexico City smog alert forces 40 pct of cars off the road

  06-04-2016 04:12
  
  MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico City authorities doubled the number of cars that must stay off the streets Wednesday as the city headed into a second day of a pollution alert decreed because smog is at 1½ times acceptable limits.
  
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• 'Monster' alligator is shot in Florida

  06-04-2016 03:35 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A hunter in the US tells the BBC how he shot an 800lb (360kg) "monster alligator" that was feasting on his farm's cattle.
  
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• French minister invites Elon Musk to turn nuclear site into Tesla factory

  06-04-2016 02:59 via theguardian.com
  
  Outspoken energy minister Ségolène Royal has told Musk of her vision to transform France’s oldest nuclear site into a Tesla factory: ‘Who dares, wins’French energy minister Ségolène Royal has suggested to Tesla founder Elon Musk that he build an electric car factory on the site of France’s oldest nuclear reactor after it closes at the end of the year, AFP reported on Tuesday. French President Francois Hollande has pledged to close down the Fess
  
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• CSIRO cuts were about taking focus off 'public-good research', emails show

  06-04-2016 02:20 via theguardian.com
  
  Internal emails reveal motivation behind decision to cut climate research and cast doubt on assertions made by executives to Senate committeeThe CSIRO’s decision to sack about 120 climate scientists was motivated by an intention to move some of the organisation’s focus from science done in the public good towards science that makes money, internal emails suggest.The internal decision-making process behind the CSIRO’s decision to cut its climate research has been revealed in a 7
  
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• Insight - U.S., Iran keep Iraqi PM in place as he challenges ruling elite

  06-04-2016 02:17
  By Stephen Kalin and Maher Chmaytelli BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United States and Iran have formed an unlikely tacit alliance behind Iraq's prime minister as he challenges the ruling elite with plans for a non-political cabinet to fight corruption undermining the OPEC nation's economic and political stability. Local calls for Haider al-Abadi's removal -- including one by his predecessor as prime minister Nuri al-Maliki -- had been growing as he pursued a reshuffle aimed at addressing graft, which
  
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• Good news for the world's tiger populations!

  06-04-2016 01:34 via feedproxy.google.com
  It’s estimated that there are as few as 3,200 tigers left in the wild — that’s nearly a 97 percent loss in wild tigers over just a century. However, scientists are now saying that the world’s tiger population can double by 2022. 
  
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• Coalmining does more harm than good, say majority in NSW – poll

  06-04-2016 01:20 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: ReachTEL poll shows 56.5% of people in state think coalmining has a negative effect, up 9.5 percentage points since 2013A shift in opinion in New South Wales has left the majority of residents believing coal does more harm than good, and continuing to think the state government isn’t doing enough to protect farms and water from mining and fracking.
  The ReachTEL polling of 1,190 residents in NSW, commissioned by the Nature Conservation Council of NSW, shows a switch in opinion on
  
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• Is world's greenest office also smart?

  06-04-2016 01:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The building is high tech but are the workers on board?
  
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• Half of world heritage sites threatened by development, says WWF

  06-04-2016 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Charity concludes that at least 114 of 229 world heritage sites of outstanding importance for species and habitats are at risk from mining and other activitiesClose to half of the sites around the world designated for special protection as areas of outstanding importance for nature are now being threatened by industrial development, a new survey has shown.
  The sites, which include Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the Grand Canyon in the US, and China’s giant panda sanctuaries in Szech
  
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