Environment news

• No big freeze in electric vehicles | Letters

  04-03-2018 18:49 via theguardian.com
  Cat Burton, Steve Emsley and Geoff Williams on using the car batteries to turn up the heat in their electric vehicles when neededI had to laugh at John Richards’s worry about people freezing in stuck electric vehicles because their batteries would run down in “no time” while those in a petrol car could run their heater (Letters, 3 March). Running the heated seats and climate control for about seven hours costs about three miles of range for my Tesla and it’s pro
  
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• Nature and culture must be balanced in our national parks | Letters

  04-03-2018 18:49 via theguardian.com
  Fiona Howie, Tom Greeves, Andrew Gilruth and Amanda Anderson respond to George Monbiot’s article on reclaiming our national parksGeorge Monbiot raises some legitimate concerns about the management of parts of our national parks (Here’s a novel idea: protecting wildlife in our national parks, 28 February) but to write off all 15 of them entirely is nonsense.Monbiot says: “Much of the land in our national parks is systematically burned.” But they are more than just moorland
  
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• Lobbying by MPs forced government to back off on land-clearing enforcement

  04-03-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Environment department originally wrote to landowners asking them to show why planned clearing was not illegal, but later reversed course Attempts by the federal government to stop potentially unlawful clearing in Queensland were reversed after political intervention, with a highly unusual apology letter sent to every landholder suspected of planning unlawful clearing at the direct request of the minister, documents obtained by the Guardian under FOI laws reveal.In December 2015 and January 2016
  
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• Government apologised to landholders suspected of planning unlawful clearing

  04-03-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Environment department originally wrote to 51 landowners asking them to show why planned clearing was not illegal, but later reversed course after lobbying from Queensland MPsAttempts by the federal government to stop potentially unlawful clearing in Queensland were reversed after political intervention, with a highly unusual apology letter sent to every landholder suspected of planning unlawful clearing at the direct request of the minister, documents obtained by the Guardian under FOI laws rev
  
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• 'Global deforestation hotspot': 3m hectares of Australian forest to be lost in 15 years

  04-03-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Threatened species, pressure on Great Barrier Reef and climate change all worsened by full-blown land-clearing crisisAustralia is in the midst of a full-blown land-clearing crisis. Projections suggest that in the two decades to 2030, 3 million hectares of untouched forest will have been bulldozed in eastern Australia.The crisis is driven primarily by a booming livestock industry but is ushered in by governments that fail to introduce restrictions and refuse to apply existing restrictions. Contin
  
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• 'Deeply regret': Australia's apology to landholders suspected of planning unlawful clearing

  04-03-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Reversal came after political intervention by the Queensland governmentAttempts by the federal government to stop potentially unlawful clearing in Queensland were reversed after political intervention, with a highly unusual apology letter sent to every landholder suspected of planning unlawful clearing at the direct request of the minister, documents obtained by the Guardian under FOI laws reveal.In December 2015 and January 2016, the federal department of environment took the exceptional step o
  
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• The death of diesel: can struggling industry woo back consumers?

  04-03-2018 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Amid fears about pollution, penalties and bans, buyers are abandoning diesel cars in drovesNo customers were troubling the Jaguar showroom in Welwyn Garden City on Friday, at the start of what is usually its busiest month.Even one with a car on order had not turned up in the snow, said Mark Lavery, chief executive of Cambria Automobiles, looking at a £75,000 Jaguar coupe: “She doesn’t want to spoil an F-type with all that salt on the roads.” Continue reading...
  
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• Jaguars killed for fangs to supply growing Chinese medicine trade

  04-03-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Demand from Chinese workers raises demand for skin and body parts of endangered speciesConservationists who have uncovered a growing illegal trade in jaguar fangs in South America are linking it to Chinese construction projects that could be threatening wildlife globally.Experts say major Chinese power plant, road and rail works in developing nations are key stimulants of illicit trade in the skins, bones and horns of endangered animals. Continue reading...
  
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• With more efficient homes, the UK would never fear running short of gas

  04-03-2018 07:59 via theguardian.com
  Last week’s brief but unnervingshortfall was a reminder, if any were needed, of the central importance of energy efficiencyCarry on cooking as normal, the energy minister said. This is how the market works, said industry experts, as the wholesale price of gas rocketed 200% in the wake of National Grid’s warning on Thursday that the country was facing a gas shortfall. In other words, don’t panic, nothing to see here.To an extent, they’re right. In the short term the UK was
  
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• Badger cull faces review as bovine TB goes on rising

  04-03-2018 01:05 via theguardian.com
  Campaigners want inquiry into overall strategy to examine how effective culling has beenThe government is to review the controversial badger cull as part of an inquiry into its strategy to clamp down on bovine TB.The review raises the possibility that experts conducting it will examine disputed evidence about the cull’s efficacy, potentially paving the way for a change in policy. Continue reading...
  
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• Secret penguin supercolony find is a joy. Now for their protection | Lucy Siegle

  04-03-2018 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Last week’s discovery now needs to be accompanied by a marine protected area, allowing the penguins to exist in peaceWarning: the drone footage of the discovery of a “supercolony” of Adélie penguins, released by researchers last week, is addictive. The finding, based on penguin guano originally noticed on satellite imagery, led to a penguin census in the region using drone-based cameras before teams were sent in to the region. It’s a story of hope. Adélie pe
  
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• Plastic is so over. So why do some fashion houses still treat it as cool? | Lucy Siegle

  04-03-2018 01:01 via theguardian.com
  The catwalk positively oozes fossil fuel just as we begin to uncouple our lives from itAt the risk of sounding naively optimistic, there have been days when it’s felt like the enthusiasm to push back on avoidable plastic waste is unquenchable. There are moments when it seems possible that we can ward off the day when there are more bits of plastic in the sea than fish – currently slated for 2050 unless we change our ways. Certainly there’s unprecedented interest in uncoupling o
  
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