Graham Readfearn

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Graham Readfearn |Adam Morton

Labor and the Coalition have been accused of going to the election on a “unity ticket” ignoring Australia’s main contribution to the climate crisis after a report revealed thermal coal exports reached record levels in the final quarter last year. Government data shows the country shipped a record amount – 57m tonnes – of coal for burning in overseas power plants between October and December. It is the highest recorded for a three-month period.

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Graham Readfearn Environment |Graham Readfearn

Support for Australia’s ongoing ban on nuclear energy has risen sharply since Peter Dutton made the issue a central plank of Coalition energy policy, according to the country’s largest independent survey on climate change and energy. The survey also found fewer people thought any benefits of nuclear power outweighed the risks compared with the previous year.

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Lisa Cox |Graham Readfearn

A common agricultural pesticide caused the mass deaths of 200 little corellas across Newcastle in March, the New South Wales environment watchdog has confirmed. The Environment Protection Authority said toxicology tests had detected the presence of barley grain and the pesticide fenitrothion in all the deceased birds. Fenitrothion is a pesticide commonly used in agriculture to control insect pests.

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Graham Readfearn

Australian energy company Woodside will spend $18bn on a new liquified natural gas (LNG) project in the US that one advocacy group said would add 1.6bn tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over its 40-year life. Climate advocates said the announcement, made the week before Woodside’s annual general meeting, would put further pressure on the company after a major rebuke from shareholders last year over its emissions plan.

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Graham Readfearn

Labor’s campaign spokesperson, frontbencher Jason Clare, claimed on Monday that CSIRO had put a $600bn price tag on the Coalition’s plans to build taxpayer-funded nuclear reactors at seven sites. “Have a look at the work that the CSIRO has done that proves that this will cost $600bn. It won’t turn a light on for 20 years. It’ll only produce about 4% of the energy that Australia is going to need,” Clare told ABC Radio National.