Ryan Cropp

Anti-renewables group rebrands after racking up $600k legal bill A legal stoush with a wind company backed by Andrew Forrest has bankrupted a controversial conservation group. But its campaign against renewables lives on.

Only half the story
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Anti-renewables group rebrands after racking up $600k legal bill A legal stoush with a wind company backed by Andrew Forrest has bankrupted a controversial conservation group. But it’s campaign against renewables lives on.

In August 2024, one of Australia’s most controversial environmental groups launched a bold legal challenge to an Andrew Forrest-backed wind project in northern Queensland. Just more than 18 months and $600,000 later, the organisation – technically – no longer exists.

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Businesses demand rethink of Victorian offshore wind plan A top industry group says a failure to build renewables at pace and on budget in Victoria would impose a “terrible cost” to consumers and businesses.

Industrial energy users are pushing the Victorian government to rethink its plan to replace the state’s ageing coal generators with large offshore wind farms, which they say could impose major costs to households and businesses compared to alternative options.

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The vacant lot at the heart of Labor’s battery manufacturing dream An empty field at an old coal-fired power station is all that remains of plans to build a high-tech battery manufacturing hub in Queensland.

An empty field at an old coal-fired power station is all that remains of plans to build a high-tech battery manufacturing hub in Queensland.

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‘Not now or never’: Crisafulli spruiks Queensland climate slowdown The Queensland premier says rapid cuts to the state’s carbon emissions would be “economic and environmental stupidity”.

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli says his government’s plan to sweat coal plants and roll back other emissions reduction initiatives reflects the majority views of ordinary Australians and should be a model for other centre-right parties around the country.

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Same goes for energy. ‘We can do it all better, cheaper and faster’ would work better than ‘we have no policies’

Queensland delays emissions plans by up to five years A rollback of climate policies in Queensland could require other states to find as much as 9 per cent of new emissions reductions to meet federal targets.

Queensland government coming in from the long run up on climate policy
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“every electron put into the grid arguably makes what is already there (including Loy Yang B) less attractive, so we’re relying on an investor to cut their own lunch.”

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Australia leading the world for cancelled green hydrogen projects

40m litres a day: water utilities’ data centre warning Businesses say minimum efficiency standards are needed to manage the demands of the booming artificial intelligence industry.

Individual data centres proposed for Australia’s major cities are seeking daily water volumes equivalent to that used by 80,000 homes, prompting utilities to demand stricter rules and water efficiency standards for the huge new facilities.

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That’s right: incredible news fodder

Everyone is getting upset about the data centers. They pollute a lot and use a lot of energy and will eventually be very ugly/huge vacant buildings. And I understand being mad about that. Until you consider the state of the lazer tag industry at this moment, and how much help that sector needs.

Why Australia needs to build things (and build them fast) On its own, this week’s long-awaited overhaul of cumbersome green tape laws won’t solve our energy and housing woes. But it’s a good start.

On its own, this week’s long-awaited overhaul of cumbersome green tape laws won’t solve Australia’s energy and housing woes. But it’s a good start.

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Green projects held up by objectors hundreds of kilometres away Small groups of anti-renewables campaigners are flooding the NSW planning approvals process with time-sapping objections, some not even from the mainland.

Ausgrid’s proposed Steel River battery, which is located next to a demolition business in an industrial estate in Newcastle, has received long-distance complaints about its alleged negative impacts on wildlife and farm animals.

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Not so good COP • Inside Story The latest UN climate summit was buffeted by geopolitical headwinds

“People who attend UN climate conferences are loathe to describe any of them as a failure.”

Michael Jacobs telling it straight here. There is now a powerful and organised global resistance to climate action. What is to be done?

insidestory.org.au/not-so-good-...

Me, aged 10: I am entering into a voluntary agreement to begin discussions on a roadmap to clean my room

Vice President lol

The speed at which climate people have pivoted from “Australia must host COP” to “actually it’s a good that we’re not hosting” is truly something to behold

Australia’s COP-out not all bad news, says government Privately, the government believes it has dodged a bullet domestically by ceding next year’s COP summit to Turkey.

Today - government confirms it has abandoned Adelaide option, cuts deal with Turkey to share presidency www.afr.com/politics/fed...

Albanese dumps Adelaide COP bid to make play for Pacific summit instead The Albanese government has offered to cede hosting rights to next year’s UN climate summit as long as a world leaders event is held in the Pacific Islands.

Tuesday night - Labor dumps Adelaide option, proposes to give summit to Turkey in exchange for a role for the Pacific

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Labor awaits SA funding support for $1b climate summit The Albanese government is locked in negotiations with South Australia over how to fund its $1 billion plan to host next year’s UN climate summit in Adelaide.

November 6 - federal government hasn’t agreed with SA over how to split costs for the summit

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COP that! $1b bill to host UN climate summit If Adelaide does win hosting rights for the next UN climate summit, the government says it does not want the event to be as large as some earlier gatherings.

Government estimates put the cost of hosting at more than $1 billion. Never denied by any government minister despite repeated questioning www.afr.com/politics/fed...

COP bid fraught with risk, warns former climate diplomat SA Premier Peter Malinauskas has bought a refundable ticket and says he will travel to Brazil “in a heartbeat” if it helps secure Adelaide’s attempt to host COP31.

SA Premier Peter Malinauskas buys a refundable ticket to Belém

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PM’s COP Brazil snub won’t hurt summit bid, says Labor The Albanese government says its decision to send a junior minister to next week’s COP30 leaders summit will not affect its bid to host next year’s event.

Government decides to send assistant minster Josh Wilson to leaders summit in place of PM www.afr.com/politics/fed...

PM unlikely to attend Brazil summit as COP bid teeters The prime minister is set to skip next week’s COP30 summit in Brazil, and Australia’s own bid to host the event is hanging in the balance.

Scoop on PM not planning to attend, denied by everyone
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‘It’s not dreaming, it’s dragging’: Inside Labor’s COP bid The government’s bid to host the COP31 climate summit is more than three years old. Just over a year out from the event, it still hasn’t secured it.

Big read on the bid in August, including interdepartmental tensions and lack of coordination between PMO, DFAT and DCEEWW

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Bowen defends summit bid as climate action anger mounts The Coalition and the Greens joined forces to put pressure on the government to act on an algal bloom that is killing untold numbers of marine wildlife.

About ten stories about the governments cautious response to the SA algal bloom environmental disaster in their proposed host city

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Australia loses top climate diplomat as COP bid on edge The Albanese government has left a key diplomatic post vacant as it scrambles to secure hosting rights for a major UN climate summit next year.

Australia’s top climate diplomat resigns and the role is left unfilled for several months

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Bowen in line for top global climate role Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen is a contender for one of the world’s top climate roles.

Select COP31 bid coverage by me and Phil Coorey over the last few months, in a thread:

Bowen in line to be COP President, May 6

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