A TRUE ANTI-ZERO According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Scott Morrison has declared that he is not concerned about the future impact of net zero emissions targets set by four of our top trading partners — China, Britain, South Korea and Japan — on Australia’s fossil fuel industry or domestic targets. While a number of those countries have also gone hard on post-COVID green stimulus programs — i.e. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who just yesterday outlined a 2050 net zero target and also announced a US$61.9 billion Green New Deal in July — Morrison has effectively rebuffed a direct call from Boris Johnston to take “bold action” on climate change and looks set to remain on his gas-led recovery designed by gas executives. The news comes as The Australian ($) reports that ANZ will today announce “the most ambitious net zero emissions action of the big four banks and adopt climate change as a condition of lending”, a plan that will increase pressure on businesses, construction firms, and farmers to establish low-carbon transition plans by next year. Elsewhere, The Age reports that Victorians who lost their homes in the Black Summer bushfires are calling for a massive expansion of the state’s fleet of aerial water bombers and for governments to take the threat of global warming as seriously as they are taking COVID-19. Finally, on the international front, RenewEconomy reports that analysis led by Stanford University futurist Tony Seba has found that 100% clean electricity from solar, wind, and batteries is both physically possible and economically affordable across America and “the overwhelming majority of other populated regions of the world” by 2030. PS: If you are at all curious about the types of people Australian governments are interested in appeasing, The Guardian reports that Adani has hired a private investigator to spy on the wife and daughter of Brisbane activist Ben Pennings. |