Opinion:

¶ “Can Trump undo Obama’s policies?” • The environmental achievements under Obama are considerable, and Trump can’t vanquish them with a snap of his fingers. Many power plants have already taken steps to rein in toxic pollutants. Obama’s clean car rules have already stood up in court. But Trump has many options. [The Colorado Independent]

US wind farm (Credit: Mathias Appel, Creative Commons, Flickr)

¶ “Smart Energy Storage Gives Building Owners Control of Electricity Expenses” • In the past, we’ve traditionally overbuilt supply to maintain electric system reliability. We are supporting trillions of dollars of infrastructure that is not normally used. Getting past this with energy storage will bring financial benefits. [cre.tech]

World:

¶ The town of Newstead, Victoria is seeking proposals from potential project partners who could help refine its plan to reach 100% renewable energy in 5 years. The town, with a population…

Torness Nuclear Power Station is around 30 miles from Edinburgh.

According to French State owned EDF, owner-operator of the UK’s nuclear reactors, Torness nuclear power station unit one, 33 miles from Edinburgh Scotland, automatically shut down on Tuesday, 22 November, at 8.45 AM “due to an increase in seaweed levels as a result of the weather conditions in the area. We are currently monitoring the weather and the seaweed levels… We know that at certain times of year particular weather conditions in this part of the Forth Estuary can lead to increased seaweed volumes which can enter the station’s cooling water intake system. Our staff are trained to respond in this situation, and to take the plant offline if necessary. In addition, the plant’s safety systems monitor conditions like this will take the unit offline automatically, should levels rise beyond prescribed settings,…” EDF further notes that Torness has operated…

“By removing this tricky “back end problem” of where to store the waste Australian taxpayers can really assist foreign investors to make more money”

It’s not simply a matter however of digging a best-of-breed hole with the taxpayer bearing 100 per cent of the cost – and sanctioned by a cost-benefit analysis focused on benefits but not costs.

The nuclear dump proposal probably couldn’t have got where it is today without the helpful influence of UCL Australia, the “international campus” of the University College London, which is located in Adelaide.

This university campus was started in 2008 with helpful funding from BHP (Olympic Dam – the world’s largest known deposit of uranium in South Australia) and Santos.

Visit Australia, home of the world’s nuclear waste dump! http://www.michaelwest.com.au/visit-australia-home-of-the-worlds-nuclear-waste-dump/  November 23, 2016  “Come visit Australia, home of the world’s nuclear waste dump!”

It’s got a ring about it, no…

“Bolivians have to be prepared for the worst.” — President Evo Morales.

*****

Like many countries, Bolivia relies on its glaciers and large lakes to supply water during the lean, dry times. But as Bolivia has heated with the rest of the world, those key stores of frozen and liquid water have dwindled and dried up. Warming has turned the country’s second largest lake into a parched bed of hardening soil. This heat has made the country’s largest lake a shadow of its former expanse and depth. It has forced Bolivia’s glaciers into a full retreat up the tips of its northern mountains — reducing the key Chacaltaya glacier to naught. Multiple reservoirs are now bone-dry. And, for hundreds of thousands of people, the only source of drinking water is from trucked-in shipments.

Drought Emergency Declared for Bolivia

After decades of worsening drought and following a strong 2014-2016…

Science and Technology:

¶ Many species will not be able to adapt fast enough to survive climate change, say scientists. A study of more than 250 plants and animals suggests their ability to adapt to changes in rainfall and temperature will be vastly outpaced. Amphibians, reptiles and plants are particularly vulnerable. And tropical species are at higher risk. [BBC]

Tropical species may be particularly vulnerable.
(Thinkstock image)

World:

¶ Morgan Stanley has released a new report estimating that electric car sales will increase become 10 to 15% of the global new car market by 2025. Though the US may look to abandon its rules, every other civilized country has its own in place, and they require auto manufacturers to lower the emissions dramatically within a few years. [CleanTechnica]

¶ There has been a significant advancement in tidal energy this month with a single massive tidal turbine…

By George Monbiot

The failure to get to grips with our crises, by all mainstream political parties, is likely to lead to a war between the major powers in my lifetime.

Wave the magic wand and the problem goes away.

Those pesky pollution laws, carbon caps and clean-power plans: swish them away and the golden age of blue-collar employment will return. This is Donald Trump’s promise, in his video message on Monday, in which the US president-elect claimed that unleashing coal and fracking would create “many millions of high-paid jobs”.

He will tear down everything to make it come true.

But it won’t come true. Even if we ripped the world to pieces in the search for full employment, leaving no mountain unturned, we would not find it.

Instead, we would merely jeopardise the prosperity – and the lives – of people everywhere.

However slavishly governments grovel to corporate Luddism…

Taking traditional coal power out of our energy mix and replacing it with cleaner technologies will significantly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, improve the health of Canadians, and benefit generations for years to come. —  Canada’s Environment Minister Kathleen McKenna

Make no mistake – Trump and his legion of doom cronies are a very real threat to the environment. Apart from the fact that they deny climate change actually exists, they are also quite big fans of coal. — IFL Science

Failure to build a low-carbon economy puts American prosperity at risk. But the right action now will create jobs and boost U.S. competitiveness. — 365 U.S. Companies in an open letter to Trump asking him not to back out of Paris Climate Summit.

Climate change is a hoax. — Myron Ebell, whom Trump tapped to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency transition team.

*****

The wide-ranging…