Shooters jump gun in pushing for hunting in more national parks
Ben Cubby THE Premier, Barry O'Farrell, has poured cold water on the aspirations of the Shooters and Fishers Party, which wants to expand recreational hunting to cover most of the state's national parks.
Carbon shown to rise as trees replace tundra
Ben Cubby In a surprise finding, researchers have shown that as trees start to grow closer to the North Pole, replacing once-barren tundra, they release more greenhouse gases than they absorb.
Arctic plant growth 'could speed up global warming'
Ben Cubby As trees start to grow closer to the North Pole they release more greenhouse gases than they absorb, research shows.
Coal seam effluent salts sewerage
Ben Cubby A COAL seam gas company has disposed of more than a million litres of dirty water at a sewage treatment plant in northern NSW, breaching the plant's licence conditions, the NSW Environment Protection...
Nation now 'indifferent' to environment
Ben Cubby CONCERN for the environment has dwindled into a ''middling'' issue that many people do not have strong feelings about, a major study into Australian attitudes towards society, politics and the...
Koalas to be listed as threatened amid rapid decline
Ben Cubby KOALAS are expected to be listed as a threatened species across parts of Australia from Monday, and some environment groups claim the government has excluded the marsupial from protection in certain...
Chemicals may be cause of gender bending fish
Ben Cubby SYNTHETIC chemicals being released into rivers and bays around the coast could be forcing fish to become more feminine, researchers say.
Soil, not radiation, made workers ill
Ben Cubby THE FIVE road workers who fell ill after digging up an unknown substance at the edge of the Pacific Highway near Port Macquarie were apparently not affected by radiation, or by toxic chemicals, but...
Miners get $4b in direct subsidies, says think tank
Ben Cubby THE federal government gives just over $4 billion in direct subsidies to mining companies each year, mainly in the form of cheap fuel and tax breaks for building roads and railways, a report by the...
Greenhouse gas emissions still on the rise, data shows
Ben Cubby AUSTRALIA'S greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise last year, driven by an increase in vehicle use and gases leaking from coalmines, federal government data show.
Forecasts of power bill rises spark war of words
Anna Patty, Ben Cubby POWER bills will rise between $182 and $338 a year from July 1, figures from the state's independent price regulator show, sparking a war of words between the state and federal governments over the...
Geo-engineering 'a risk' in climate change battle
Ben Cubby ATTEMPTS to slow down climate change by large-scale geo-engineering present ''serious risks'' and are unlikely to replace the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions, Australia's chief scientist has...
Possum magic: national park sightings suggest glider is back after bushfires
Ben Cubby EIGHTEEN years after huge bushfires destroyed much of the Royal National Park, the area's biggest native mammal has finally returned.
Love of a sunburnt country a boon for solar set
Ben Cubby THE humble city of Dubbo has emerged as the solar power capital of Australia, with more than a quarter of the houses in one postcode generating their own electricity from rooftop panels.
Climate Commission finds growing support for action
Ben Cubby PEOPLE feel starved of solid information about climate change and are unsure about what practical measures are being taken to deal with it, data gathered over the past year by the federal...
One-night stand: more than a billion switch off
Ben Cubby WELL over a billion people turned off their lights for Earth Hour on Saturday night, in 150 nations and territories around the world, making it the largest voluntary event of its kind.
Campaign to ban eggs from battery farms
Ben Cubby A campaign to put an end to battery-hen egg production in Australia will begin today, with environmentalists targeting supermarkets and asking consumers to boycott non free-range eggs.
Light idea now shared by a billion
Ben Cubby MORE than a billion people will switch of their lights at 8.30 tonight as a symbol of their commitment to tackle human-induced climate change.
Swap to greener street lights LED by Sydney
Ben Cubby SYDNEY is about to become the first city in Australia to be lit by energy-saving LED lights, with 6450 bulbs to be replaced in streetlights over coming months.
Electricity agency admits using herbicide in national park
Ben Cubby THE state electricity agency TransGrid has admitted its contractors sprayed herbicide across a swathe of wilderness in the Kosciuszko National Park, scarring the landscape and killing thousands of...