RENEWED CONCERNS
A fifth of Australia’s biggest coal, gas, and oil facilities emit loads more greenhouse gases than they said they would, Guardian Australia reports. Origin’s LNG Pipeline is emitting between 1800-2000% of what it estimated before it was greenlit, according to a report by the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), while Chevron’s Gorgon gas development in WA emits more than even its worst-case scenario — an eye-watering 16 million tonnes more carbon dioxide than they told the state government they would.
It comes as tech billionaire Mike Cannon–Brookes says electricity prices would be lower if he took over AGL Energy and closed coal plants faster — but he’s not revealing the modelling, the AFR reports. But he says two things will ensure market stability: the fact that coal-fired power plants would get 3.5 years notice to close, and the five-minute settlement rule change brought in last year. Que? Well, the five-minute settlement allows households or business to easily switch their energy usage if the price is surging, Blue NRG explains. It’s a lot harder to turn off the fridge and air conditioner during a 30-minute high price period — but easy to do so for five minutes.
But Australia’s largest single electricity consumer is sounding the alarm bell over fears of spotty renewable power generation, The Australian ($) reports. Tomago Aluminum has run 24 hours a day since 1983, but had 40 hours of interruptions last June because of “price volatility” reportedly linked to power plant outages at the same time as a wind drought. CEO Matt Howell has committed to going renewable by 2028, conceding the “significant transition already underway in the National Electricity Market”, but says he’s worried about renewable droughts (where there’s low or no wind at night, for example).
[free_worm]
RUSSIA SANCTIONED
Russia has now moved nearly 100% of troops into position for invasion, according to the US. The US has warned Ukraine that an all-out attack is imminent. Estimates on impending refugee numbers are as high as 5 million now. Ukraine’s banks, parliamentary websites, cabinet ministers, and security service were all hit by a cyber attack yesterday, according to the government. These are the key overnight developments according to The Guardian’s live blog.
Back home, Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s economic sanctions against Russia are “only the start”, the PM has warned. The New Daily reports we’ve put sanctions on several Russian banks, targeted the finances of the elite Russian security council, and are fast-tracking visas for Ukrainians. Where the UK targeted people associated with President Vladimir Putin’s wealth, as BBC reports, we targeted people with political allegiance to him — eight members of the security council, Putin’s “inner circle”, one expert says. They basically sign off all major decisions about Russia’s national security. Is it going to make a difference? Maybe not — but as it’s just beginning, we probably haven’t shown our hand yet.
If you’re wondering how we got here, ABC has published a cracking explainer overnight. It suggests that, while “some analysts say Putin is playing a game of 3D chess with the West, others insist the leader has become irrational and isolated during the pandemic”. His resistance to NATO and longing for the Soviet era aside, perhaps 69-year-old Putin is just thinking about how to create a personal legacy, how to become a protagonist in Russian history, one expert told The New York Times. The main character in a devastating epic.
WEST PRACTICE?
Two-thirds of Western Australians say it was a good thing the state delayed its February reopening date, according to a new poll as WA Today reports. It comes as the isolated state prepares to throw open the doors on March 3. The survey spoke to 1604 people about the hard border — just 38% of the nation agreed with Premier Mark McGowan cancelling the February 5 reopening date, compared to 64% of Western Australians.
Interestingly, McGowan has committed to doing seven days of “self-imposed” quarantine when he returns from a court appearance in Sydney next month — even though he doesn’t have to. The West’s ($) Peter Law called it “up there with the silliest episodes of the pandemic”, saying if everyone else can do quarantine-free interstate travel (for the vaccinated only) then why couldn’t the premier?
But something in McGowan’s approach works — even though his approval rating has fallen to 64% ($), he’s still fairly popular in the west — to the point where last October, Prime Minister Scott Morrison literally assured voters the upcoming election was between Morrison and Labor Leader Anthony Albanese, not their Labor Premier McGowan, as AFR reported at the time. Morrison also supported McGowan delaying the hard border reopening, as ABC reports, a rare alignment considering the pair’s frosty relationship. The PM’s complimentary tone was aeons away from Morrison’s comparison between WA and cavemen in August, as news.com.au reported.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE
Do you ever meet the gaze of a beady-eyed bird out your window and think: you serve no god? That you would peck my nose right off my face for one-quarter of this hot, buttered, honey toast? Perhaps they have more empathy than we think. Researchers at the University of the Sunshine Coast attached tiny tracking backpacks weighing one gram to five magpies to learn more about the birds’ movements and social dynamics. But researchers were blown away by what happened next. The magpies started helping each other ease the backpacks off in some sort of cooperative rescue effort.
Magpies are known as both intelligent and social creatures, but researchers say it’s the first time they’ve shown purely altruistic behaviour. That is, helping others with no tangible reward (like a treat). And it’s not like the packs were easy to remove, Dominique Potvin writes in The Conversation. They were magnetised. “To remove the harness, one needed that magnet, or some really good scissors,” she writes. The rescue began after just 10 measly minutes — an older female removed the backpack of a younger one, and within hours, most had helped each other get free. Potvin says it required two things: problem-solving the specific bits to snip, and standing still as one graciously accepts help — perhaps the hardest part of all!
Wishing you a little acuity today too, folks.
SAY WHAT?
Look where the ball bounced, 8-6 in the tiebreak, for f***’s sake. It’s f***ing your line. You’re a f***ing idiot … You f***ing destroyed the whole f***ing match! The whole f***ing match!
Alexander Zverev
The no. 3 German tennis star was thrown out of the singles tournament at the Mexican Open in Acapulco after his expletive-laden outburst at the umpire, who nearly copped a shin whack from his racquet. Zverev has since apologised.
CRIKEY RECAP
Clotting risk overhyped: studies show AstraZeneca safer than reported
“Two new UK-based studies released this morning found that the increased risk of rare blood clots associated with the vaccine affected just 0.9–3 in 1 million people, while blood clots in the brain affected one in 4 million people.
“According to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), across the 13.7 million doses of the vaccine administered in Australia, there were 172 cases of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), with 88 of these cases confirmed to be linked to the vaccine. But experts say these figures don’t show the whole story.”
Telegram, loved by conspiracy theorists, now a battleground in Russia-Ukraine conflict
“Metadata in the video — which is stripped when a user uploads content to most major platforms like Facebook and Twitter but not Telegram — revealed that the video was actually filmed two days before, February 16.
“This announcement wasn’t an emergency response to a current event but a carefully scripted misinformation effort to lay the groundwork for a Russian incursion. Telegram is an unusual tech platform … Despite having just 30 staff, it claims the app has been downloaded more than a billion times and has 500 million monthly active users.”
New tsar’s aggression wrecks the NATO myth for left and foreign policy realists
“Nor is this ‘it’s all our fault’ line confined to the left. It can also find a home in conservative journals like The Spectator, read by people who regard Putin as the kind of tough-minded authoritarian that the flabby liberal West could do with.
“Thomas ‘suck on this‘ Friedman, long the court jester of neoconservatism who once urged us all to ‘keep rootin’ for Putin‘, echoed this sentiment with his hot take yesterday that the US and NATO are also to blame. It’s also a line beloved of self-described foreign policy ‘realists’ who like to think they only respond to how the world is.”
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Woman found dead in car and 10 people missing after Queensland floods (SBS)
Billionaire’s plan for NZ’s tallest building back on track (NZ Herald)
Ukraine crisis: What sanctions have been imposed on Russia? (Al Jazeera)
How China under Xi Jinping is turning away from the world (The New York Times)
As Britain scraps free mass testing, Hong Kong will swab its entire population (CNN)
Israel fires missiles on border positions inside Syria (Al Jazeera)
Climate scientists warn of a ‘global wildfire crisis’ (The New York Times)
Europe could see out winter on gas reserves if Russian imports stop, says German analysis (The Guardian)
THE COMMENTARIAT
Beware power of the woke cowboy capitalists — Peta Credlin (The Australian) ($): “A chronic power crisis has been averted for the moment by AGL’s rejection of the Cannon–Brookes bid, but he’s not going away and what it has highlighted is the danger of companies being taken over for political rather than business reasons. The bottom line is that an essential service such as electricity shouldn’t be hostage to a woke billionaire on a vanity project. Normally, where Cannon-Brookes or anyone else wants to put their money would be entirely up to them.
“If he wants to sink his money into developing new renewable power sources, good luck to him (although subsidies should be abolished). But no one should be allowed to jeopardise an essential service to make a political point. Back in 2011, two leftist millionaires bought the Triabunna wood chip mill in Tasmania to keep it closed. That was the start of a trend: very rich people using their money to manipulate society, whether it’s Clive Palmer spending millions on advertising in an attempt to buy votes to stack the parliament or Cannon-Brookes trying to buy an energy company to stop it producing energy.”
Forget the obsession with sanctions against oligarchs. I have a better way to hurt Putin — Angus Roxburgh (The Guardian): “Russia’s ruling class — the members of the Duma, the Senate, the presidential council, the top echelons of the security and defence services, top state television employees — is several thousands strong. These men (and some women) draft, rubber-stamp, promote and carry out Putin’s decisions. Some of them also — unlike the oligarchs — actually advise him. Being a member of the Duma or Senate is a pretty cushy number …
“Members of the presidential council are civil servants, essential for the preparation of legislation. The security services play crucial roles in executing Putin’s vision. And TV propagandists spread disinformation. These are the people to target … Most of these people love to travel to Europe and the US. They educate their children here. They own properties here. The members of the Russian elite, their families and children, love to swan around on yachts, ski slopes and fine hotels in the west, posting pictures of themselves on Instagram.”
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE
WHAT’S ON TODAY
Online
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Inventor Saul Griffith explains what it would take to transform our infrastructure, update our grid, and adapt our households in a webinar for the Australia Institute.
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Digital Economy Minister Jane Hume will speak on the Consumer Data Right and Australia’s strategy for the digital economy at a CEDA event.
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The Grattan Institute and State Library of Victoria are holding a panel discussion about the institute’s “Making Time for Great Teaching” report.
Yuggera Country (also known as Brisbane)
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Influencer Allira Potter is launching her new book Wild & Witchy at Avid Reader. You can also catch this one online.
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