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This Indigenous Community Created A New Blueprint To Fight Climate Change

News Feed
Wednesday, June 12, 2024

This past April, the Métis Nation held the first Youth Summit on Climate Change, highlighting and celebrating just how strong Métis activism still is. I was invited there to speak on a panel about how storytelling is, and has always been, an important tool for mitigating climate change and healing nature.At the summit, I was surrounded by brilliant Métis and First Nations youth activists from across Turtle Island, also known as North America. I felt immersed in the powerful energy of young minds gathering to collaborate, learn, and tell stories that reinforce our commitment to the environment.If you live south of the Canada-U.S. border, it’s entirely possible that you have not heard of the Métis peoples. Any time I’ve spoken this term after moving from Canada to New York City, I’ve been met with confused expressions, whether I’m talking to Natives or non-Natives.The purpose of the Youth Summit was to unveil the Climate Action Strategy that Métis governments across Canada and the Métis National Council had been developing for the past few years.Photo: Métis National CouncilThere was a time when Métis were referred to as halfbreeds. In the U.S., your right to Native identity is measured in blood quantum, a hotly debated concept that the measurement of how much “Indian blood” you have dictates the authenticity of your lineage. Traditional Native communities, however, practiced from kinship systems, which establish community through mutual obligation rather than blood relations. This means that tribes would “adopt” members, so to speak, based on community involvement.In Canada, a distinct cultural group emerged from Natives and European settlers having children together and building community. However, that doesn’t mean anyone with mixed European and Native heritage qualifies. The term “Métis” refers to a distinctive mixed peoples who developed their own customs, language, ways of life, cultural practices and recognizable group identity. There are no blood quantum requirements, but Métis rights holders must have ancestral connections to a historic Métis community.In 1982, Métis peoples were constitutionally recognized as a distinct Indigenous group, alongside the First Nations and Inuit. Originally, Métis were going to be left out of the new constitution because they were not federally recognized as Natives in the Indian Act, a piece of legislation created to control Indigenous peoples in Canada. But Indigenous activists from around the country gathered, demonstrated, and stormed Parliament, demanding recognition. Among those activists was my great-grandmother, waving her Métis flag across the country. Those activists fought against systems of erasure that have always tried to eradicate Indigenous peoples from our lands and extinguish our very existence.The Métis lived in the land that’s now Canada before it was named as such in 1867, and they served as liaisons at the heart of the fur trade, having a foot in both the European and Native worlds. They have always played a pivotal role in land protection and land conservation, and so the work done at the summit felt like an organic space for activism.“The impacts of climate change continue to be keenly felt by the Métis Nation,” said Cassidy Caron, president of the Métis National Council. “Now, more than ever, it is vital that we work together to protect and preserve the land, water, and air, and to develop and advance strategies to deal with the environmental issues that affect us all.”Outside of organizing, the purpose of the Youth Summit was to unveil the Climate Action Strategy that Métis governments across Canada and the Métis National Council had been developing for the past few years. From all over the country, Métis artists, activists, policy workers, local government officials and more all collaborated on plans to find and nurture clean and renewable energy, and encourage international advocacy and climate leadership.One immediate action item was the transition of infrastructure and energy systems to achieve net-zero carbon emission by 2050. Among the initiatives born out of this goal is the Métis Crossing Solar Project in Alberta’s Smoky Lake County ― a collaboration between MNA, the county, and the town of Smoky Lake. While most electricity grids are powered by generators fueled with coal and natural gas, this model for community-scale solar generation reduces greenhouse gas emissions through partnership with Indigenous communities.Métis science and technology adviser Brendan Struthers, who attended the summit, described to me some of the direct effects climate change has had on his community, which led him to relocate.“When I was young, minor events may have happened once every five years,” he told me. “Now, it’s an expectation that nearly every year we will experience a severe wildfire and/or drought. In the Okanagan, it’s now too difficult to live with the smoke, and I could no longer rely on the water because lake levels would be too low or not safe to fish.”The climate strategy aims to address these kinds of disruptions to everyday life ― Struthers’ experience is only one among a sea of people navigating this crisis. It’s an ugly truth that as much displacement as our communities have faced historically, there will be even more to come if our land is robbed of resources.We all walked away with something that made us feel empowered, even amid the chaos of the constant abuse of our planet: a plan to address climate change that is actionable and focused. Its five priorities are economic development and prosperity; nature stewardship; sustainable energy and infrastructure; emergency management and climate resilience; and health and well-being. Each priority outlines long-term outcomes and proposes a list of actions to achieve those goals, to be executed in tandem between community members and government officials.The entire creation of the strategy is a celebration of Métis collaboration and agency. After the climate conversations came parties and performances by members of the community. The artwork displayed at the summit was selected based on an art competition held by the Métis National Council.“I aspire for my artwork to encapsulate the urgency of strategizing against climate change,” said artist Teagan Neufeld, who designed the cover for the climate change action strategy. “We must unite to navigate the flames and emerge on the other side before the fire engulfs us all. I hope future generations will look back on their childhood with the same fondness for nature that I do. There is an abundance we must safeguard and advocate for.”

The Métis have always played a pivotal role in land protection and conservation. They're not about to slow down now.

This past April, the Métis Nation held the first Youth Summit on Climate Change, highlighting and celebrating just how strong Métis activism still is. I was invited there to speak on a panel about how storytelling is, and has always been, an important tool for mitigating climate change and healing nature.

At the summit, I was surrounded by brilliant Métis and First Nations youth activists from across Turtle Island, also known as North America. I felt immersed in the powerful energy of young minds gathering to collaborate, learn, and tell stories that reinforce our commitment to the environment.

If you live south of the Canada-U.S. border, it’s entirely possible that you have not heard of the Métis peoples. Any time I’ve spoken this term after moving from Canada to New York City, I’ve been met with confused expressions, whether I’m talking to Natives or non-Natives.

The purpose of the Youth Summit was to unveil the Climate Action Strategy that Métis governments across Canada and the Métis National Council had been developing for the past few years.

Photo: Métis National Council

There was a time when Métis were referred to as halfbreeds. In the U.S., your right to Native identity is measured in blood quantum, a hotly debated concept that the measurement of how much “Indian blood” you have dictates the authenticity of your lineage. Traditional Native communities, however, practiced from kinship systems, which establish community through mutual obligation rather than blood relations. This means that tribes would “adopt” members, so to speak, based on community involvement.

In Canada, a distinct cultural group emerged from Natives and European settlers having children together and building community. However, that doesn’t mean anyone with mixed European and Native heritage qualifies. The term “Métis” refers to a distinctive mixed peoples who developed their own customs, language, ways of life, cultural practices and recognizable group identity. There are no blood quantum requirements, but Métis rights holders must have ancestral connections to a historic Métis community.

In 1982, Métis peoples were constitutionally recognized as a distinct Indigenous group, alongside the First Nations and Inuit. Originally, Métis were going to be left out of the new constitution because they were not federally recognized as Natives in the Indian Act, a piece of legislation created to control Indigenous peoples in Canada. But Indigenous activists from around the country gathered, demonstrated, and stormed Parliament, demanding recognition. Among those activists was my great-grandmother, waving her Métis flag across the country. Those activists fought against systems of erasure that have always tried to eradicate Indigenous peoples from our lands and extinguish our very existence.

The Métis lived in the land that’s now Canada before it was named as such in 1867, and they served as liaisons at the heart of the fur trade, having a foot in both the European and Native worlds. They have always played a pivotal role in land protection and land conservation, and so the work done at the summit felt like an organic space for activism.

“The impacts of climate change continue to be keenly felt by the Métis Nation,” said Cassidy Caron, president of the Métis National Council. “Now, more than ever, it is vital that we work together to protect and preserve the land, water, and air, and to develop and advance strategies to deal with the environmental issues that affect us all.”

Outside of organizing, the purpose of the Youth Summit was to unveil the Climate Action Strategy that Métis governments across Canada and the Métis National Council had been developing for the past few years. From all over the country, Métis artists, activists, policy workers, local government officials and more all collaborated on plans to find and nurture clean and renewable energy, and encourage international advocacy and climate leadership.

One immediate action item was the transition of infrastructure and energy systems to achieve net-zero carbon emission by 2050. Among the initiatives born out of this goal is the Métis Crossing Solar Project in Alberta’s Smoky Lake County ― a collaboration between MNA, the county, and the town of Smoky Lake. While most electricity grids are powered by generators fueled with coal and natural gas, this model for community-scale solar generation reduces greenhouse gas emissions through partnership with Indigenous communities.

Métis science and technology adviser Brendan Struthers, who attended the summit, described to me some of the direct effects climate change has had on his community, which led him to relocate.

“When I was young, minor events may have happened once every five years,” he told me. “Now, it’s an expectation that nearly every year we will experience a severe wildfire and/or drought. In the Okanagan, it’s now too difficult to live with the smoke, and I could no longer rely on the water because lake levels would be too low or not safe to fish.”

The climate strategy aims to address these kinds of disruptions to everyday life ― Struthers’ experience is only one among a sea of people navigating this crisis. It’s an ugly truth that as much displacement as our communities have faced historically, there will be even more to come if our land is robbed of resources.

We all walked away with something that made us feel empowered, even amid the chaos of the constant abuse of our planet: a plan to address climate change that is actionable and focused. Its five priorities are economic development and prosperity; nature stewardship; sustainable energy and infrastructure; emergency management and climate resilience; and health and well-being. Each priority outlines long-term outcomes and proposes a list of actions to achieve those goals, to be executed in tandem between community members and government officials.

The entire creation of the strategy is a celebration of Métis collaboration and agency. After the climate conversations came parties and performances by members of the community. The artwork displayed at the summit was selected based on an art competition held by the Métis National Council.

“I aspire for my artwork to encapsulate the urgency of strategizing against climate change,” said artist Teagan Neufeld, who designed the cover for the climate change action strategy. “We must unite to navigate the flames and emerge on the other side before the fire engulfs us all. I hope future generations will look back on their childhood with the same fondness for nature that I do. There is an abundance we must safeguard and advocate for.”

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

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Labor must not partner with climate vandals on Australia’s new environmental laws | Tim Flannery

If the government cuts a deal with them, it risks repeating the mistakes of the Abbott era, sacrificing progress for politicsThis week the National Liberal Coalition has rewound the clock a decade. When Tony Abbott’s government abolished the Climate Commission in 2013, I knew it was a political act of climate vandalism. Abbott simply didn’t want to hear the facts: that pollution from coal, oil and gas were cooking our planet.For a decade after, denial evolved: from shouting that global heating wasn’t real, to claiming it could be solved later. Continue reading...

This week the National Liberal Coalition has rewound the clock a decade. When Tony Abbott’s government abolished the Climate Commission in 2013, I knew it was a political act of climate vandalism. Abbott simply didn’t want to hear the facts: that pollution from coal, oil and gas were cooking our planet.For a decade after, denial evolved: from shouting that global heating wasn’t real, to claiming it could be solved later.While the LNP wallows in denial, the Albanese government is rewriting Australia’s most important environment law, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. It’s critical that the PM doesn’t try to cut deals on this law with the same climate deniers who dismantled Australia’s climate ambition last time.The last few weeks we’ve seen on display a Liberal National Coalition dominated by climate vandals, repulsed by renewables and trapped in a toxic relationship with expensive, polluting coal and gas. For years they have pretended that denial is debate. Now the Liberal party has openly abandoned net zero emissions by 2050 altogether, essentially saying let climate disasters rip, and to hell with our kids. It is the same approach that tore down a carbon price, dismantled the Climate Commission and wasted a decade in which we could have been getting a head start on building Australian jobs in renewables, electric vehicle batteries and green steel.Let’s be clear: there is no credible reason to scrap our net zero target. The Liberal party’s decision would be laughable if it were not such a callous act of recklessness. Reaching net zero by 2050 or before has the overwhelming support of scientists, economists, industry, energy experts and governments around the world motivated by indisputable evidence. A sweeping majority of Australians, alongside peak business and civil bodies, back the target. All that is left is the stubborn ideologues shouting at the tide as it floods their front door.What does net zero emissions actually mean? And is it different to the Paris agreement? – videoTo hand such wreckers a say over the future of Australia’s environment laws would be madness. These are the same forces that unleashed a lost decade of climate inaction. The lesson from that period could not be clearer: when denialists set the terms, progress burns. That failure is only reinforced by the fossil fuel industry’s hold on our politics.For two years Labor has promised that this reform will be a once-in-a-generation fix to Australia’s broken nature laws. The Great Barrier Reef has experienced the sixth mass bleaching event in a decade, but the package will allow new coal and gas projects to be approved without any consideration of their climate impacts. Under the government’s plan, fossil fuel corporations would need to disclose only a fraction of their pollution and an unverified plan to reduce it, and even that information would not be used to influence a decision.The Albanese government has approved 32 new or expanded coal, oil and gas developments, including the North West Shelf expansion, Australia’s most polluting project in a decade. Together, these approvals will pump up to 12.8m tonnes of climate pollution into the atmosphere in Australia, making it harder for Australia to meet its own targets. The global impact is in the order of billions of tonnes of pollution.And 42 more projects are in the pipeline. Many would run well into the second half of this century, some even beyond 2100.Climate pollution is the biggest threat to our reefs, forests and wildlife. Any credible environment law must tackle it at its source. To claim the Safeguard Mechanism will sort it out later is folly. The Safeguard only applies after a project has been approved. It is like letting the arsonist start the fire, then hoping the firefighter can control it later. By then, the damage is under way.We cannot afford more delay. Every fraction of a degree of heating harms our environment – and all of us that rely on it. Every new tonne of pollution makes the task harder. Australia’s laws must ensure that high-polluting projects cannot be waved through.There is a better path. The government can still implement credible reform that increases protection for climate and nature, and without the now rejected ‘climate trigger’. That means three simple things. First, require all projects to fully disclose their climate pollution, including the emissions when fossil fuels are burned overseas. Second, make sure this information is independently assessed and used in decision-making. And third, allow the environment minister to put limits on projects that are incompatible with Australia’s climate targets, policies and international commitments.Canada requires analysis of both direct and downstream emissions. The EU and the UK have similar standards. Last year, the UK supreme court ruled that ignoring the climate impact of new fossil fuel projects was unlawful. Australia is on the frontline of climate damage. We must not be shirkers.When I look back on 2013, what stands out is not just that the Climate Commission was scrapped, but that the science was ignored. A decade later, the same political forces that tore down that work are trying to drag us backwards again. If the government cuts a deal with them, it risks repeating the mistakes of the Abbott era, sacrificing truth for expedience and progress for politics.Australia has a choice. We can keep approving new coal and gas projects that push us further from safety, or we can finally pass a law that protects our magnificent environment, creatures and people.

Climate
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Pollution

From nanoscale to global scale: Advancing MIT’s special initiatives in manufacturing, health, and climate

MIT.nano cleanroom complex named after Robert Noyce PhD ’53 at the 2025 Nano Summit.

“MIT.nano is essential to making progress in high-priority areas where I believe that MIT has a responsibility to lead,” opened MIT president Sally Kornbluth at the 2025 Nano Summit. “If we harness our collective efforts, we can make a serious positive impact.”It was these collective efforts that drove discussions at the daylong event hosted by MIT.nano and focused on the importance of nanoscience and nanotechnology across MIT's special initiatives — projects deemed critical to MIT’s mission to help solve the world’s greatest challenges. With each new talk, common themes were reemphasized: collaboration across fields, solutions that can scale up from lab to market, and the use of nanoscale science to enact grand-scale change.“MIT.nano has truly set itself apart, in the Institute's signature way, with an emphasis on cross-disciplinary collaboration and open access,” said Kornbluth. “Today, you're going to hear about the transformative impact of nanoscience and nanotechnology, and how working with the very small can help us do big things for the world together.”Collaborating on healthAngela Koehler, faculty director of the MIT Health and Life Sciences Collaborative (MIT HEALS) and the Charles W. and Jennifer C. Johnson Professor of Biological Engineering, opened the first session with a question: How can we build a community across campus to tackle some of the most transformative problems in human health? In response, three speakers shared their work enabling new frontiers in medicine.Ana Jaklenec, principal research scientist at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, spoke about single-injection vaccines, and how her team looked to the techniques used in fabrication of electrical engineering components to see how multiple pieces could be packaged into a tiny device. “MIT.nano was instrumental in helping us develop this technology,” she said. “We took something that you can do in microelectronics and the semiconductor industry and brought it to the pharmaceutical industry.”While Jaklenec applied insight from electronics to her work in health care, Giovanni Traverso, the Karl Van Tassel Career Development Professor of Mechanical Engineering, who is also a gastroenterologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, found inspiration in nature, studying the cephalopod squid and remora fish to design ingestible drug delivery systems. Representing the industry side of life sciences, Mirai Bio senior vice president Jagesh Shah SM ’95, PhD ’99 presented his company’s precision-targeted lipid nanoparticles for therapeutic delivery. Shah, as well as the other speakers, emphasized the importance of collaboration between industry and academia to make meaningful impact, and the need to strengthen the pipeline for young scientists.Manufacturing, from the classroom to the workforcePaving the way for future generations was similarly emphasized in the second session, which highlighted MIT’s Initiative for New Manufacturing (MIT INM). “MIT’s dedication to manufacturing is not only about technology research and education, it’s also about understanding the landscape of manufacturing, domestically and globally,” said INM co-director A. John Hart, the Class of 1922 Professor and head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. “It’s about getting people — our graduates who are budding enthusiasts of manufacturing — out of campus and starting and scaling new companies,” he said.On progressing from lab to market, Dan Oran PhD ’21 shared his career trajectory from technician to PhD student to founding his own company, Irradiant Technologies. “How are companies like Dan’s making the move from the lab to prototype to pilot production to demonstration to commercialization?” asked the next speaker, Elisabeth Reynolds, professor of the practice in urban studies and planning at MIT. “The U.S. capital market has not historically been well organized for that kind of support.” She emphasized the challenge of scaling innovations from prototype to production, and the need for workforce development.“Attracting and retaining workforce is a major pain point for manufacturing businesses,” agreed John Liu, principal research scientist in mechanical engineering at MIT. To keep new ideas flowing from the classroom to the factory floor, Liu proposes a new worker type in advanced manufacturing — the technologist — someone who can be a bridge to connect the technicians and the engineers.Bridging ecosystems with nanoscienceBridging people, disciplines, and markets to affect meaningful change was also emphasized by Benedetto Marelli, mission director for the MIT Climate Project and associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at MIT.“If we’re going to have a tangible impact on the trajectory of climate change in the next 10 years, we cannot do it alone,” he said. “We need to take care of ecology, health, mobility, the built environment, food, energy, policies, and trade and industry — and think about these as interconnected topics.”Faculty speakers in this session offered a glimpse of nanoscale solutions for climate resiliency. Michael Strano, the Carbon P. Dubbs Professor of Chemical Engineering, presented his group’s work on using nanoparticles to turn waste methane and urea into renewable materials. Desirée Plata, the School of Engineering Distinguished Climate and Energy Professor, spoke about scaling carbon dioxide removal systems. Mechanical engineering professor Kripa Varanasi highlighted, among other projects, his lab’s work on improving agricultural spraying so pesticides adhere to crops, reducing agricultural pollution and cost.In all of these presentations, the MIT faculty highlighted the tie between climate and the economy. “The economic systems that we have today are depleting to our resources, inherently polluting,” emphasized Plata. “The goal here is to use sustainable design to transition the global economy.”What do people do at MIT.nano?This is where MIT.nano comes in, offering shared access facilities where researchers can design creative solutions to these global challenges. “What do people do at MIT.nano?” asked associate director for Fab.nano Jorg Scholvin ’00, MNG ’01, PhD ’06 in the session on MIT.nano’s ecosystem. With 1,500 individuals and over 20 percent of MIT faculty labs using MIT.nano, it’s a difficult question to quickly answer. However, in a rapid-fire research showcase, students and postdocs gave a response that spanned 3D transistors and quantum devices to solar solutions and art restoration. Their work reflects the challenges and opportunities shared at the Nano Summit: developing technologies ready to scale, uniting disciplines to tackle complex problems, and gaining hands-on experience that prepares them to contribute to the future of hard tech.The researchers’ enthusiasm carried the excitement and curiosity that President Kornbluth mentioned in her opening remarks, and that many faculty emphasized throughout the day. “The solutions to the problems we heard about today may come from inventions that don't exist yet,” said Strano. “These are some of the most creative people, here at MIT. I think we inspire each other.”Robert N. Noyce (1953) Cleanroom at MIT.nanoCollaborative inspiration is not new to the MIT culture. The Nano Summit sessions focused on where we are today, and where we might be going in the future, but also reflected on how we arrived at this moment. Honoring visionaries of nanoscience and nanotechnology, President Emeritus L. Rafael Reif delivered the closing remarks and an exciting announcement — the dedication of the MIT.nano cleanroom complex. Made possible through a gift by Ray Stata SB ’57, SM ’58, this research space, 45,000 square feet of ISO 5, 6, and 7 cleanrooms, will be named the Robert N. Noyce (1953) Cleanroom.“Ray Stata was — and is — the driving force behind nanoscale research at MIT,” said Reif. “I want to thank Ray, whose generosity has allowed MIT to honor Robert Noyce in such a fitting way.”Ray Stata co-founded Analog Devices in 1965, and Noyce co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957, and later Intel in 1968. Noyce, widely regarded as the “Mayor of Silicon Valley,” became chair of the Semiconductor Industry Association in 1977, and over the next 40 years, semiconductor technology advanced a thousandfold, from micrometers to nanometers.“Noyce was a pioneer of the semiconductor industry,” said Stata. “It is due to his leadership and remarkable contributions that electronics technology is where it is today. It is an honor to be able to name the MIT.nano cleanroom after Bob Noyce, creating a permanent tribute to his vision and accomplishments in the heart of the MIT campus.”To conclude his remarks and the 2025 Nano Summit, Reif brought the nano journey back to today, highlighting technology giants such as Lisa Su ’90, SM ’91, PhD ’94, for whom Building 12, the home of MIT.nano, is named. “MIT has educated a large number of remarkable leaders in the semiconductor space,” said Reif. “Now, with the Robert Noyce Cleanroom, this amazing MIT community is ready to continue to shape the future with the next generation of nano discoveries — and the next generation of nano leaders, who will become living legends in their own time.”

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Malcolm Turnbull accuses Liberals of ‘Trumpian campaign against renewables’ after party dumps net zero

Climate groups call backflip a ‘disaster’ while moderate Liberals worry about impact on winning back urban electoratesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull says his party’s decision to dump a net zero emissions target shows it “does not take climate change seriously”, accusing the opposition of “a Trumpian campaign against renewables”.But while moderate sources are alarmed about the impact on winning back or retaining urban electorates, and climate groups called the backflip a “disaster”, the Liberal decision to scrap its own 2050 target and unwind Labor’s 2035 and renewable energy pledges has been praised by conservative MPs and campaigners. Continue reading...

The former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull says his party’s decision to dump a net zero emissions target shows it “does not take climate change seriously”, accusing the opposition of “a Trumpian campaign against renewables.”But while moderate sources are alarmed about the impact on winning back or retaining urban electorates, and climate groups called the backflip a “disaster”, the Liberal decision to scrap their own 2050 target and unwind Labor’s 2035 and renewable energy pledges has been praised by conservative MPs and campaigners.Turnbull, unseated by right-wing MPs in a 2018 party room coup partly over energy and climate policy, told Guardian Australia: “this is what happens when you outsource your policy development to Sky News and the right wing media echo chamber.”“The Liberals’ decision to abandon the 2050 net zero target will simply confirm to most Australians that the parliamentary party does not take climate change seriously and wants to join a Trumpian campaign against renewables,” Turnbull said.“No amount of nuance or qualifying footnotes will change that impression. They have the memory of goldfish and the dining habits of piranhas.”The move was warmly welcomed by right-wing campaign group Advance, which has pushed the Coalition to ditch net zero, including rallying its members to bombard Liberal MPs with messages. Advance’s director Matthew Sheahan emailed supporters to call the shift “a major victory in the fight to take back the country from the activists and elites.”Nationals leader David Littleproud claimed the Liberal policy “mirrors” his own party’s position and said he was optimistic about upcoming negotiations with Liberal MPs to settle a unified Coalition position.“We believe in climate change. We believe that we need to do something about it. That we should do our fair share,” he said.Liberal MP Leon Rebello told Guardian Australia the Coalition believed they had social licence to abandon the targets. Conservative Queensland MP, Garth Hamilton, called it a “great win from the backbench”.Hamilton, who has previously backed Andrew Hastie for the Liberal leadership, foreshadowed that immigration may emerge as the next contentious policy challenge.“I hope we deal with immigration a lot better,” he said.Environmental groups were aghast at the change. The Australian Conservation Foundation accused the Liberals of having “given up on climate action, caved to global fossil fuel giants and condemned Australians to” extreme weather events through climate change. Despite Ley saying the Liberals backed the Paris agreement’s intent to limit global temperature rises, the Climate Council said “walking away from net zero aligns with more than 3°C of global heating and would spell disaster for Australia’s climate, economy and household bills”.The shift is seen as a major internal victory for right-wing Liberal MPs over the moderate faction. Key moderates like Tim Wilson, Andrew Bragg, Maria Kovacic and Dave Sharma had raised alarm over the electoral repercussions of dumping the target.Jason Falinski, former Liberal MP and New South Wales branch president, had warned his party against going “Nationals-lite”. He told Guardian Australia on Thursday: “I look forward to understanding how this wins us more votes.”Charlotte Mortlock, founder of Hilma’s network, a group to recruit Liberal women, was scathing of the decision. She told ABC TV it would make it difficult for the party to win back inner metropolitan seats.“What I fear is the main takeaway is we are not taking climate change seriously,” she said.“The Coalition has a chequered history on climate… at the moment there might be movement around net zero and climate change, but you either believe in climate change and want to pursue net zero or you want to abandon it.”Multiple moderates told Guardian Australia they were broadly accepting of the position, which would “enable us to keep fighting” in metropolitan seats. One MP said moderates had negotiated in the meeting to keep the 2050 target, and while supportive of the position, described the result as “pretty brutal”.Others raised concerns the break in bipartisan support of net zero, and the Coalition’s promise to wind back Labor’s climate incentives, would impact investor confidence.Tony Wood, energy and climate change senior fellow at public policy think tank Grattan Institute, said business groups have been consistently calling for predictability and clarity around climate policy.“The idea that Australia would no longer have a clear direction in the long-term, but we’re just going to ‘follow everybody else’ is not very helpful for investors,” he said.“In what’s been proposed so far, I can’t see how it would reduce emissions, I don’t see how it would reduce prices either.”

Climate
Energy
Business

Pennsylvania Lawmakers Look to End Budget Stalemate, Sealed With Concession by Democrats on Climate

Pennsylvania lawmakers are advancing a $50 billion spending package to end a four-month budget stalemate that has held up billions for public schools and social services

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Billions of dollars for Pennsylvania’s public schools and social services could soon start flowing after months of delay, as lawmakers on Wednesday took up a roughly $50 billion spending plan to break the state’s budget impasse.Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro was expected to sign key budget bills by the end of the day.A key concession to help seal a deal meant Democrats agreeing to Republican demands to back off any effort to make Pennsylvania the only major fossil fuel-producing state to force power plant owners to pay for their planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.Democrats won't get the amount of money that Shapiro originally sought in his initial budget proposal, but the deal — after weeks of closed-door negotiations — is expected to deliver substantial new sums to public schools and an earned income tax credit for lower earners, as Democrats had sought.It will also bring relief that the stalemate is over.“The win is that we’re going to, hopefully before the end of the day, have a funding plan for the commonwealth and that’s a win for everybody who’s been waiting on state resources," said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jordan Harris, D-Philadelphia, told reporters in a Capitol hallway Wednesday morning.The advancing votes in the politically divided Legislature arrive weeks after counties, school districts and social service agencies are warning of mounting layoffs, borrowing costs and growing damage to the state’s safety net.School districts, rape crisis agencies and county-run social services have gone without state aid since July 1, when the state lost some of its spending authority without a signed state budget in force.The agreement to back off the carbon dioxide cap-and-trade program on power plants comes six years after then-Gov. Tom Wolf made joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative the centerpiece of his plan to fight climate change.The plan made Pennsylvania — the nation's second-largest natural gas producer — the only major fossil fuel-producing state to undertake a carbon cap-and-trade program. It has been held up in court and never went into effect.It was popular with environmental groups and renewable energy advocates, but it was opposed by Republicans, fossil fuel interests and the labor unions that work on pipelines, refineries and power plants.Under the $50.1 billion budget deal, new authorized spending would rise by about $2.5 billion, or 5%.Practically all of the overall spending increase would go toward Medicaid and public schools. Billions in surplus cash will be required for the plan to balance, the second straight year that Pennsylvania is running a multibillion-dollar budget deficit. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

Climate
CO2
Energy

Climate-sceptic IPA refuses to reveal funders in fiery Senate inquiry

Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart has previously donated to Institute of Public Affairs but thinktank won’t say if she remains a donorGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA thinktank known for its rejection of the climate crisis and a conservation group that has opposed renewable energy projects refused to identify their funders during a fiery Senate inquiry into climate and energy misinformation on Wednesday.Chair of the committee, Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson, asked Rainforest Reserves Australia’s vice-president, Steven Nowakowski, who had funded nine full-page newspaper advertisements promoting an open letter attacking a shift to renewable energy and promoting nuclear. Continue reading...

A thinktank known for its rejection of the climate crisis and a conservation group that has opposed renewable energy projects refused to identify their funders during a fiery Senate inquiry into climate and energy misinformation on Wednesday.Chair of the committee, Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson, asked Rainforest Reserves Australia’s vice-president, Steven Nowakowski, who had funded nine full-page newspaper advertisements promoting an open letter attacking a shift to renewable energy and promoting nuclear.Nowakowski said they were paid for by donations, some coming from the signatories of the letter, but would not name them.Sign up: AU Breaking News emailRRA was also asked who had paid for legal action it took this year to challenge a federal approval of the Gawara Baya windfarm in north Queensland.Michael Seebeck, a member of RRA, said the legal proceedings were covered by “an anonymous private individual” but Nowakowski added that person was not linked to fossil fuel interests or nuclear.The charity has become a prominent voice among conservatives and some media for its opposition to renewable energy, with claims including that large numbers of wind and solar projects are destroying habitat.RRA also defended its use of AI to generate more than 100 submissions on renewable energy and projects after the Guardian reported citations to nonexistent scientific articles, a nonexistent windfarm and nonexistent public authorities.Referring to a submission about the proposed Moonlight Range Wind Farm which was later refused by the Queensland government, Labor senator Michelle Ananda-Rajah said: “Seven of the 15 references you cite in opposition to this windfarm appear to be completely fabricated.”One of those references was a 2018 report on contamination at the Oakey Windfarm published by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2018. There is no windfarm in Oakey and Queensland has not had an EPA since 2009.Nowakowski said: “This is just a distraction …” but was closed down by Ananda-Rajah.“No,” she said. “It speaks to the credibility of your organisation.”Ken Carey, a resident from Ravenshoe in north Queensland appearing as a community supporter for RRA, said the department had changed its name and “the data itself is absolutely accurate”.“The Oakey windfarm is a complete fabrication,” said Anand-Rajah, “and seven out of 15 references don’t actually exist.”Nowakowski said the submission was written by a human, but was edited by AI. RRA has previously told the Guardian it had used “a range of analytical tools including AI-assisted literature searches, data synthesis, and document preparation,” to compile its submissions.During unrelated court proceedings in 2018, it was revealed billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart had given $4.5m to the Institute of Public Affairs in 2016 and 2017 – donations that constituted between one-third and one-half of the institute’s income in those two years.During Wednesday’s hearing Whish-Wilson asked the IPA’s executive director, Scott Hargreaves, if Rinehart remained a donor.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Breaking News AustraliaGet the most important news as it breaksPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotion“We don’t disclose our donors,” said Hargreaves.“I’m aware of the press clippings that you mentioned that arose out of a separate thing, but as a matter of policy we are not required by law to disclose our donors and we believe there are good public policy reasons for that.“I won’t entertain any questions about who is currently donating to the IPA. I will say that it is a matter of public record that [Rinehart] is an honorary life member of the IPA and is a generous contributor to many causes.”The IPA said it had visited 62 communities in Australia as part of its work to advocate against the rollout of renewable energy to help meet climate targets.The thinktank is known for its rejection of a climate crisis, its opposition to renewable energy and, most recently, its support for nuclear power.Hargreaves was also asked about an independent media report into a 2023 Canberra event hosted by the IPA when institute fellow Stephen Wilson had said its energy security research had been “supported and encouraged” by a group of donors that had been brought together by a coal industry figure, Nick Jorss.Jorss founded the advocacy group, Coal Australia, the following year.Hargreaves responded: “It’s an example of where someone, in this case Nick Jorss, is saying ‘the IPA is doing great work, you should get around it’.”Hargreaves said the work done by Wilson “speaks for itself”.The ongoing inquiry was called by the Greens and is expected to report in March next year.

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Conservation
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