hah, I swear this is a universal gripe for journos. Your eds push back a story, then a few weeks later you see someone else has written it. In any case thanks for sharing!

Great story!

6/ It also comes as global coal consumption rises to a record year after year, despite efforts to boost deployment of renewables and curb emissions. Trump has led a push to prop up the industry, while other major polluters like China & India also continue to dig up more of the dirtiest fossil fuel.

5/ Queensland is one of Australia’s most coal-dependent states — generating 65% of its electricity needs in 2024 from the fuel, according to BloombergNEF. The state made A$45.8B in coal exports in the year through May & A$5.5 billion of royalties in the financial year through June.

4/ WWF’s Australian branch described it as “short-sighted.” and a "roadmap to more fires, floods and heat waves, and more mass-bleaching events."

QLD has been hit by climate change in recent years, including more cyclones and floods & heat-induced bleaching of the iconic Great Barrier Reef.

3/ Analysts and climate groups immediately criticized the move. It sends “uncertain signals for future investment in Queensland’s clean energy supply” and imperils Australia’s goal to reduce emissions between 62% and 70% on 2005 levels by 2035, BloombergNEF analyst Sahaj Sood told me.

2/ A quick recap: QLD will keep its state-owned coal generators operating for "as long as they are needed in the system and supported by the market," said Treasurer David Janetzki last week.

Hard to say. The big difference is that Gladstone mainly powers the Boyne aluminum smelter, & it sounds like the closure is tied to that contract expiring. Yallourn/Eraring are privately owned, so linked to wholesale prices. IE early closure could risk electricity price volatility, blackouts etc

This was an interesting interview and story to write.

Nuveen's Global Head of Clean Energy also told me he expects to commit more capital locally over the next three years, with onshore wind among the potential opportunities.

This has helped us very quickly jump into the world's top five big battery markets, after being a laggard for a very long time. But batteries are certainly booming elsewhere too, because they are crucial to the transition (and usually quite profitable)

A large part of why Aus is having a battery boom is because we have the highest per capita rooftop solar in the world, which in turn has made our power market incredibly volatile. Higher volatility = more profits for batteries, because they can buy when prices are low and sell high.

It's certainly a large range! I would be very surprised if we overshoot or update the target given Australia's ongoing economic reliance on fossil fuels

Yeah. The wild thing is that back in the day it was actually seen as being a 'green' solution. It was sometimes made out of recycled materials, and didn't need to be watered. This meant that it was installed pretty widely during the Millennium Drought

Reminds me of a deep-dive my colleagues did a few years ago about the impact of of fires on women & children. They interviewed the families of a 4 year old who needs meds twice a day to breathe, a young girl with mobility issues + difficulty balancing and babies born underweight / early / unwell.

I helped do a story about this a few years ago. Learning about the risks of fake grass was totally eye opening for me. The little rubber crumbs that are used on fake lawns can be washed away, getting into waterways. The grass can get so hot that it causes burns, and usually can't be recycled!