Best of times, worst of times: How leadership elections and an EU referendum are conspiring to leave party donations on the backburner just when it seems most possible to make a difference.
Queen Elizabeth will often wear a scarf with a triangular fold to shield her hair.
POOL New/Reuters
Following intense pressure from consumer groups, politicians and the media, the UK’s Big Six power companies have all announced price reductions on some of their gas tariffs. Cuts ranged from Npower’s…
Laughter and violence have two things in common: they’re both non-verbal and they both occur when words fail.
Cloud Mine Amsterdam/Shutterstock
It should come as no surprise that comedians would feel threatened by the attack on Charlie Hebdo: the freedom to offend is the source of their livelihood, and many who have offended have been threatened…
Should you be paying for big energy users?
Bill image from www.shutterstock.com
The federal government has now achieved passage of its Direct Action plan through the Senate. Some wheeling and dealing with the cross-benches was required of course – but while the government may oppose…
Third time lucky: after a deal between Clive Palmer (right) and his Senate PUPs with the government, the carbon tax has finally been repealed.
Alan Porritt/AAP
UPDATED THURSDAY 17 JULY, 11:20am: Australia’s “carbon tax” has been axed – so what does it mean for you and for Australia? We asked Conversation readers to tell us on Facebook and Twitter what questions…
It takes 10 years or more to plan, permit, finance and build major new power plants. That means the decisions we make today – or don’t make – will have lasting consequences for generations to come. And…
Alcoa is to close its Point Henry smelter in Geelong.
AAP
Alcoa’s decision to close the Point Henry smelter, at a cost of almost 1000 jobs in Geelong and elsewhere, comes amid a perfect storm buffeting Australia’s aluminium industry. Point Henry will be the second…
Brisbane’s annual City of Lights show, which is sponsored by an oil and gas company.
Flickr/Wei Lun Koh (some rights reserved)
From flicking on a light to travelling around town, our lives are utterly dependent on energy. That’s why it’s so surprising that Australia has been so bad at thinking about our country’s future energy…
Workers assemble air conditioners at a factory in China earlier this year.
EPA/SHEPHERD ZHOU CHINA OUT
With temperatures starting to climb, it’s time to think about how we will stay cool this summer. The stakes are getting higher when it comes to hot weather. As the Australian Medical Association has warned…
The EU banned the use of neonicotinoid pesticides for two years in April, after a sustained campaign by beekeepers, green groups and environmental organisations across Europe. These groups are convinced…
Copper clad, steel containers for geological disposal: what the best dressed nuclear waste is wearing in Sweden these days.
kallerna/Wikipedia
It was said originally that nuclear-powered electricity would be “too cheap to meter”, but in the current climate it is nuclear’s capacity to deliver secure, low-carbon energy that appeals. We all use…
Blackouts remind us what life was like before cheap, readily available electricity - but it’s time to think about the true price of our power.
Candle in the dark image from www.shutterstock.com/Ronen
No lights, no power, no internet - and no easy solutions. Fumbling around in a middle of a blackout, hoping to find a torch or some spare batteries, I was struck by just how utterly dependent most of us…