Woodside sold the project to an insubstantial company to avoid a few hundred million in decommissioning costs: now it and its competitors will pay the price.
WA Premier Mark McGowan warned Alcoa to lift its game or face curtailed mining, but his successor Roger Cook slashed water supply protections after a possibly empty threat from the US miner.
Hydrogen was once sold as a universal climate fix — a clean, green wonder fuel for cars, homes, power grids and even global export - but reality has cooled that buzz.
Australia's largest export has a problem - its low grade and high impurities make it unsuitable for producing low emissions iron and steel with current technology
In The Hague this week, Australia worked hard to minimise the legal liability of major emitters and fossil fuel exporters for their contribution to climate change.
Australia has told the International Court of Justice it is "resolutely committed" to uphold the Paris Agreement in a landmark hearing brought by Vanuatu.
The environmental watchdog is set to remove restrictions on climate pollution in months but is much slower looking into concerns about quarantine and turtles on the Barrow Island nature reserve.
WA hydrogen minister Alannah MacTiernan believes a viable green hydrogen industry will build community support for the State's economy relying less on gas.
WA's EPA is now restraining growth in carbon emissions from industry but it and State and Federal Governments need to do more to keep the State attractive to increasingly climate-concerned investors.
Thirty per cent of Australia's emissions come from industry like LNG and the Federal Government needs to start pushing change now to have any hope of achieving net-zero by 2050.
Santos wants to approve its $2.8B Dorado oil project off WA in mid-2022 but science and the law will provide hurdles to its 165 million tonnes of carbon pollution.
