The 30th of August marks a very special occasion for Victorians: the first anniversary of our state-wide ban on Fracking and unconventional gas.

The two young co-founders of nuclear engineering start-up Transatomic Power were embarrassed earlier this year when their claims about their molten salt reactor design were debunked, forcing some major retractions. The claims of MIT nuclear engineering graduates Leslie Dewan and Mark Massie were trumpeted in MIT’s Technology Review under the headline, ‘What if we could build a nuclear reactor that costs half as much, consumes nuclear waste, and will never melt down?’

"A vital stepping stone towards 10,000 jobs" The Andrews government have this morning announced the first big solar farms in the state as well as auctions to bring 650 megawatts of new projects online to kick off the legislative push on the Victorian Renewable Energy Target. 

The genetically modified (GM) crop industry is not happy. It’s been over 20 years since the introduction of the first GM crops to Australia and the majority of our food remains GM free – because quite frankly we don’t want to eat GMOs. However, the GM crop industry has a plan.

It was with great sorrow that Friends of the Earth learnt of the passing of Yami Lester in July. Yankunytjatjara Elder, atomic test survivor, Aboriginal rights activist, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, Yami's voice and support will be sorely missed.  

We are not surprised. There have been a number of recent articles in the media slamming the recent independent testing Friends of the Earth commissioned and the concerns that we raised regarding the particles that we found.

Independent testing commissioned by Friends of the Earth has found nanoparticles in popular Australian infant formula products that are both illegal in Australia and potentially dangerous. Three of the seven samples tested contained nano-hydroxyapatite particles. Nano-hydroxyapatite has been found to cause cell death in the liver and kidneys of rats and is prohibited from use in infant formula in Australia in any form.

The long campaign against the environment movement As the environment and climate movements grow in power and influence, various conservative and anti-environmental forces have sought to damage or reduce the power of the movement.The campaign against environmental protectors reached something of a fever pitch while Tony Abbott was the Australian Prime Minister, and has become less overt since Malcolm Turnbull became PM. But it is now clear that the agenda continues, with a new ‘review’ of tax arrangements for non government organisations (NGOs) singling out environmental organisations for particular scrutiny.

Conservation SA, the state's peak environment body, along with national environment groups Friends of the Earth Australia and the Australian Conservation Foundation, have today lodged a submission with the federal Department of Industry, Innovation and Science calling on the federal government to abandon any plan for a national nuclear waste dump in Kimba.

Cold weather and the official start of winter didn't deter fifty enthusiastic citizen scientists from attending Friends of the Earth member group GECO's winter forest survey camp in Goongerah over the long weekend.