Energy efficiency by far the number 1 low carbon answer
Such were findings of the Energy Efficiency Council (EEC) of Australia
Energy Efficiency: Twice the Impact of Renewables, Nuclear and Clean Coal. Combined. : TreeHugger, by Warren McLaren, Bundanoon, Australia 07. 6.10” The International Energy Agency estimates that energy efficiency will deliver 65 per cent of worldwide carbon cuts in the energy sector by 2020, and 54 per cent by 2030. This means that in 2020 energy efficiency could have almost twice the impact of renewable energy, nuclear power and clean coal combined.” Continue reading
X-rays to foetus linked with memory impairment in adults
They exposed fetal monkeys to x-rays and then examined their behavior when they were adults, approximately 5 years later. They found that irradiated adult monkeys exhibited a profound deficit in working memory ability compared to adult monkeys that had not been exposed to x-rays.
Fetal X-ray exposure interferes with memory in adulthood, monkey study finds, ScienceDaily , (July 5, 2010) — Learning and memory impairments are important contributors to the disability associated with schizophrenia. These functional impairments emerge long before the onset of other symptoms associated with schizophrenia, suggesting that they are a consequence of a disturbance in brain development. Continue reading
Many mining companies worse off in Gillard’s new tax plan
BHP Billiton pays the South Australian government an embarrassing 3.5 per cent royalty for the uranium it extracts in the state’s north. As a result of the Gillard compromise it has escaped paying a resource rent tax of 40 per cent but regained a huge sovereign risk.
Sovereign risk back on the resources table, Sydney Morning Herald, PETER MARTINJuly 7, 2010 Have many mining companies been made worse off by of the changes made by Julia Gillard?…….. Continue reading
India should not be exempted from nuclear non proliferation guidelines
Non-proliferation panel concerned about India exemption from NSG guidelines, The Hindu, 6 July 2010, P. S. Suryanarayana The International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND) on Monday emphasised its “concerns about the terms of the exemption approved [in September 2008] by the Nuclear Suppliers Group [NSG] for India’s nuclear programmes.” Continue reading
Women cancer victims of nuclear industry
The Udall measure, S. 3224, also would set aside money for an epidemiological study of the health effects on families of uranium workers and residents of uranium-development communities.
(USA) Feds not handling women’s uranium claims, GJSentinel.com, By Gary Harmon, July 5, 2010 The clerks and secretaries who worked in the Atomic Energy Commission offices in Grand Junction during World War II and later during the Cold War handled ore samples and were frequently in and around milling products. Continue reading
Urgent need for 100% renewables to replace Hazelwood
Replace Hazelwood with 100% renewable energy Otway Ranges Climate Action (ORCA), 6/7/2010, The undersigned groups and individual climate campaigners support an inclusivecampaign to urgently Replace Hazelwood with 100% renewable energy, including baseload solar thermal energy (as presented in the Beyond Zero Emissions, Zero Carbon Australia 2020 report).
The undersigned:* strongly support the Replace Hazelwood campaign;
* support using renewable energy sources and increased efficiency to replace 100% of energy currently supplied by Hazelwood;
* particularly support the use of proven baseload Solar Thermal technology; and
* reject the use of fossil gas as an alternative fossil fuel…………
» Replace Hazelwood with 100% renewable energy Otway Ranges Climate Action (ORCA)
Survey shows the unpopularity of nuclear power
Support for nuclear power still pales in comparison to renewable sources.
(UK) Nuclear power is more unpopular than we’re led to believe | Liberal Conspiracy, July 5, 2010 New polling sheds some light both on where the public stand in terms of different power options, ……At a basic level, nuclear power is currently pretty much the least popular form of power generation in the UK. Continue reading
Billionaire corporate miners now running Australia’s ship of state
Like the wealth that comes from iron ore and coal, the answer takes some digging but it appears to be corporate, not union, power that steers the ship of state.
Gillard Caves In To Miners, The Age , DAVID MCKNIGHT, July 6, 2010 Corporate, not union, power can frequently drive politicians’ priorities. The struggle to define the victor and vanquished over the new mining tax will continue until the election, but we are left with a larger question, one once scornfully directed at trade unions: who is running the country? Continue reading
German govt to raise 9 billion euro by taxing nuclear fuel
German MOF: Not Abolishing Plan To Impose Nuclear Fuel Rod Tax – WSJ.com, By Andrea Thomas, BERLIN (Dow Jones) 6 July 2010, –The German finance ministry Monday rejected a media report that it might scrap the proposed tax on nuclear fuel rods and raise money from an energy fund instead.”The finance ministry doesn’t disavow the nuclear fuel rods tax,” a finance ministry spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires…….
As part of its EUR80 billion austerity package, the German government has said it plans to impose a tax on fuel rods, with proceeds seen at some EUR9.2 billion over a four-year period.
Germany is in the process of gradually phasing out all of its remaining 17 nuclear reactors by around 2022,…….Germany’s nuclear power plants are operated by utilities E.ON AG (EOAN.XE), RWE AG (RWE.XE), EnBW Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG (EBK.XE) and Vattenfall Europe AG (VTT-XE).
German MOF: Not Abolishing Plan To Impose Nuclear Fuel Rod Tax – WSJ.com
Australian govt urged to follow USA’s solar energy lead
For details of the Zero Carbon Australia 2020 Melbourne Energy Institute launch go to beyondzeroemissions.org
Dim view of solar effort * Olga Galacho Herald Sun * July 05, 2010 ISRAELI electricity company BrightSource has challenged the Federal Government to replicate US President Barack Obama’s offer overnight to guarantee loans to two solar energy projects.
The move comes as the International Energy Agency endorses a Zero Carbon Australia 2020 plan to be launched in Melbourne next week. Continue reading
How UK and European households gain from Renewable Energy Tariff
(UK) Making the most of the Renewable Energy Tariff’s – Better Generation, 5 July 2010,“…… the average household could stand to gain in excess of £2000 through the latest renewable energy tariff schemes.
Feed-in tariff (FiT) and the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) are designed to provide a guaranteed annual return, free from income tax, of 8% on investment. The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is actually due to go live in April 2011 but any system installed between now and then will be eligible. Continue reading
Aboriginal Summit’s challenge on ownership of “wild country”
The conference resolved that international legal and political challenges are now pending and will be mounted within the coming months..
New Way Summit: Aboriginals In Australia To Retake Lands – Indigenous Peoples Issues and Resources, 05 July 2010 “……The third meeting of the New Way Summit movement, initiated by Michael Anderson, heard that the Mabo judgment on Native Title was legal trickery, because hunting, gathering, walking on land, ceremonies on Country do not constitute a claim to legal title and ownership, whereas erecting fences, buildings and clearing of land does as an act of ‘adverse possession’.
Adverse possession is the means by which the colonizers asserts title to alleged ‘wild country’. Continue reading
How the USA exploded a hydrogen bomb in space
VIDEO A Very Scary Light Show: Exploding H-Bombs In Space 1962 | Before It’s News, 3 July 2010, “…..Back in the summer of 1962, the U.S. blew up a hydrogen bomb in outer space, some 250 miles above the Pacific Ocean. It was a weapons test, but one that created a man-made light show that has never been equaled — and hopefully never will. Here it is:
A Very Scary Light Show: Exploding H-Bombs In Space 1962 | Before It’s News
A Very Scary Light Show: Exploding H-Bombs In Space, NPR, by Robert Krulwich, 1 July 2010 :A Very Scary Fireworks Show: Exploding H-Bombs In Space : NPR
1.This month.
Zoom webinar – “Nuclear Winter: The Environmental Consequences of a Nuclear Exchange.”
April 7th at 11:30 am PST / 2:30 pm EST
Nuclear Winter: The Environmental Consequences of a Nuclear Exchange”
Join us for an informative webinar with renowned atmospheric scientist, Professor Brian Toon, as he discusses the environmental risks and global impacts of a nuclear war. Despite the potential damage caused by the blast from even small nuclear weapons, many countries continue to invest in and expand nuclear arsenals. Professor Toon will provide a scientific assessment of civilian fatalities, agricultural failures, climate concerns, and complications with food supply that would follow any international nuclear conflict. We need to plan how to prevent nuclear conflict and avoid catastrophe. Politicians and military planners must be made aware of global climate and agricultural complications that would ensue. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from, and engage in, this vital conversation
The Road to War brings a sharp focus to why it is not in Australia’s best interest to be dragged into a war with China which will almost inevitably go nuclear very quickly. The filmmaker has interviewed some of Australia’s senior foreign policy analysts who have vast experience behind them in analysing what really is going on here as the United States rattles its sabres with China. And sets us up to be its proxy, like the poor Ukranians have been fed into the Meatgrinder. So America can remain the Top Dog. The Road to War reveals how the United States through its spy base at Pine Gap and by stationing six nuclear capable B52 bombers in the Top End (without permission from the traditional owners) is making Australia a prime nuclear target if the current war of words suddenly melts down into full scale war.
The Road to War shows the implicit connection between Carbon emissions (the US military uses a whopping 70% of America’s annual petroleum to move its armies and vast War Machine around the globe to its 800+ military bases..but under a loophole wangled at Kyoto, the US military does not have to report its C02 annual emissions). The Road to War starts screening at selected cities and regional centres in March. See the trailer end for details.
Antinuclear 