Let’s not demonise Climate Sceptics – let’s understand them
It’s a critical moment in Australia. The public, guided by the media, continue their apathy about the biggest environmental and economic event about to take place in Australia – the expansion of Olympic Dam uranium mine.
Such apathy allows corporate leaders to charge on with pretty much uncontrolled environmental destruction. They are cheered on by a host of climate change sceptics and other opponents of environmental regulation
It is possible, as claimed by some psychologists, that many CEOs of giant corporations are actually sociopaths – having destructive and dangerous instincts. It is certainly clear that many corporate executives will place their career paths above the truth. The most glaring example of this mindset was the court testimony of a string of tobacco executives, who lied on oath, about tobacco and cancer.
So, we’re right to take the opinions of corporate executives, and nuclear power proponents with a very critical eye.
But today’s article, (below – An Insight into Climate Sceptic thinking) ) helps to explain the thinking behind USA’s Climate Sceptics – a view which has now percolated into the media, and the thinking in USA’s cultural colony – Australia.
I keep meeting very kind, good, people who have bought into the view that environmental regulation, and action on climate change are part of an attack on our liberty – an economically dangerous assault on the free market.
Of course, this thinking is very easily merged into “business as usual” and saves people from the worry of considering any changes.
In the full article, the writer points out that this way of thinking is not held by all U.S. Republicans today, and certainly not in the past, pointing out that “the current crop of Republicans are out of step with their congressional predecessors who concluded that health took precedence over profit.”
As in America, Australians who think about our children’s future, need to engage in discussion with other good people, especially those who still think that “business as usual” is fine.
I’m starting off by giving out some DVD’s ( – courtesy of David Bradbury) , of “Wake Up” ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3shJ8I66Yyk ) to a bunch of Liberal voters, friends of mine. – Christina Macpherson
Australia – secret deals for uranium to United Arab Emirates, waste returned to Australia?
Clamour to supply UAE nuclear needs, April Yee, The National, Aug 12, 2011 “……The UAE is in talks with nations to have used nuclear fuel returned, an arrangement known as “fuel leasing”. This would save the UAE the headache of having to store radioactive waste. France and Russia are the only countries that have agreements to keep other nations’ spent fuel.
“The UAE would favour an arrangement where spent fuel is taken back after use,” Hamad Al Kaabi, the UAE’s permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, said yesterday. Continue reading
Positive results in Australian tests of radiation free airport scanners
In July, Thruvision’s terahertz-scanning technology was tested at airports in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, along with millimeter wave scanners from L3. Ron Frye, Thruvision’s Director of International Business Development, reports that the trials ended with positive results, but Australian authorities have not yet made any firm decisions about usage of full body scanners.
Safer full-body scanners? SF Gate, 11 Aug 11, As controversy simmers surrounding the levels of radiation used in full body scanners, a small company based in the United Kingdom has developed a machine that emits no radiation at all. Continue reading
Australia’s soldiers going solar
Super slim solar cell a success, The Age, Ben Cubby August 12, 2011 ‘A typical solar cell is about 0.2 millimetres thick, which is 200 micrometres thinner than a human hair or a sheet of paper, will soon be used by Australian soldiers on patrol in Afghanistan as a portable power source. The solar cells, invented by researchers at the Australian National University, can be used to cover helmets, tents or clothing and recharge electronic gear such as night vision goggles.
They also have extensive potential in civilian applications, including recharging phones and computers, because a square metre of lightweight solar panel can generate 140 watts of power and yet be rolled up into a ball afterwards. ‘A typical solar cell is about 0.2 millimetres thick, which is 200 micrometres – that’s too thick to bend, it would shatter,” the project’s chief investigator, Andrew Blakers, said. ”But these cells are about 45 microns thick, so they are flexible and also about the same efficiency as commercial solar cells. By comparison, really fine quality merino wool is about 18 microns thick.” In practice, many square metres of panel could be unfurled from a box about the same size as a wine cask http://www.theage.com.au/national/super-slim-solar-cell-a-success-20110811-1iot3.html
An insight into Climate Sceptic thinking
Why Are Congressional Republicans Turning on the Environment? HUFFINGTON POST, Edward Flattau, 11 Aug 11, “……A few undoubtedly have sold their political souls to corporate polluters who are generous corporate campaign donors and want no part of more stringent anti-pollution regulation. But most of the lawmakers are true believers in a conservative ideological agenda that has been drummed into their psyches from the start of their political careers….
The imposition of federal environmental regulation is shrouded with suspicion. It is regarded primarily as a means to solidify Washington bureaucrats’ jobs and advance a liberal agenda smacking of socialism. Science has been manipulated to exaggerate environmental problems for the purpose of tightening central government’s control over the marketplace and individual freedom, global warming being a case in point.
Many of the bill’s supporters believe America’s sovereignty over its natural resources is threatened by a takeover from a world government….. They sadly confuse our interdependence with other countries — a modern reality in a technologically linked world — with our national independence, which is not in jeopardy,
From the Republican lawmakers’ perspective, states in general do a better job of governance than federal bureaucrats, and the private sector and free market fluctuations are more effective than the public sector in keeping the nation on a prosperous course.
For most of these Republicans, it is a basic tenet that economic growth must precede environmental cleanup, with the two objectives at least initially susceptible to conflict. It is a view that clashes with the reality that economic prosperity and environmental quality are two sides of the same coin. …
Regulation can be excessive, but much of it is necessary to create order out of chaos……. many have yet to acknowledge that in an ever more complex world, anarchy in the marketplace is not the answer. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/edward-flattau/why_2_b_924588.html
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
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