Australian company Lynas has no long term radioactive waste management plan for its Malaysian project
Lynas back to earth after loss, The Age, Greg Roberts, September 24, 2011, AUSTRALIA’S largest rare-earths miner, Lynas Corporation, has posted a 33 per cent widening in its full-year loss following a year blighted by controversy. Public protests this year prompted an investigation by the International Atomic Energy Agency into whether the Lynas rare-earth refinery in Malaysia presented radioactive risks….
Lynas’s operating expenses shot up 87.5 per cent from $30.65 million to $57.46 million. It says 11,000 tonnes a year of rare-earth oxides will be produced at Mount Weld.
Lynas received a favourable report from the IAEA about the refinery in Kuantan, but has been told to provide a long-term waste-management plan. More than 60 per cent of the refinery has been built. It is hoped the plant will curtail China’s monopoly of more than 95 per cent of the global supply of rare earths…… http://www.theage.com.au/business/lynas-back-to-earth-after-loss-20110923-1kped.html#ixzz1Yv9BaYWp
Historic Native title win for Western Australian Aboriginals over mining company
Native title blocks Weld Range mine project, PAUL CLEARY , The Australian, September 24, 2011 THE Wajarri Yamatji people of Western Australia’s Weld Range have long believed that their land was special. Now, the National Native Title Tribunal has decided the rock art, ochre mines and ancient ceremonial grounds are more valuable than $7 billion of minerals in the ground.
A ruling this week by tribunal deputy president Chris Sumner marked just the second time that it has rejected a mining application. Weld Range contains the Wilgie Mia Aboriginal site, given national heritage listing this year by the federal government.
Mr Sumner said it was an area of “outstanding importance”. It includes an ochre mine that has been worked for 30,000 years.
Traditional owner Colin Hamlet said he was “feeling really proud that we’re actually getting some notice”. He said the region offered great tourism potential because it had “a wealth of stuff”. Simon Hawkins, the chief executive of the Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation, which represented the Wajarri Yamatji people, said the success reflected the “consistent approach” of the traditional owners in outlining the heritage value of the land……http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/native-title-blocks-weld-range-mine-project/story-e6frgczx-1226144919702
Victorian country town – 90% of households want action for renewable energy
Residents plan for renewable energy, Stawell Times News 23 Sep, 2011 STAWELL REGION – Stawell Climate Action Group has handed over the results of a survey about renewable energy to Federal Member for Mallee, John Forrest.
Group spokesperson, Julie Andrew said of the 105 Stawell households that were surveyed, 91 percent wanted strong policies to support new jobs and investment in renewable energy. She said a remarkable 90 percent of those surveyed wanted Australia to develop a plan to move to 100 percent renewable energy.
“We found when we talked with people and shared information, people in our region overwhelmingly want to talk about solutions,” Ms Andrew said. “They want to get behind a positive vision. They are tired of the negativity and bickering by politicians and just want our elected representatives to get on and do something.”
Ms Andrew said Stawell Climate Action Group asked Mr Forrest to tell the group his plan for how it could get serious renewable energy investment flowing into the Stawell area and making renewable energy more affordable for all Australians……. It’s time we got on with it and unlocked the potential of renewable energy like solar and wind in our area and we will keep working to see that happen.” http://www.stawelltimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/residents-plan-for-renewable-energy/2301627.aspx
Victoria’s Baillieu Liberal government kills off community wind farm plans
As of last month, the project is on hold, possibly dead, after the Baillieu government introduced Australia’s most restrictive wind farm regulations.
Libs sweep wind from turbine sails, The Age, Adam Morton. September 24, 2011 — Nearly four years ago, a small group of Woodend residents hatched a plan to power the historic town entirely on renewable energy. Three wind turbines would be built in a pine forest six kilometres south of the town to generate enough energy to run not only Woodend, but also nearby Macedon, Mount Macedon and Newham.
Wind speeds were modelled to determine the best location, community forums held, more than 500 signatures collected in support, and initial steps taken to start raising the $14 million needed. A smaller number of people expressed objections. Continue reading
Australia gets Tea Party style anti carbon tax movement
The ABC’s Hungry Beast featured him as one arm of a very corrupt and conspiratorial octopus, in a report on US
billionaires David and Charles Koch earlier this year.
But Andrews’ latest project, Stop Gillard’s Carbon Tax, is his most successful yet
Meet the man behind the anti-carbon tax lobby, RACHEL HILLS, 17TH SEPTEMBER 2011 The Spectator The New York Times dubbed it a ‘tempest with echoes of a tea party.’ Julia Gillard has called it the ‘Americanisation’ of Australian politics. Others say it’s just the latest iteration of the city-rural divide that saw the rise of One Nation in the 1990s, and the ‘Joh for Canberra’ revolt that thwarted John Howard’s ambitions in the 1980s.
For Tim Andrews, one of the masterminds behind the anti-carbon tax protests that have Labor’s hold on government on tenterhooks, it’s the start of something bigger: the rise of an activist centre-right with the potential to revolutionise Australian politics the same way the Tea Party has in the United States. Continue reading
UK power utility sells out of nuclear power
SSE’s withdrawal from a major nuclear project in its home market casts a shadow over U.K. government plans to build a fleet of new nuclear reactors ……
Furthermore, public opinion has turned against nuclear power following the Fukushima disaster.
SSE Pullout From UK Nuclear Casts A Pall Over Sector
-Scottish & Southern Energy selling stake in NuGen nuclear group to partners
–SSE move casts a shadow over U.K. government plans for new nuclear power in U.K.
–SSE to focus on renewables, gas-fired power stations and carbon capture and storage
–Analysts see the U.K. building less new nuclear than originally planned
WSJ, By Selina Williams 23 Sept 11 LONDON (Dow Jones)--U.K. utility Scottish and Southern Energy PLC (SSE.LN) Friday exited a major new nuclear project in the U.K., announcing it would sell its 25% stake in the NuGeneration Ltd. consortium to partners Iberdrola SA (IBE.MC) and GDF Suez SA (GSZ.FR) for an undisclosed sum. Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 