Australia’s phony grassroots group or ‘astroturfers’
The list includes several Australian organisations:
the Institute of Public Affairs (the driving force behind Australia’s skeptic movement – surprise, surprise) and
Australian Climate Science Coalition established by the
Australian Environment Foundation, itself a front group for the
Handles like “Citizen”, “Coalition”, “National” and eco-friendly sounding names like “Earthwatch” or“Environment” abound.
In Australia, the word “Foundation” or “Landscape” is popular with climate skeptics and their paymasters (dominated by the mining lobby), to convey authority or a veneer of enviro-cred. Examples include:
- Australian Environment Foundation Note: the look-alike name and logo resulted in the Australian Conservation Foundation suing for trademark infringement.
- Landscape Guardians (also called Coastal, Spa Country and other forms of Guardians, modeled on the UK’s nuclear-funded Country Guardians)
How to spot an astroturfer or an online fake Independent Australia 15 Feb 12, How do you spot an astroturfer, or an online fake? Australia’s finest investigative journalist, environment editor Sandi Keane, provides perhaps the most comprehensive ever guide. A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO TRICKERY & FAKERY IN THE DIGITAL AGE. DECEPTION IS OUR PRODUCT – Part 2 Phony grassroots group or astroturfer
The following are a list of questions this writer employs when on the trail of an astroturfer. They are by no means finite, but proved successful in exposing the Landscape Guardians and the Waubra Foundation in July last year. The third part of this trilogy on “deception” will be the actual Case Studies. Continue reading
Australian Greens call for uranium to be included in the Mineral Resources Rent Tax (MRRT)
Renewed calls for MRRT to include gold, uranium Mining Weekly, By: Esmarie Swanepoel 23rd February 2012 PERTH – The Australian Green Party has renewed calls to the federal government to include gold and uranium in the mineral resources rent tax (MRRT), in an effort to garner more revenue.
Greens leader Bob Brown said on Thursday that the Treasury needed to reconsider extending the mining tax across gold and uranium, as well as other minerals, while the nexus with royalties should be dropped.
“Australia has the means to adequately fund education, health, transport. It should not have a watered-down mining tax pass into law that fails to collect potential funding sourced from resources that
belong to the nation,” Brown said….
Feed-in tariffs promote cheap renewable energy- green economies in Asia Pacific
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) released the report “Green Growth, Resources, and Resilience” this week.
On the road to green economies, Malaya Business Insights, 24 Feb12, Net metering is empowering electric consumers in the Philippines. The scheme is embodied in the Philippines’ Renewable Energy Act of 2008 – considered to be the most comprehensive renewable energy law in Southeast Asia.
It allows electric consumers to sell power to the grid at an approved feed-in tariff and buy power as necessary at the normal retail tariff. The feed-in tariff will provide a guaranteed fixed price for at least 12 years for electricity produced from emerging renewable resources: wind, solar power, ocean, run-of-river hydropower, and biomass.
With net metering, the consumer generates electricity at the point of use, and is able to supply excess electricity generated into the grid, either earning revenue or reducing net payable consumption.
Net metering provides a regulatory basis for distributed and decentralized energy systems and at the same time provides a powerful incentive for end-use efficiency improvements. Net metering can be combined with feed-in-tariffs to promote renewable energy generation in decentralized applications. Continue reading
Climate denialism infiltrating USA schools
Don’t cloud young minds http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328533.600-dont-cloud-young-minds.html New Scientist, 22 February 2012 THERE is a strong sense of déjà vu about what is emerging over leaked emails from the Heartland Institute. The US libertarian think tank, which argues that global warming is not primarily caused by humans, intends to develop teaching material that would cast doubt on the scientific consensus on climate change. Its approach is sadly reminiscent of fogging tactics employed by the tobacco industry and creationists
Children should be taught honestly what we know about climate change, as well as what we don’t know and where the uncertainties lie. Yet a plan outlined in documents allegedly from Heartland would build a curriculum around statements such as “whether humans are changing the climate is a major scientific controversy” (see “Climate sceptics may find fertile ground in US schools“). This is to create controversy where none exists.
There simply is no credible scientific alternative to the theory that humans are warming the atmosphere. In 2010, a survey of 1372 climate scientists found that 97 per cent of those who publish most frequently in the field were in no doubt. They agreed with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that human activity had caused most of Earth’s warming over the second half of the 20th century. By comparison with these scientists, the climate expertise of the small group of contrarians was substantially lower (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1003187107). Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 