Senator Christine Milne – a strong voice for rural Australia and progressive business
Tough negotiator Milne to carry cause into the regions, BY: SID MAHER The Australian April 14, 2012 “…….Senator Milne, in accepting the leadership from her predecessor, nominated climate change as the key issue confronting the nation in the 21st century and signalled she would seek to build support for the Greens in rural and regional areas in her new role.
She lashed the “rapacious” mining industry, arguing “we are seeing the biggest assault on the environment in Australia that we have seen for a very long time”. She attacked the willingness of the ALP and the Coalition to “cave in to the few who want to push out of the way environmental protection”. Rallying the party faithful, Senator Milne said the departure of Senator Brown represented an opportunity to recommit to the Greens and commit to the party’s objectives. She said
the party would build on Senator Brown’s legacy and praised his compassion and advocacy of the “need for a more caring, inclusive
society”. She said Australia needed an economic narrative that involved sustainable environmental outcomes and to “support the kind of society we want”.
Senator Milne said rural and regional Australia had a critical role to play in terms of providing food security in a global context, also citing its potential to participation in the provision of renewable energy and energy sustainability.
Senator Milne, who grew up in rural Tasmania, said: “I’m going out there as a country person, to say to other country people it’s time that the Greens and country and rural Australia really worked together.” She flagged working more closely with “progressive business”, signalling she will seek to encourage renewable energy companies to be
more vocal and boost corporate social responsibility. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/tough-negotiator-milne-to-carry-cause-into-the-regions/story-fn59niix-1226326234831
$Billions of investment money at risk, as New South Wales Liberal government calls for scrapping of renewable energy target
Investment fears over ‘attack’ on green energy SMH Anna Patty April 14, 2012 THE NSW government’s decision to withdraw support from clean energy schemes was criticised yesterday as a retrograde step that would threaten billions of investment dollars.
The Energy Minister, Chris Hartcher, has said the government would not be supporting green schemes that require a subsidy and is calling for the closure of the federal government’s renewable energy target. He called for the closure of the renewable energy target – legislation that is supported by the federal opposition.
The NSW opposition spokesman for energy, Luke Foley, said yesterday the tribunal’s determination found that green energy schemes had not contributed to electricity price increases. Power bills are forecast to rise between $182 and $338 a year from July 1. Mr Foley said the state government had ended bipartisan support for the 20 per cent renewable energy target after calling for the target to be removed, despite adopting the target in its state plan released
last year. ”The O’Farrell government has launched a relentless attack on renewable energy, with chilling investment signals sent by the government throughout its first year in office,” he said.
”Solar in NSW has been stopped dead in its tracks. The draft wind guidelines are designed to chronically handicap the expansion of the wind industry.
”Renewable energy is already contributing to lower wholesale electricity prices. The Australian Energy Market Commission recently reported that new wind energy projects in Victoria will mean that increases to wholesale electricity prices in that state will be lower than in NSW. Rather than attacking wind farms, the O’Farrell
government should require its own planning review to come up with a sensible and workable planning regime for the development of the wind industry in NSW.”
The acting chief executive of the Clean Energy Council, Kane Thornton, said it was a “worrying sign that the NSW government would seek the removal of one of Australia’s most significant energy policies without considering the impact this would have on investors who have put billions of dollars into clean energy projects in NSW. The renewable
energy target is scheduled to run until 2030 and these projects would face collapse if it was removed.”
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/investment-fears-over-attack-on-green-energy-20120413-1wysv.html#ixzz1s3udpo35
In Western Australia – a window in Australia’s solar future
“[It’s] a window into Australia’s solar future,” – Australian Solar Energy Society chief executive John Grimes
“Big solar makes sense in the Mid West. The region’s enormous appetite for energy is matched by some of the best sunshine in the world.
“Solar increasingly makes economic sense in the Mid West, with a dramatic fall in the price of solar PV countering a significant rise in the cost of electricity.”
Mr Grimes said there was no reason why solar could not provide a significant amount of Austral’s electricity needs by 2020, particularly with the introduction of the carbon tax from July 1 and the national 20 per cent renewable energy target.
Historic solar farm transforms WA landscape http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/historic-solar-farm-transforms-wa-landscape-20120412-1ww3t.html#ixzz1s49L4pPw WA Today, Courtney Trenwith April 12, 2012 WA’s historic solar power farm will soon be glistening in the outback, with the first panel installed today. In what will be the largest solar energy generator in the country, the farm will house 150,000 panels across 80 hectares, creating a remarkable sight and producing an environmental feat.
The 10 megawatt Greenough River Solar Farm is being built 50 kilometres south of Geraldton, with 100 construction jobs created. It is expected to generate enough electricity for 3,000 average homes while displacing 20,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas each year – the equivalent of taking 4000 vehicles off the road. Continue reading
Unlike Labor and Liberal, the Greens conduct a gracious leadership transition
She conducted a complicated dual negotiation last year on the carbon package, selling the deal to the party’s
hardliners ….also winning a $10 billion clean energy finance corporation from the Gillard government
”This is our opportunity to build on Bob Brown’s legacy,” – Christine Milne
A warrior for the wilderness, Brisbane Times, Lenore Taylor April 14, 2012 Bob Brown built the Greens into a powerful force in Australian politics. His successor faces a challenge in keeping it there.
It was the kind of civilised leadership transition no major party has pulled off in recent history – the popular long-serving leader stands down at a time of his own choosing ”to make way for new talent” and his loyal deputy is unanimously elected in his place. No rancour. No back-stabbing. Plaudits all round.
But Bob Brown – the father of Australia’s Greens – and its new federal leader Christine Milne have been tag-teaming like this through-out their careers. Brown the fearless trailblazer, Milne the organiser, the negotiator, the campaigner, not far behind. Continue reading
Children suffering illness due to Fukushima radiation leaks
Japanese professor says Fukushima radiation leaks are harming children’s health http://www.straight.com/article-660131/vancouver/japanese-professor-says-fukushima-radiation-leaks-are-harming-childrens-health
VIDEO Radio host Steve Zeltzer conducted the interview Akira Murakami’s comments about children’s health are at 13:37 of the video.
By Charlie Smith, April 13, 2012 A media professor at Akia University in Japan has claimed that
children in his country are suffering serious medical problems as a result of last year’s Fukushima nuclear disaster.
In an interview on WorkWeek Radio (which works with Project Censored), Prof. Akira “Lazy Cat” Murakami linked the leak of radiation to kids have suffering nosebleeds, skin diseases, short tempers, and cardiovascular diseases.
Murakami said that the Japanese mainstream media is not covering the impacts, but this information is being disseminated to Japanese people through cyberspace.
“Our food regulations are quite loose,” Murakami said. “We have only spot inspections.” He called on Americans to do whatever they can to shut down remaining nuclear reactors.
“This planet could not afford another Chernobyl or another Fukushima,” he said.
Residents near Windy Hill, Queensland, speak about wind energy
(includes video) Winds of change generating a powerful debate over Mt Emerald The Cairns Post Tony Stickley, April 14, 2012 The proposal of a wind farm at Mt Emerald has created a strong debate over noise issues for residential properties nearby. The Cairns Post explored how residents at Windy Hill feel about the wind farm noise. CLEAN, green renewable energy powering 60 per cent of Cairns and the whole of the Tableland shines like the holy grail of electricity generation. Could you live next door to a windfarm? Listen to Windy Hill residents and make up your own mind. Continue reading
Boosting farm profitability by also farming solar energy
“It is the sweet spot,”.. it doesn’t interfere with existing farming or grazing on prime lands. “It’s a way of getting yield from land that’s not paying enough.”…..
the benefits of generating green energy are great, but the best part is that once the 20-year solar lease expires, the land can return to agricultural use….. “Years down the road it could revert to [agricultural] land,” .. “It was a win-win for everyone.”
Solar Energy Grows on North American Farms, 13 Apr 2012, CNBC.co By: Trevor Curwin, A California solar power project developer is teaming with farmers to expand use of the alternative energy. “It’s basically an opportunity to farm the sun,” says Recurrent Energy CEO Arno Harris, about his firm’s plans to build 500 megawatts of solar photovoltaic, PV, installations on farms in California and the Canadian province of Ontario.
The firm has contracted dozens of farmers in both areas, building five- to 20-megawatt solar PV installations on otherwise marginal farmland. Continue reading
Australia’s lost opportunities in solar power
the big dish was by-passed in the Federal Government’s Solar Flagships program. The claim that it was not “commercially ready” is directly contradicted by the creation of the Solar Oasis consortium that is now building a 40 MW big dish solar power generator at Whyalla, in South Australia.
Solar lessons from Korea, Daily Mercury, John Mathews | 14th April 2012 “……. [Korea] is streamlining investment into the new green sectors, that so far run to financing of nearly $50 billion. That’s billion, not million – compared with Australia’s much-touted Solar Flagship program which is funded at the level of millions.
………the Korean approach will be – mark my words – to turn the solar dish concept into a central component of their new green growth industrial strategy. They will be expected to acquire rights to the technology, and then adapt it through the intervention of Hyundai or LG or Samsung (the Korean innovation champions). They will mass produce the dishes in the thousands and then promote use of the technology throughout the world, providing all the components and materials from Korean sources.
The contrast with our approach in Australia could not be more stark. So far, we have seen two major solar technologies starved of funds and shipped offshore. There was thin-film solar photovoltaic technology, developed at the University of NSW under Professor Martin Green, that became a political football and a casualty of NSW state politics (when Bob Carr was premier). It was eventually sold off to Germany. Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 