Relieve stress by buying no Christmas presents
http://www.buynothingchristmas.org/index.html Learn About Buy Nothing Christmas Here.
This Christmas we’ll be swamped with offers, ads and invitations to buy more stuff. But now there’s a way to say enough and join a
movement dedicated to reviving the original meaning of Christmas giving.
Buy Nothing Christmas is a national initiative started by Canadian Mennonites but open to everyone with a thirst for change and a desire
for action.
Buy Nothing Christmas is a stress-reliever, and more people need to hear about it. You can change your world by simply putting up one of the posters (or make your own) in your church, place of worship, home or work. Be sneaky about it if you have to. The point is to get people thinking. It’s an idea whose time has come, so get out there and make a difference!
Corporate Australia determined to destroy environmental protection laws
Do you recognise the language of the industry bullies?
” this is just a speed bump along the way”
One of the main sticking points with those against the changes, which includes environmental groups and The Greens, is that the Commonwealth would not have right of veto over projects on environmental grounds..
Industry says backflip on environmental approvals may be just a bump in the road, ABC Rural News, By Babs McHugh, 07/12/2012 The mining industry says the decision by the Federal Government not to honour an agreement to streamline the environmental approvals process is a purely political one.
The Prime Minister has told the Business Advisory Forum at the Council Of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting that the Federal Government wouldn’t relinquish any of its powers unless all states agreed to the same framework.
That’s despite a promise at the last COAG meeting to reduce duplication of environmental assessments between the Commonwealth, States and Territories.
It would have meant changes to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC), which was enacted in 1999…. Continue reading
Canada abolishes federal environmental protection
When yet another omnibus budget bill passed through Parliament this week, it ushered in a new era in Canadian history. The “Navigable Waters Protection Act” no longer protects “Water”. The “Fisheries Act” no longer protects “Fish”. The “Environmental Assessment Act” no longer requires “Environmental Assessments” be done before important decisions are made. If you are looking to federal environmental law and policy to protect Canada’s environment, you’re a dinosaur. A throwback. A relic of the 20th Century.
“No need to worry,” the federal government says, “the provinces will protect you now.”
Everything’s changed, Northumberland View ca Dec 06, 2012 – Krystyn Tully, Waterkeeper.ca Weekly“……. It’s no secret that the Government of Canada’s been undergoing some kind of post-environmentalism re-envisioning exercise. You’ve seen the stories about massive layoffs in federal environmental departments, heard about scientists being “muzzled”, listened to members of parliament debating sweeping changes to federal laws.
The exercise is over. The “new normal” is here.
For the last thirty years, Canada was a rule-of-law kind of country. Our environmental laws spelled out what you can’t do (pollute or block a river, for example). They spelled out how decisions had to be made (major projects were reviewed by independent panels, with input from qualified experts, for example). Those who wanted to develop or dump on the water had to prove to a decision-maker that their actions would not harm other people’s abilities to safely swim, drink, or fish those same waters. With a few notable exceptions, the federal rules were generally the same across Canada.
This is no longer true. Continue reading
Groups demand Queensland’s Federal MPs retain protection of the State’s environment
“We have been witnessing a wholesale removal of environmental protections in Queensland on a completely unprecedented scale and at a pace that is breath-taking – and certainly beyond the capacity of the community to respond”
“Our organisations together represent tens of thousands of Queenslanders who are extremely alarmed at the prospect of the economic development driven Newman government having sole responsibility for the future of Queensland’s special places like Cape York and World Heritage areas like the Great Barrier Reef”
Queensland Conservation Council, 6 Dec 12 Queensland’s state and regional conservation groups meeting in
Brisbane today have demanded that Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan and other Queensland Labor MPs act to prevent the handing over of environmental approval powers to the States. Continue reading
New nuclear: industry on its deathbed in France
“In a way, the last 24 hours have killed French nuclear finally because the cost makes it totally impossible to export and now you have one of the few partners actively withdrawing; it looks really bad,”
Last 24 hours have ‘killed’ French nuclear – analyst http://enformable.com/2012/12/last-24-hours-have-killed-french-nuclear-analyst/ 6 Dec 12, French power utility EDF received a fresh blow on Tuesday after Italy’s biggest utility Enel announced it has pulled out from a project to build a next-generation nuclear reactor in northern France, and five other power plants to be built in France using EPR technology, following last year’s referendum in Italy to prevent nuclear energy from returning into the nation.
The French utility admitted earlier this week that changes in engineering and design due to stricter regulation in the wake of
Japan’s Fukushima disaster forced it to hike the construction cost of the European Pressurized Reactor being consctructed in Flamanville, northern France, to 8.5 billion euros ($11.12 billion), more than double the original estimate of 3.3 billion euros which was claimed by EDF in 2005. Continue reading
For all its cockiness, the nuclear industry is deeply nervous about the future
Nuclear industry faces up to reality of ‘interesting times’ The Engineer, 7 December 2012 | By 
Stuart Nathan “………Part of the problem is that the nuclear landscape is so complicated, especially in the UK, with its history as a nuclear
pioneer and the legagcy of experiment that has left behind. John Clarke of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, again reflecting the mood of realism, put it in a way which pretty much everyone would understand. ‘It’s like telling children to put their toys away before getting out new ones. Clearing up the mess is a key enabler to new build.’
…… .it’s relatively easy to put toys away. Nuclear is different. ‘At Sellafield, we’re dealing with structures which were put up in the 1940s in great haste to support military programmes, where the only concern was “is it safe for today”,’ he said. ‘They were neverdesigned to have waste taken out of them, and the waste is poorly categorised — we often don’t really know what it is.’
The situation isn’t much better even at industrial-scale power stations, said Peter Walkden, commercial director of Magnox. ‘It was never going to be easy to decommission a 50 year old plant that was never designed to be decommissioned, under a regime that was designed for operation,’ he said. Decommissioning a Magnox plant takes the best part of a century — three years to defuel, then ten years of preparation for care and maintenance while radioactivity subsides (the stage that current decommissioning projects are in), followed by 85 years of care and maintenance, then about ten years to clear the site.
A bit more than just putting the toys away, and something that can’t be done before building new plants’. ….”
Demystifying the hype about thorium nuclear reactors
THORIUM REACTORS? http://fairewinds.org/demystifying, 8 Dec 12 by Peggy Conte
The latest nuclear power industry proposals focus on smaller reactors and the possibility of thorium fueled reactors. As the nuclear industry explores other fission products, Fairewinds Energy Education has been peppered with hundreds of questions regarding the feasibility and safety of thorium reactors that the nuclear industry is touting as a newer safer form of nuclear power.
The Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) is being sold as a “market based environmental solution” and advertised by the nuclear industry as cheaper than coal. Molten Salt Reactors (MSR) use a molten salt mixture as the primary coolant, and sometimes the molten salt is even mixed directly with thorium in the reactor fuel.
Since Fairewinds has received so many questions regarding Thorium Reactors, let’s look at the facts about Thorium: Continue reading
Tsunami warning for Japan’s Eastern coast
Japan earthquake tsunami warning issued http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20638696 7 December 2012 A tsunami warning has been issued after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck off Japan’s eastern coast.
The epicentre of the quake was about 245km (150 miles) south-east of Kamiashi at a depth of about 36km, the US Geological Survey said. The quake was felt in the capital Tokyo, media report.
The tsunami warning was issued for the coast of Miyagi Prefecture, which was hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.
The US-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no threat to the wider Pacific Ocean but that a tsunami could be generated that was destructive for local coastlines. Warnings of the tsunami height varied between 50cm and 2m.
Evacuations have been ordered from some of the affected areas. Buildings were reported to have swayed in Tokyo for several minutes.
BHP gives up on uranium: Olympic Dam may mine copper only
BHP is now looking at less capital-intensive options for the mine, focusing on copper.
BHP shuts uranium arm; nuclear-fuel prospects dim
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bhp-shuts-uranium-arm-nuclear-fuel-prospects-dim-2012-12-06 By Robb M. Stewart MELBOURNE, 6 Dec 12, –BHP Billiton Ltd. BHP +0.19% has shut its uranium division, responsible for its Olympic Dam copper-and-uranium mine, in a reflection of dimmed prospects for the nuclear fuel.
The South Australia mine has been folded into its base metals division, the company said in a statement Thursday. Continue reading
Julia Gillard delays decision on weakening environmental protection: reactions from business and The Greens
Environment delay riles business, The Age, December 7, 2012, Michelle Grattan BUSINESS has reacted furiously to Prime Minister Julia Gillard putting on hold plans to give the states power to deal with environmental approvals for major projects……
Greens leader Christine Milne said Ms Gillard had found out during the past few months that she had ”made a complete muck of it”, and now had made another mistake.
Instead of abandoning ”this ridiculous proposition that the Commonwealth hand over its powers to the states, what she’s said is ‘all right then states, you go and sort it out, come back and tell me how much of the environmental protection powers you want, and I’ll hand it over to you next year”’.
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/environment-delay-riles-business-20121206-2ay8k.html#ixzz2ERF3Jiwr
New legal appeal against Lynas rare earths plant in Malaysia
Lynas faces new appeal from activists BY: SARAH-JANE TASKER The Australian December 06, 2012
A GROUP of activists opposed to rare-earths miner Lynas have lodged another legal appeal to stop the company processing material at its Malaysian plant.
The company, which started processing its West Australian product at the plant last week, yesterday said the Save Malaysia Stop Lynas group was attempting another appeal…..(subscription only)
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/lynas-faces-new-appeal-from-activists/story-e6frg9df-1226530797943
USA conducts new atomic bomb test
The Nevada experiment has drawn sharp criticism from the Japanese city of Hiroshima, as the first victim of atomic weapons.
“I wonder why [US] President [Barack] Obama, who said he would seek a nuclear-free world, carried out the test,” Hiroshima mayor Kazumi Matsui told reporters.
US conducts atomic test amid global urge for nuclear disarmament Press TV 7 Dec 12The US has conducted a nuclear test in Nevada to examine the effectiveness of its atomic weapons stockpile amid the growing global urge for nuclear disarmament. The US Energy Department announced that the Wednesday nuclear test was aimed at providing “crucial information to maintain the safety and effectiveness of the nation’s nuclear weapons.” Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 