Victoria’s Baillieu government is making the State’s climate problem worse
Environment Victoria chief executive Kelly O’Shanassy accused the Baillieu government of neglecting efforts to
reduce Victoria’s greenhouse gas emissions – such as by dumping the
state’s emissions reduction target.
”It defies logic that our government could understand the risks
climate change poses to Victorians and then knowingly make the problem
worse.”….
Climate threat to state assets, The Age, January 7, 2013 Tom Arup
VITAL public infrastructure in Victoria including hospitals, schools
and police stations is under increased threat of damage as climate
change intensifies.
A consultancy report has warned that billions of dollars worth of
infrastructure covered by the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority is
exposed to the impacts of natural disasters such as bushfires and
floods.
The intensity and frequency of such disasters are forecast to increase
as the planet warms. Continue reading
Exposing false statements by climate warming sceptics
Spooner’s views on climate change are far from weathertight, The Age,
January 7, 2013 Roy Robins-Browne Climate warming sceptics often state
”truths” that are demonstrably false. “…..In his article Spooner
states that ”… everybody agrees that the warming trend paused 16
years ago”. This statement is demonstrably false, as the period 2000
to 2009 was warmer than 1990 to 1999, which was warmer than the decade
before it, thus continuing an ongoing trend lasting more than 150
years. Climate sceptics obfuscate temperature data by cherry-picking
an unusually hot period in 1997-98 as the baseline for comparison. As
both 2005 and 2010 were hotter than 1998, the sceptics will no doubt
use these years as the baseline for future comparisons. (For more
information visit
http://news.discovery.com/earth/no-global-warming-hasnt-stopped-121017.html).
Incidentally, if warming has paused, how is it that glaciers and polar
ice are melting faster than ever?….
One final question I will put to Spooner, Carter and their colleagues
is: even if you are correct and mainstream science is wrong, what is
wrong with encouraging the use of renewable energy and reducing our
reliance on finite, air-polluting, fossil fuels? Surely cleaning up
the environment is a good idea regardless of its effects on climate.
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/spooners-views-on-climate-change-are-far-from-weathertight-20130106-2cb1a.html#ixzz2HLjSGgYn
ASIO urges govt to tighten security on Internet servers
cyber-risk that worries agencies is the emergence of anarchic
non-state organisations motivated to dislocate our way of life to
express dissent about public decisions. The most high-profile example
is Anonymous, a cellular and leaderless group of hactivists.
Attorney-General Nicola Roxon has referred the proposals to the
Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. She
recognises that a signal issue remains – “whether the government needs
to obligate the telecommunications industry to protect their networks
from unauthorised interference”.
It’s global cyber war out there, Financial Review, Christopher Joye, 1
Jan 13, “……with the privatisation
of so many utilities over the past three decades, government has
unwittingly delegated national security to business. …..ASIO
believes national security reforms need to be made to the regulations
governing essential infrastructure, including telecommunications….. Continue reading
Police stop thousands of protestors getting with 2 km of Jaitapur nuclear power site
Indian protest movement spreads World Nuclear News, 03 January 2013
Mass public unease at nuclear power development has emerged at
Jaitapaur. Thousands of protestors were held by police today as they
attempted to surround the site of six planned reactors.
Groups representing villagers in the vicinity of the development in
western Maharastra state said they were angered by Nuclear Power
Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL’s) recent actions to move forward
with tenders towards the future power plant’s facilities. They said
tenders for a health clinic, fire station and security building showed
the national government had not given their concerns sufficient
attention and called for the project to be cancelled outright.
The march from surrounding towns to the plant attracted around 2000
people, according to a Business Standard report. Leaders had intended
to surround the 1000 hectare site and hand a letter to site managers,
but the crowd was stopped and held by police around two kilometres
from its destination…..
Solar photovoltaic research at University of New South Wales
Australia-US institute for new photovoltaic technology, World
University News, 06 January 2013 An A$35 million (US$37 million)
grant from the Australian government has been allocated to the
University of New South Wales to create a US-Australian institute to
foster rapid development of “over the horizon” photovoltaic
technology. Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 