What a week in Australia’s climate/nuclear news!
Election results show that, in fact, climate change and the carbon tax were not a major issue. The ABC’s opinion poll showed that Australians in general wanted action on climate change. However, election results suggest that this did not translate into support for carbon pricing. Nuclear/uranium issues were just not on the radar.
What Australia’s election results did show, is that a sustained barrage of attack against climate action policies, run over the past 3 years by the Murdoch media, in tandem with its attacks on the Labor government, had its effect.
Disinformation about climate change surely contributed to the confusion in the electorate, resulting in the extraordinary proliferation of silly little mini parties. Most of these new single issue new Senators are quite ignorant of general political issues, and can be relied on to vote mindlessly with the Abbott Government, when these Senators take up their seats in July.
For this reason, Abbott may well say that he will act quickly, but his best bet is to hang off on his most extreme, and anti climate action policies, until July.
However, Abbott is doing what groundwork that he can. Only yesterday, he’s been talking with President Obama, about the Trans Pacific Partnership, (TPP). You may well wonder about this – it’s a secretive pact designed to give American corporations a lot of power, for example, ability to sue Australian State governments – in effect, to override environmental laws. The Labor Government was being very careful about this. But does Tony even understand it?
Labor re-groups. No, Tony, they’re not going to “man up” and dump carbon pricing and climate change action. On the contrary, both Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese see action on climate change as a central issue
If uranium becomes profitable – likely that Queensland will ship it through Barrier Reef
Qld Mines Minister Andrew Cripps says no current plan to ship uranium through Barrier Reef ABC News, By James Kelly, Francis Tapim and Isobel Roe 13 Sep 2013, Queensland’s Mines Minister Andrew Cripps says uranium will not be exported through the Great Barrier Reef any time soon, but will not rule it out down the track. The State Government announced yesterday its action plan to reintroduce uranium mining in Queensland after lifting the ban in October last year…….
Mr Cripps says once mining starts, uranium would be shipped out of existing licensed ports in Adelaide or Darwin.
“Any situation where the commercial volumes of uranium developed in Queensland requiring the licensing of an additional port somewhere in Queensland is many years into the future,” he said.
Reef shipping ‘catastrophe waiting to happen’
Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) spokeswoman Felicity Wishart says shipping uranium through the reef is a catastrophe waiting to happen…… Continue reading
Australia’s new Abbott government to axe or gut 12 renewable energy programs
The Harvester Of Australian Renewable Energy’s Sorrow http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3941 13 Sept 13, Now that the coal dust of the Coalition’s election win is starting to settle; the soon-to-be clean energy corpses are easier to see. It’s been a period of mourning for many with a stake in Australia’s renewable energy efforts; with Prime Minister-elect Abbott’s well-oiled scythe poised to ruthlessly slash its way through related programs.
Here’s a partial casualty list; victims of the war on a low-carbon future:
To be axed:
– Clean Technology Program
– Energy Efficiency Information Grants
– Clean Energy Skills package
– Clean Technology Focus for Supply Chain programs
– Connecting Renewables
– CEFC
– Climate Change Authority
– Climate Change Commission
– Geothermal and tidal elements of Direct Action.
To be gutted:
– “Million Solar Roofs” rebate to be halved and with a narrowed scope
– Money for the above to come out of ARENA’s budget
– Reports of a further $532M to be cut from ARENA
According to The Australian, 33 climate change related schemes run by seven departments and eight agencies will be collapsed into just three bodies run by two departments. Whether this will provide better efficiency or just more bottlenecks interfering with progress remains to be seen.
As is widely known, the Coalition Government has its sights set on bringing legislation to axe the carbon tax to the first sitting of new Parliament; but it also realises it may not get its wish until after the senate changes in July 2014 (and even then there is some doubt). Continue reading
Award-winning Filmmaker on Fukushima’s Children
Award-winning Filmmaker on Fukushima: “People have low white blood cell counts… children and adults experiencing more nosebleeds and rashes” -Japan Times http://enenews.com/award-winning-filmmaker-on-fukushima-people-have-low-white-blood-cell-counts-children-and-adults-experiencing-more-nosebleeds-and-rashes-japan-times
Title: Filmmaker revisits the children of Fukushima’s ‘Grey Zone’
Source: Japan Times
Author: Louise George Kittaka
Date: Sept. 9, 2013
For independent filmmaker Ian Thomas Ash, making documentaries is an organic process. “I’m not a journalist, and I don’t try to make judgments,” he says. “My reaction is to film what is going on around me and see where it leads.”
In Ash’s case, it has led to recognition and awards at film festivals around the world for “A2-B-C,” the second of a pair of documentaries about children living in towns a stone’s throw from the site of the nuclear reactor meltdowns in Fukushima Prefecture.
Ash, an American who has called Japan home for the past 10 years, was in Tokyo when the massive earthquake struck on March 11, 2011. […]
When he began hearing about an apparent increase in throat nodules and cysts among children in Fukushima, he knew this was a story that had to be told. There is an added urgency this time, since “A2-B-C” depicts the grassroots efforts of mothers in Fukushima to give a voice to their children and their worries for their future. […]
The film’s title comes from the medical classifications for the size and number of throat nodules and cysts, but the film deals with more than just worries about the risk of thyroid cancer among families in the region. “The film covers other health and environmental issues, such as our inability to decontaminate the area. People have low white blood cell counts, and both children and adults are experiencing more nosebleeds and rashes. Not to mention the constant stress they live with.” […] Watch the A2-B-C trailer here
AUDIO: Climate Change Minister Greg Hunt determined to axe Clean Energy Funding
Coalition confirms plans to axe clean energy bank despite pleas to reconsider By science & technology reporter Jake Sturmer 11 Sep 2013, The head of Australia’s $10 billion green bank is urging the incoming government to reconsider plans to axe it.
But it appears the appeals will be in vain, with the likely new climate change minister Greg Hunt confirming to the ABC that the Coalition still intends to scrap the Clean Energy Finance Corporation……http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-11/coalition-confirms-plans-to-axe-clean-energy-bank-despite-pleas/4952096
AUDIO: Government’s axing of Clean Energy Finance Corporation brings investor uncertainty
AUDIO: Renewable energy company calls for new government to provide certainty http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2013/s3848082.htm Simon Lauder reported this story on Friday, September 13, 2013 12:18:00 SCOTT BEVAN: The Federal Government’s plan to axe the Clean Energy Finance Corporation is causing concerns for at least one major company in the sector.
The Coalition says the clean energy finance corporation is little more than a hedge fund investing taxpayers’ money in financially unviable projects.
But Pacific Hydro, which has just benefited from a $70 million loan from the Corporation, says if the Coalition Government goes ahead with its plan, it must provide more certainty in the market or investment will suffer.
Simon Lauder reports. SIMON LAUDER: Pacific Hydro has announced it now has the money to go ahead with the fourth and final stage of a 179 megawatt wind farm near Portland in Victoria.
The company’s general manager Lane Crockett says private banks threw in more than $150 million after the government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation invested $70 million in the project. Continue reading
Ionising radiation substantial risk for aggressive type of breast cancer
Exposing young girls to ionizing radiation can raise risk of breast cancer later in life http://www.news-medical.net/news/20130912/Exposing-young-girls-to-ionizing-radiation-can-raise-risk-of-breast-cancer-later-in-life.aspx 12 Sept 13, Exposing young women and girls under the age of 20 to ionizing radiation can substantially raise the risk of their developing breast cancer later in life. Scientists may now know why. A collaborative study, in which Berkeley Lab researchers played a pivotal role, points to increased stem cell self-renewal and subsequent mammary stem cell enrichment as the culprits. Breasts enriched with mammary stem cells as a result of ionizing irradiation during puberty show a later-in-life propensity for developing ER negative tumors – cells that do not have the estrogen receptor. Estrogen receptors – proteins activated by the estrogen hormone – are critical to the normal development of the breast and other female sexual characteristics during puberty.
“Our results are in agreement with epidemiology studies showing that radiation-induced human breast cancers are more likely to be ER negative than are spontaneous breast cancers,” says Sylvain Costes, a biophysicist with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). “This is important because ER negative breast cancers are less differentiated, more aggressive, and often have a poor prognosis compared to the other breast cancer subtypes.” Continue reading
Costly and ineffective program to make Fukushima area habitable again
Return to the radiation zone: Fukushima clean-up operation mired in fear and misinformation Two years after Japan’s nuclear power plant disaster nobody knows for certain how dangerous the contamination is THE INDEPENDENT DAVID MCNEILL 
, MIGUEL QUINTANA FUKUSHIMA WEDNESDAY 11 SEPTEMBER 2013″……..Nobody knows for certain how dangerous the radiation is. Japan’s central government refined its policy in December 2011, defining evacuation zones as “areas where cumulative dose levels might reach 20 millisieverts per year [20 mSv/yr],” the typical worldwide limit for nuclear power plant engineers and other radiation workers.
The worst radiation is supposed to be confined to the 20km exclusion zone, but it spread unevenly: less than 5km north of the Daiichi plant, our Geiger counter shows less than 5 millisieverts a year; 40km north west, in parts of Iitate village, it is well over 120 millisieverts. Those 160,000 refugees have not returned and are scattered throughout Japan. The nuclear diaspora is swelled by thousands of voluntary refugees who, unlike the Saitos, have not returned. Local governments are spending millions of dollars to persuade them back. Continue reading
Jobs to be lost as Australian COAL ition Government scraps green energy fund
Green fund scrapped The Standard, By SEAN McCOMISH Sept. 13, 2013, A WIND farm near Portland is likely to be one of the final projects financed by a $10 billion government green bank set to be scrapped by an incoming Coalition government.
Pacific Hydro has received a $70 million loan from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) towards the $110 million wind farm comprising 23 turbines. Environmentalists have slammed the decision to scrap the corporation they argue will help the country meet the 20 per cent renewable figure by 2020 known as the Renewable Energy Target (RET).
Pacific Hydro boss Lane Crockett said the CEFC had been “pivotal in enabling the project to move forward”. Around 400 jobs are expected to come out of the construction that will take two years to complete. It’s likely the wind farm would have faced long delays if the CEFC hadn’t stepped in to help fund the last stage of the project.
Developers are also giving commitments to use locally-made components and towers. The corporation signed off on the loan before the government entered caretaker mode — a move that ensures the cash will still flow into the project.
The 47-megawatt wind farm covers two sites at Cape Nelson north and Cape Sir William Grant near Portland and according to Pacific Hydro will generate enough power for more than 31,000 Victorian homes — offsetting 180,000 tonnes of carbon pollution each year.
The first two stages of the project saw turbines established at Cape Bridgewater and Cape Nelson south in 2009.
……Scrapping the CEFC will make it harder for smaller companies to put up turbines. … The corporation has made pleas to incoming climate change minister Greg Hunt, arguing the corporation has been making good returns from the green loans. But Mr Hunt is unconvinced. ….http://www.standard.net.au/story/1773466/green-fund-scrapped/?cs=73
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 