Antinuclear

State of play in Australia’s climate and nuclear news this week

Nuclear news has gone very quiet at the moment – seeing that for Australia nuclear’s big argument was that it’s “the cure” for climate change.  (But now it is not politically correct to worry about climate change?)

Uranium. Energy Resources of Australia is touting its latest method to to treat radioactive water. ERA will go out of business if it doesn’t get a new mining operation going at Ranger.  Not a great prospect – with its history of spills and revenue losses.

CLIMATE CHANGE  has dominated the news this week. Or, more correctly, what Australia is NOT going to do about climate change.

Tony Abbott has:

• abolished the Science Ministry
• appointed as head of his Business Advisory Council  – Maurice Newman, who very recently attacked the CSIRO, the weather bureau and the “myth” of anthropological climate change. 
  
• abolished the Climate Change Commission, – sacking its chief, Tim Flannery
• appointed as Environment MInister – Greg Hunt, who abandoned decades of personal commitment to addressing climate change in order to save his political skin.  He now  tacitly supports climate scepticism,  and has given false information on climate change and carbon emissions
• through Greg Hunt approved a brief to begin drafting  a Bill to repeal the  Climate Change Authority (this requires an Act of Parliament)
• through Treasurer Joe Hockey has ordered the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC)  to cease operations. However, this order is not lawful,   it is obliged to continue to operate until the Coalition passes legislation abolishing the CEFC (that needs an Act of Parliament)

To abolish the Climate Change Authority and the CEFC Abbott’s Bills would have to pass both Houses of Parliament, This can’t happen until after July 2014, as until then Abbott would not have a majority in the Senate.

Not Surprisingly, Former Labor Energy Minister Martin Ferguson has applauded the Liberal government’s attack on renewable energy. In the Labor cabinet, Ferguson had a hard time pretending to support renewable energy.  Look out for Ferguson getting a nice little job with the polluting industries?

September 20, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina reviews