Climate action hope for Australia: the new Climate Council
Out Of The Ashes : The Climate Council http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3958 26 Sept 13 The former Climate Commissioners may have had their funding cut; but they intend continuing the battle to inform the public under a new community-funded body – The Climate Council.
The Climate Commission was established in 2011 to provide all Australians with an independent and reliable source of information about the science of climate change.
Another casualty of the Abbott government’s seeming war on renewable energy and the environment, the Climate Commission was abolished last Thursday. More than two years of important work was ended in a phone call made by the new Environment Minister, Greg Hunt to the Commission’s head; Professor Tim Flannery – who was also Australian of the Year in 2007.
But a phoenix has arisen from the ashes after an outpouring of support and offers of donations from the public to maintain the crucial work.
An Update from the Climate Council
“People want us to keep going, they told me they need the information that we provide,” said Professor Flannery. “Without an informed public, we’re unlikely to make the decisions that will safeguard our future against truly dangerous climate change. So we’re going to keep going.”
All the former Climate Commissioners are supporting the Climate Council initiative – Professor Flannery, Professor Will Steffen, Roger Beale, Gerry Hueston, Professor Lesley Hughes and Professor Veena Sahajwalla.
“Information is the currency of democracy, and Australians deserve to have independent information on the state of our climate,” states the Climate Council’s web site.
The body will be “fiercely independent and apolitical” and will continue to provide journalists and the public with authoritative reports; starting with the soon to be released international climate science update. The Climate Council has already received seed funding and is seeking additional funding from the public. Donations can be made securely via this page.
At last ! experienced French and Russian help accepted by Japan in Fukushima
AUDIO Japan agrees to foreign help with Fukushima ww.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2013/s3855960.htm Mark Willacy reported this story on Wednesday, September 25, 2013
PETER LLOYD: To nuclear issues of another kind now, and Japan has finally accepted international help to sort out the mess at the Fukushima nuclear plant. It’s agreed to let the French help decommission and dismantle it. Our Tokyo correspondent Mark Willacy says it’s a climb-down that signals how little success Japan has had stopping the spread of contaminant since the earthquake two and a half years ago. Continue reading
AUDIO: Mark Willacy interviews former US nuclear chief about Fukushima
AUDIO: Former US nuclear chief’s damning Fukushima report http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/asia-pacific/former-us-nuclear-chiefs-damning-fukushima-report/1195596 25 September 2013,
The former chief nuclear regulator in the United States has delivered a damning verdict on Japanese authorities’ ability to stop contaminated groundwater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant flowing into the sea. Gregory Jaczko was responding to comments by the Japanese Prime Minister that the situation at Fukushima was under control.
Mr Jaczko told foreign journalists in Tokyo that the surging groundwater “was beyond human control”, warning that a planned underground ice wall around the site would also fail to stop the sea becoming contaminated.
Reporter: Mark Willacy
Speakers: Shinzo Abe, Japanese Prime Minister; Gregory Jaczko, former United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman
WILLACY: It was a last ditch guarantee from a prime minister fighting to win the Olympics for his country. Continue reading
As Australia goes backward in renewable energy policy, Germany forges ahead
it is a clear signal that citizens are favouring a publicly owned, decentralised energy system with a leading role of renewables.”
The German result is likely to present good news. HSBC believes the IPCC report – despite its criticism in some quarters, and particularly by the fossil fuel lobby – could mark “a new phase in climate action”. HSBC says that would leave a Tony Abbott-led Australia distinguishing itself “as an exception to a broader trend to increased commitment, notably in the G-2 (China and the USA).”
Germany votes for energy transition, and to buy back the grid http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/germany-votes-for-energy-transition-and-to-buy-back-the-grid-50110 By Giles Parkinson on 25 September 2013
As the dust settles on the election results, and Chancellor Angela Merkel begins the process of selecting a new coalition partner, most observers are suggesting that the poll results are positive for Germany’s Energiewende, the ambitious energy transition program that aims to have Europe’s strongest industrial economy powered 50 per cent by renewables by 2030, and 80 per cent by 2050. (Below renewable energy in just one province of Germany 2012)
Tony Abbott recruiting his new unelected Indigenous Council
Abbott recruiting for indigenous council http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/09/25/abbott-recruiting-indigenous-council LISA MARTIN -September 25, 2013, Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s new indigenous advisory council will complete a review of indigenous spending by early next year.
Mr Abbott has begun recruiting people for the council, which will oversee a shake up of indigenous affairs.Warren Mundine on Wednesday officially signed on to be the council’s chairman. He said his preference was for the council to have seven or eight members.
The membership will be finalised before the end of October.
“It’s not a representative committee … it’s a council of experts, indigenous and non-indigenous, who will be working in this space to get the socio-economic outcomes for indigenous people,” Mr Mundine told AAP.
“It will be based on expertise, but the majority will be indigenous people on the council.” Continue reading
Japanese govt used ‘police state methods’ to promote nuclear power
Official: “Police state methods” used by gov’t to promote nuclear power (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/official-police-state-methods-govt-promote-nuclear-power-video
September 24th, 2013
By ENENews
Title: Tatsuya Murakami, Mayor of Tokai-mura in Ibaraki Prefecture
Source: Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan
Date: Sept. 5, 2013
Tatsuya Murakami, Mayor of Tokai-mura
Tatsuya Murakami, Mayor of Tokai-mura in Ibaraki Prefecture: When I consider what has been done in the past, the national government has had the state policy of promoting nuclear power.
And the way that they have promoted nuclear power has been very similar to the way a kind of bad government would operate.
In other words, they have used sort of military, police state methods in order to promote nuclear power, and I’m not in favor of that kind of action at all.
But having said all of this, concerning the severity of this accident I think the state must step in.
Watch the FCCJ event here
Campaign to discredit the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Scientist laments concerted effort to discredit IPCC GRAHAM LLOYD THE AUSTRALIAN SEPTEMBER 25, 2013 A FULL-SCALE effort was under way to discredit the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change before its fifth report on the state of climate change science was released on Friday, a leading Australian climate scientist said yesterday. (registered readers only) http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/scientist-laments-concerted-effort-to-discredit-ipcc/story-e6frg6xf-1226726494272#
Insurance Industry and Climate Change
For his own part, Muir-Wood puts his money where his mouth is. “I personally wouldn’t invest in beachfront property anymore,” he says, noting the steady increase in sea level we’re expecting to see worldwide in the coming century, on top of more extreme storms. “And if you’re thinking about it, I’d calculate quite carefully how far back you’d have to be in the event of a hurricane.”
How the Insurance Industry Is Dealing With Climate Change Smithsonian 25 Sept 13 When it comes to the calculating the likelihood of catastrophic weather, one group has an obvious and immediate financial stake in the game: the insurance industry. And in recent years, the industry researchers who attempt to determine the annual odds of catastrophic weather-related disasters—including floods and wind storms—say they’re seeing something new.
“Our business depends on us being neutral. We simply try to make the best possible assessment of risk today, with no vested interest,” says Robert Muir-Wood, the chief scientist of Risk Management Solutions (RMS), a company that creates software models to allow insurance companies to calculate risk. “In the past, when making these assessments, we looked to history.
But in fact, we’ve now realized that that’s no longer a safe assumption—we can see, with certain phenomena in certain parts of the world, that the activity today is not simply the average of history.”This pronounced shift can be seen in extreme rainfall events, heat waves and wind storms. The underlying reason, he says, is climate change, driven by rising greenhouse gas emissions. Muir-Wood’s company is responsible for figuring out just how much more risk the world’s insurance companies face as a result of climate change when homeowners buy policies to protect their property………
The fact that the frequency of some catastrophic weather events may be changing due to climate change makes the problem even more complex. Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 