Social media gets Adelaide’s climate action rally film out first
Adelaide Rally ForAction On Climate Change 17 Nov 2013 Brett Burnard Stokes film
Hundreds of towns across Australia come out for climate change action
Climate change rallies held around Australia, with calls for Coalition to keep carbon tax (Go to this ABC website to see terrific pictures of the climate cation rallies around Australia) http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-17/thousands-rally-across-australia-for-national-day-climate-action/5097536 Tens of thousand of Australians have turned out for climate change rallies across the nation, calling on the Abbott Government to keep the carbon tax. The National Day of Climate Action was organised by activist groups including GetUp!, the Australian Youth Climate Coalition and the Australian Conservation Foundation.
Organisers say about 60,000 participated at the rallies, which were held in capital cities and more than 130 towns and regional centres. Emergency workers played a significant role in warning about the dangers of unchecked global warming, while Labor and Greens politicians, along with climate scientists, also participated.
The Climate Council’s Tim Flannery told 30,000 people in Melbourne that Australians must make their voices heard. “The simple truth is this: that we cannot leave a matter as important as climate change to the fickleness and whim of Australia’s politicians,” he said.
“We must stand up and be counted [and take] every effort to speed the uptake of renewable energy.” Greens deputy leader Adam Bandt evoked the memory of the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, while firefighters spoke of their fears of increasingly hotter days.
“There is no sceptic at the end of a fire hose,” said Peter Marshall, secretary of the United Firefighters Union. In Brisbane, where an estimated 4,000 people came together, firefighter Dean McNulty spoke of the huge concern climate change posed to his colleagues, who battle natural disasters from the front line.
Mr McNulty says scientists were clear that global warming would make extreme weather events more frequent and severe. “To firefighters, it is not just numbers and statistics, it is very real,” he said.
CLIMATE CHANGE SPECIAL – Abbott has no mandate to destroy climate and renewable energy action
Yesterday Australians of all ages gathered in their thousands to support government and public action for carbon pricing and renewable energy development. They want full funding the business-friendly Australian Renewable Energy Agency, (ARENA) and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) They want the Abbott government to act in concern for our children and grandchildren, not just in concern for the multinational corporations that pay for the Liberal – National Coalition’s campaigns.
In Melbourne there was an anti nuclear presence at the climate rally, and an obvious interest from people attending the rally. We must not forget that:
- Even a “limited” nuclear war would bring virtually instant climate change across the planet.
- With climate change, nuclear facilities become ever more dangerous – vulnerable to sea level rise, storm surges, floods, extreme heat, water shortages, earthquakes.
- The lying nuclear lobby has only recently discovered their latest spin – having previouslyignored or denied climate change, they now pose virtuously as the saviour – “nuclear power is the solution to climate change”. (this is complete rubbish – even if nuclear power could be effective against climate change, it would require thousands of nuclear reactors to be set up – taking decades to achieve. There just isn’t time.)
Today’s news on climate change and the rallies across Australia
Tony Abbott rejects Commonwealth climate change risk fund
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has rejected a proposal from the 53-nation Commonwealth to establish a new fund to help poor and island countries to combat climate change.
http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-rejects-commonwealth-climate-change-risk-fund-20131118-2xplc.html
Shorten digs in for carbon tax battle
BILL Shorten will confirm the battlelines on the repeal of the carbon tax this week.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/shorten-digs-in-for-carbon-tax-battle/story-e6frg6xf-1226762108651
Bandt raises bushfires climate link again
THE Greens have used the Black Saturday bushfires, which killed 173 people, as evidence of climate change ahead of a debate on the carbon tax repeal.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/bandt-raises-bushfires-climate-link-again/story-fni0xqi4-1226761957588
Growing clamor about inequities of climate crisis.
Following a devastating typhoon that killed thousands in the Philippines, a routine international climate change conference here turned into an emotional forum, with developing countries demanding compensation from the worst polluting countries for damage they say they are already suffering.
http://nyti.ms/1bvVN9X
Filipino farmers most vulnerable to climate change.
Filipino farmers are highly vulnerable to climate change. Year in, year out, they see their crops mowed down by strong winds from storms that come during harvest season. Lack of irrigation infrastructure also makes them vulnerable to droughts.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/focus/11/17/13/filipino-farmers-most-vulnerable-climate-change
Climate change rallies staged across Canada.
Organizers say more than 130 protests against climate change were staged across Canada Saturday, with the largest gathering held in Vancouver where participants showed their opposition to Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/climate-change-rallies-staged-across-canada-1.2428825
Guatemala’s Ambitious Project to Capture 1.8 Million Tons of Carbon
An ambitious agroforestry project to be developed over the next 20 years in a Guatemalan reserve for protecting water springs, seeks to capture 1.8 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) to help correct climate change on the planet.
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=1191490&CategoryId=23558
Greenpeace lauds tech giants for green energy push.
As the planet warms, many eyes have turned toward the IT sector and the impact cloud computing energy requirements have on the environment. Tech giants like Google, Rackspace and Facebook can claim significant portions of their power comes from renewable sources like wind, hydro and solar.
http://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Greenpeace-lauds-tech-giants-for-green-energy-push-4988145.php
Jim Casey: Climate change: a voice from the front line
As a firefighter, I can tell you things are not the way they used to be.
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/climate-change-and-firefighting-a-voice-from-the-front-line-20131117-2xp25.html
Nicholas Reece: Behold one of history’s greatest policy failures
Abbott’s decision to abolish the price on carbon is bizarre.
http://www.theage.com.au/comment/behold-one-of-historys-greatest-policy-failures-20131117-2xp0g.html
Jonathan Leake: Population growth the culprit
DOES climate change cause typhoons like Haiyan? The IPCC says no.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/population-growth-the-culprit/story-fnb64oi6-1226762090030
National
Environment officials on tenterhooks with Hunt
Environment bureaucrats are deeply worried about their ability to develop a “working relationship” with their minister, so concerned they have refused a freedom of information request on the ground it could “complicate” the relationship.
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/environment-officials-on-tenterhooks-with-hunt-20131117-2xp11.html
Victoria
Power line works upgraded in Victorian bushfire danger zones
Dangerous power lines in highest bushfire danger zones are set to be upgraded or replaced.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/power-line-works-upgraded-in-victorian-bushfire-danger-zones-20131117-2xp48.html
Climate action rally attracts crowd of 30,000 at Treasury Gardens
Melbourne delivered the largest turnout for Sunday’s national day of climate action, with up to 30,000 gathering at Treasury Gardens.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/climate-action-rally-attracts-crowd-of-30000-at-treasury-gardens-20131117-2xp5v.html
Power fines for meter protesters
VICTORIANS resisting smartmeters could be slugged hundreds of dollars extra for electricity if they continue to reject the rollout.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/customers-resisting-smartmeters-risk-being-charged-more-for-electricity/story-fni0fit3-1226762074980
Energy bonanza for Latrobe Valley
POLLUTION from the Latrobe Valley could be halved and new jobs created under a plan to clean up coal-fired power stations.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/latrobe-valley-pollution-could-be-halved-under-abbott-plan-to-clean-up-coalfired-power/story-fni0fit3-1226762121660
New South Wales
Crowd braves rain for climate change rally
Under a sea of umbrellas and ponchos up to 10,000 protesters gathered in rainy Sydney to demand action by the federal government on climate change.
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/crowd-braves-rain-for-climate-change-rally-20131117-2xosu.html
Queensland
Let carbon tax axe fall
ALMOST two in three Queenslanders want federal Labor to get behind Tony Abbott’s carbon tax abolition and stop holding up the new laws in the Senate.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/poll-finds-one-third-of-labor-voters-interviewed-want-abbott-governments-carbon-tax-axe-to-fall/story-fnihsrf2-1226762129676
Crowds attend city rally on climate change
About 4000 Queenslanders joined singer John Butler belting out Australian protest song From Little Things Big Things Grow in the hope the federal government would listen to pleas for climate change action.
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/crowds-attend-city-rally-on-climate-change-20131117-2xost.html
South Australia
Expert’s climate change warning
THE state must face up to the reality of climate change as it dramatically impacts on SA’s farming future, the new Conservation Council of SA head has warned.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/sa-could-be-world-leader-in-climate-change-incoming-conservation-council-of-sa-chief-executive-says/story-fni6uo1m-1226762102807
Rally demands climate change action
MORE than 1000 people converged on Elder Park today – joining tens of thousands of others nationally in calling for action on climate change.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/climate-change-rally-brings-more-than-1000-people-to-adelaides-elder-park/story-fni6uo1m-1226761977242
Tasmania
Rallies put heat on Abbott
THOUSANDS of Tasmanians joined more than 60,000 Australia-wide yesterday calling for climate change action.
http://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/rallies-put-heat-on-abbott/story-fnj4f7k1-1226762105767
Rally urges action on climate
MORE than 250 people dressed in red and orange gathered in support of action on climate change in …
http://www.examiner.com.au/story/1914227/rally-urges-action-on-climate/?cs=95
Western Australia
5000 join climate change rally
National campaign draws big crown as Perth swelters through the hottest November on record.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/newshome/19884937/thousands-join-climate-change-rally-in-wa/


