Michelle Drummond, independent anti-nuclear candidate for South Australia
Michelle is standing as an independent in the sa election, Michelle is running on an anti nuclear platform. Her desire for social justice and democracy forced her to run as a protest against the changes in the electoral process.
Anti uranium protest near Townsville, Queensland
Great to see 50 peeps protest on weekday agst uranium mine half an hr from Townsville! Congrats Townsville! #qldpolpic.twitter.com/jvr46bTXR5
TEPCO to restart Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant despite serious safety problems
TEPCO, despite its ongoing safety problems as highlighted by Tanaka Wednesday, plans to re-start the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, its biggest nuclear facility, this summer, much to the dismay and concern of the local and international community who believe more stringent tests need to be conducted…
Japan’s NRA blast TEPCO for serious safety problems, Global Times, Xinhua 27 Feb 2014 Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) blasted Tokyo Electric Power Co. Wednesday for its inappropriate handling of fuel rods at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture which caused some of the highly volatile rods to be damaged. Continue reading
Japan’s energy plan lacks specific targets or figures
Govt energy plan fails to give specific targets or figures The Yomiuri Shimbun, 26 Feb 14,The final draft of the government’s newenergy policy clearly states that nuclear power is “an important base load power source” and nuclear power plants should resume operations after their safety is confirmed, but the draft fails to mention specific goals or figures concerning the use of nuclear power…….Other than nuclear power, sources of power include coal, hydropower and geothermal power generations.
The Liberal Democratic Party’s ruling coalition partner, New Komeito, insists that nuclear power generation must be stopped immediately, and it opposed to a draft compiled previously by the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry’s expert panel in December, claiming the description in the draft that nuclear power is a “fundamental and important base power source” leans too much on the dependence on nuclear power. Therefore, the word “fundamental” was eliminated from the final draft…….. the government’s draft is expected to be approved by the Cabinet in March. The draft is expected to support the use of nuclear power plants and power companies’ efforts to reactivate them, in contrast to the zero nuclear power policy by the former administration led by the Democratic Party of Japan.
According to the Nuclear Regulation Authority, there is no clear prospect for completing the safety screening necessary to restart nuclear power plants, including those operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Kansai Electric Power Co……..
The government will begin discussing the power source composition, which may face rough waters as the government has to consider the opinions of political parties and the public.http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001068461
Bizarre election in South Australia, rigged by Liberal-Labor duopoly
Dennis Matthews, 27 Feb 14, Thanks to dangerously defective changes to the Electoral Act rushed through the South Australian Parliament at the last minute by the Liberal-Labor duopoly, organized harvesting of preferences in the 2014 Legislative Council elections appears to be in full swing.
This “gaming” of the system produces unpredictable preference flows such as those that gave bizarre results in the recent Senate elections.
It is highly likely that gaming will result in the balance of power being held by a party that the vast majority of voters had no intention of electing to the Legislative Council.
Thanks to the Liberal-Labor duopoly, governing South Australia could soon become more difficult.
Will the real candidate please stand up? Rafferty’s rules in South Australian election
to The Editor The Advertiser, from Dennis Matthews, 26 Feb 14 It takes a special sort of politician to name a group of candidates after oneself. It is even more bizarre when that politician is not one of those candidates. Yet that is exactly what has happened with three groups in the South Australian Legislative Council election. In two of the cases the politician is not even a South Australian and in the other case the person is already a member of the Federal Upper House.
On top of this there is one group of candidates running under a party name that appears to be based in Canberra and has no information about South Australia or about the state election on its website.
Talk about Rafferty’s rules. At this rate it won’t be long before we have a group running under the name of a non-Australian politician with interests contrary to those of Australia.
ACT to keep electricity prices low by extending solar and wind energy
ACT extends renewables FiT to 550MW to drive big solar, wind, Reneweconomy, http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/act-large-scale-fit-solar-wind-26551 By Sophie Vorrath on 27 February 2014
Most Australians support present Renewable Energy Target
Little hostility to renewable energy target despite government review Nearly two-thirds of Australians think target is about right or too low, poll finds, with only 13% judging it too high, Guardian, Lenore Taylor, political editorOnly 13% of Australians believe the renewable energy target is too high, despite the government reviewing the policy with the aim of reducing its impact on electricity prices.
The prime minister, Tony Abbott, signalled before Christmas thatthe target could be wound back, saying lower power prices were the government’s primary goal and the rationale for the RET no longer existed. This month the government appointed a self-professed climate sceptic, Dick Warburton, to head an “extensive” review of the RET.
But according to a poll undertaken by Essential Research, Australians appear to support the policy – 39% said it was “about right” (including 41% of Liberal/National party voters) and 25% thought it was too low.
Only 13% of voters believed the target was too high…..
The latest Newspoll, published on Tuesday, found Labor ahead in two-party-preferred terms 54%-46%.http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/25/poll-little-hostility-renewable-energy-target
Futaba – an irradiated, deserted, town
Outside, on the rooftop of the Futaba town office, one can clearly see the isolation and desolation of this dying town where time has stopped.
For the first time since the aftermath of March 2011 accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, an Asahi Shimbun reporter entered the town office of Futaba on Feb. 25…….
About 96 percent of Futaba, including areas around the town office, has been designated a difficult-to-return zone because annual accumulated radiation levels exceed 50 millisieverts.
The zone is surrounded by barricades, making it impossible for people to enter freely.
Wearing a mask and a white protective gear that covered my entire body and carrying a dosimeter, I entered Futaba after obtaining permission from the town office. A town official, who guided me around Futaba, wore similar clothing.
After leaving the town office, we headed to the Nagatsuka district in the central part of Futaba, where there were no signs of residents.
All 6,400 residents have fled the town………
The Futaba swimming beach was crowded with about 85,000 people in 2010. The seaside facility operated by the town office was damaged by the 2011 tsunami.
From a higher floor of the facility, we could see the Pacific Ocean extend to the horizon and gentle waves hitting the beach……
Peering over the barricade, however, we saw withered grass at places where houses were washed away by the tsunami. Infrastructure improvements and decontamination work have not made progress.
Hiraiwa’s house is located in the area.
“Nothing has changed (since May 2013),” he said.http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201402260048
Australia the only country to wind back national climate legislation.
Abbott’s climate policy: ‘So unintellectual to as to be unacceptable’ REeweconomy,By Jonathan Gifford on 27 February 2014 The latest update of a report that assessed 66 countries on their climate change mitigation strategies has singled out Australia as being the only country to wind back national climate legislation.
The report was complied by Globe International, a body which assesses climate mitigation laws worldwide, and its head, Lord Deben, described moves to abolish the carbon tax in Australia as being “very disappointing” – in an interview with theFinancial Times.
Lord Deben, when he was John Gummer, was a former UK government minister under Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major. He has lashed out at the Abbott government’s climate policies as being, “so unintellectual as to be unacceptable; I mean it is just amazing.”
The British peer’s remarks to the Financial Times, itself hardly a bastion of radicalism, included a stab at the climate analysts from which Abbott bases his climate policy, describing their work as “very dubious.”
“[This is] the last example of a government coming to power on the basis that really all this [climate change] is nonsense,” said Deben……
Lord Deben is a Conservative Party peer and his comments echo those made toRenewEconomy last week by Australian economist and climate policy advisor Ross Garnaut.
“This isn’t a conservative government in Australia, this is radical government,” Garnaut said. “A conservative government would’ve wanted to conserve all the good things about Australian life wouldn’t be seeking to undermine the current climate policies.”.http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/abbotts-climate-policy-so-unintellectual-to-as-to-be-unacceptable-21542
Draft native title welcomed by Noongar elders
Noongar elders emotional as draft native title bill tabled in Parliament. ABC News, By Stephanie Dalzell, 26 FEB 14, ,A draft bill officially recognising the Noongar people as traditional owners of South West land has been tabled in Parliament.
It follows a deal offered in July to resolve a long-running native title dispute.
As it was tabled, 79-year-old Janet Hayden wept.
For her, the bill means a decades-long battle for recognition has finally ended.”It’s a total relief because we’re walking in these doors here, and walking out, and something’s been done,” she said.
Under the $1.3 billion offer, $600 million will be paid into the Noongar Boodja Trust in instalments over 12 years.
Up to 320,000 hectares of Crown land will also be transferred to the trust in multiple parcels, and new programs will be established to assist economic, housing and community development……http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-26/draft-noongar-native-title-bill-tabled/5286320
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