Australian govt worked against New Zealand’s nuclear disarmament initiative
Federal government worked to scuttle New Zealand statement against nuclear weapons http://www.bordermail.com.au/story/2138503/federal-government-worked-to-scuttle-new-zealand-statement-against-nuclear-weapons/?cs=7 By Philip Dorling March 10, 2014 The federal government led secret diplomatic efforts to frustrate a New Zealand-led push for nuclear disarmament, according to documents released under freedom of information laws.
Declassified ministerial submissions, cables and emails from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade show Australian diplomats worked energetically against nuclear disarmament efforts by other countries, because ”we rely on US nuclear forces to deter nuclear attack on Australia”. Continue reading
Abbott govt policies send renewable energy investors overseas
Clean energy investors abandon Australia, head overseas,REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson on 10 March 2014 Clean energy and low-carbon investors are abandoning Australia as the new Federal government, and its conservative colleagues at state level, turn their interests and policies away from renewables and long-term abatement incentives.
Several key players in the clean energy finance industry have told the Senate hearings into the proposed Direct Action policy that investors are looking to Europe, the US and some South American countries to find low-carbon opportunities.
“My members are looking at the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, France and some South American countries as having more stable investment environments for low-carbon opportunities,” said Nathan Fabian, the head of the Investor Group on Climate Change.
“Direct action is not an investment grade policy,” he said, noting that investors viewed it more like a short-term grants scheme. Banks were likely to take a similar view.
He also proposed review of the RET “appears to be another very clear signal that Australia will not be a market for low-carbon investing for the next few years.”
Tim Buckley, a former Citigroup analyst, funds manager, and now with the US-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, said the Australian clean energy industry is regressing because of the lack of clarity on policy……….
Australia was currently missing out on hundreds of billions of dollars that being invested every year in renewables, in energy efficiency and in development of these new technologies, and the hundreds of thousands of jobs being created in China, in Germany and in America.
Players in the renewables industry say the sector is facing its biggest crisis in a decade,……….http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/clean-energy-investors-abandon-australia-head-overseas-38631
Thousands stage anti-nuclear rally in Tokyo ahead of Fukushima anniversary ABC News 10 Mar 14 Tens of thousands of Japanese citizens have turned out for an anti-nuclear rally in Tokyo, as the nation prepares to mark the third anniversary of the Fukushima disaster. Demonstrators congregated at Tokyo’s Hibiya Park on Sunday, close to central government buildings, before marching around the national parliament.
They gathered to voice their anger at the nuclear industry and prime minister Shinzo Abe’s government, which has announced its intention to restart the Japan’s nuclear reactors after two years of inactivity.
“I felt it’s important that we continue to raise our voice whenever possible,” Yasuro Kawai, a 66-year-old businessman from Chiba prefecture, said.
“Today, there is no electricity flowing in Japan that is made at nuclear plants.
“If we continue this zero nuclear status and if we make efforts to promote renewable energy and invest in energy saving technology, I think it’s possible to live without nuclear (power).”……..
Fukushima disaster ‘continues today’....The plant remains volatile and engineers say it will take four decades to dismantle the crippled reactors..Protesters in Tokyo stressed that Japan can live without nuclear power as it has done so for many months while all of the nation’s 50 commercial nuclear reactors have remained offline due to tense public opposition to restarting them……http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-10/an-thousands-stage-anti-nuclear-rally-in-tokyo-ahead-of-fukushi/5309030
Anti nuclear protests across UK to mark Fukushima anniversary
Wave of UK protests to mark anniversary of Fukuhima disaster http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2014/03/515841.html Camilla Berens | 09.03.2014 Opponents of nuclear power will be converging all over the UK to mark the third anniversary of the ongoing Fukushima disaster – and to highlight the precarious state of Britain’s own nuclear reactors. The recent spate of flooding has once again highlighted the vulnerability of the UK’s nuclear power stations. In particular, Hinkley Point nuclear power station is close to the centre of the recent floods and earthquake in Somerset.
A recent Defra report revealed that 12 of our 19 civil nuclear sites are at risk of flooding and costal erosion. Of these, 9 sites including Sizewell and Hartlepool nuclear power stations, are at immediate risk, the report concluded. Continue reading
Australia subservient to USA in frustrating nuclear disarmament
With “friends” like these…No Right Turn , NZ, March 10, 201 4 We like to regard Australia as a natural ally, our sibling-country which shares our outlook on the world. But it turns out they’ve been working behind our back to undermine our disarmament efforts:
The federal government led secret diplomatic efforts to frustrate a New Zealand-led push for nuclear disarmament, according to documents released under freedom of information laws……
So much for natural allies. But its also interesting that the US doesn’t feel it can lead the pro-bomb camp itself, and so dumped the job on one of its patsies. http://norightturn.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/with-friends-like-these.html
Warren Buffett investing in renewable energy
Here’s Why Warren Buffett Is Betting Big on Renewable Energy The Motley Fool, 9 Mar 14 Berkshire Hathaway’s MidAmerican Energy’s deals with SunPower and Siemens offer a look into a big renewable future. Vestas shouldn’t be ignored, either.
“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” — Warren Buffett……..Buffett’s success is also his ability to acknowledge that sometimes things dochange and that new competitive advantages can and must be built. MidAmerican Energy has been doing just that for the past nine years, working with companies like Siemens (NYSE: SI), SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR), and Vestas (NASDAQOTH:VWDRY) to add renewable energy to its mix in a big way. Renewables are becoming a huge — and growing — part of Berkshire’s competitive advantage at MidAmerican. Let’s take a closer look at how these companies are all expanding in the surge of demand for renewable energy with Berkshire and beyond. Continue reading
A revolution coming in renewable energy, with cheap batteries
Disruptive change is a constant feature of capitalism. Railways ran coaching inns out of business. Electricity did for gas lighting, which had replaced oil lights, which replaced whale oil. The economistJoseph Schumpeter called it “creative destruction”. We are on the crest of another technological tsunami.
The good news is that this wave will make the planet safer, and our children’s future more secure
Cheap batteries will revolutionise the renewable energy market Chris Huhne The Guardian, Monday 10 March 2014 The big power companies will struggle to keep up as a solution emerges to the problem of storing wind and solar power News this week, from opposite ends of the planet, that points to the convulsion of change about to hit the global economy.
The first report came from Palo Alto, California, headquarters of the Tesla electric car company. Tesla’s car produces no carbon emissions (so long as the electricity that charges its batteries is also low carbon). Tesla’s chief executive, Elon Musk, announced it would invest in a $4bn-$5bn “gigafactory” doubling the world’sproduction of lithium-ion batteries. These power your mobile phone, but also Tesla’s high-end luxury electric cars. The objective is to cut battery prices by 30% in three years, and to halve them by 2020.
Since battery cost is the main obstacle to electric cars, this is potentially game-changing. Continue reading
Skin cancer a particular danger to young people
Skin Cancer before Age 25 Increases Risk to Other Cancers HNGN, By Julie S | Mar 09, 2014 A new study found that young people who had non-melanoma skin cancer are more likely to develop the melanoma type and other cancers when they grow older.
According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, skin cancer is the most common form of cancers in the United States with over two million diagnosed per year. To put it simply, one of five Americans develop it through their lifetime………Researchers from the University of Melbourne in Australia, led by Professor Rodney Sinclair, studied the medical records of more than nine million people from various age groups. …….This study was published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.………http://www.hngn.com/articles/26109/20140309/skin-cancer-before-age-25-increases-risk-to-other-cancers.htm
Nuclear power slowly dying in USA
The real reason to fight nuclear power has nothing to do with health risks,Quartz 9 Mar 4 By Chris Nelder “……. Nuclear’s long goodbye The simple fact is that, at least in the US, the nuclear industry is dying a slow death. The announced closure of four major facilities in 2013 alone amount to 4,246 megawatts of nuclear capacity—enough to power 2.7 million homes for a year—that are being retired.
Even while the nuclear industry is able to externalize its costs for insurance (which are federally limited), loan guarantees (which are federally backstopped), decommissioning (which is pushed onto ratepayers) and waste handling (which is pushed onto taxpayers), it still lost. If it had to stand on its own and pay its full insurance costs like every other energy source, we could never build another nuclear plant in America, because no private investors would be willing to take that kind of risk. It’s hard to imagine how the economics could be more tilted in nuclear’s favor (although I’m sure its proponents have ideas on that).
The reason nuclear is dying is economics, not tribalism, as Shellenberger and Nordhaus claim. Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 