The Palmer climate action conversion IS a game-changer.
The Palmer conversion is a game-changer.
By 2016, the named trading partners who already have trading schemes in various forms will have consolidated their schemes, renewable energy would have dethroned King Coal and we’ll have Labor, the Greens and PUP all campaigning for a return of the ETS.
Palmer and Gore: What are they good for? Independent Australia Sandi Keane 29 June 2014,When climate realists and coal billionaires share a stage to commit to climate change action, the end is nigh for the climate dinosaurs, says deputy editor Sandi Keane.
THE MEDIA HAS STRUGGLED since Wednesday to make sense of the Palmer/Gore shock presser with guess-which-media monopoly trumpeting it as a win for Abbott and many of the more independent-hue cynically declaring it a damp squib and Crikey even going so far as to call it a win for climate denialists.…….
Firstly, it should be noted, Al Gore – former U.S. vice-president and rightful victor in the 2000 U.S. presidential election – is no-one’s fool…….
If anyone thinks there’s been no shift in the body politic in Canberra to act on global warming thanks to Gore’s intervention with Palmer, then more fool them.
Granted, a tectonic shift it wasn’t. Gore deplored Palmer’s repealing of the carbon tax. But whenPalmer United Party (PUP) senators met last weekend, there was reluctance to break an election promise.
several high profile climate campaigners, like former Australian Conservation Foundation boss,Don Henry, and Christine Milne’s former chief of staff, Ben Oquist , who were lobbying Clive Palmer behind the scenes. Impromptu as it looked, last Wednesday’s shock announcement by the Palmer United Party had been carefully negotiated over a number of weeks.
At the risk of re-stating the facts, let’s look at PUP’s scoreboard before and after Gore’s intervention.
Pre-Gore’s visit:
Renewable Energy Target x
Clean Energy Finance Corporation x
Climate Change Authority x
Australian Renewable Energy Agency x
AGW believer x
ETS x
Carbon tax x
Post-Gore’s visit:
RET ✔
CEFC ✔
CCA ✔
ARENA ?
AGW believer ✔
ETS ✔
CT x
What benefit is Palmer United Party’s support for an ETS?…….
Activist Natalie Lowrey freed, following Malaysian arrest for ant-Lynas protest
Aust activist freed from Malaysia cell http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/aust-activist-freed-from-malaysia-cell/story-fni0xqll-1226970174011l AAP JUNE 28, 2014 SYDNEY woman Natalie Lowrey has been released after being detained for six days in Malaysia, where she was protesting against an Australian company’s metals plant.
MS Lowrey was arrested on Sunday while demonstrating at Lynas’ controversial plant for rare earths, which are used in tech products like smartphones.
Police were weighing a charge of unlawful assembly, which carries a maximum two-year jail term.
But on Friday night, as the New Zealander was preparing to spend a weekend behind bars with no visitors, she was suddenly released on bail.”It was a big surprise, I didn’t believe it until I had changed out of my purple jail uniform,” she told AAP.
“I felt very strong the whole week because I knew there were vigils all over Australia and Malaysia for me. I have a lot of people to thank.”
Lowrey was released along with 15 Malaysians who had also been arrested.
The lack of transparency around Ms Lowrey’s detention concerned lawyers and NGOs, who collected more than 15,000 signatures on a petition to free her.
She has her passport back and plans to leave Malaysia next week.
Energy policies since 2011 make Germany a winner, and Japan a loser
In short, German policy gave renewables fair access to the grid, promoted competition, weakened monopolies, and helped citizens and communities own half of renewable capacity. In 2013, Germany’s nuclear generation reached a 30-year low while renewable generation, 56% greater, set a new record, reaching an average of 27% of domestic use in the first quarter of 2014 and a brief peak of 74% on 11 May.
How Opposite Energy Policies Turned The Fukushima Disaster Into A Loss For Japan And A Win For 
Germany Forbes, Amory B Lovins 28 June 14 Japan thinks of itself as famously poor in energy, but this national identity rests on a semantic confusion. Japan is indeed poor in fossil fuels—but among all major industrial countries, it’s the richest in renewableenergy like sun, wind, and geothermal. For example, Japan has nine times Germany’s renewable energy resources. Yet Japan makes about nine times less of its electricity from renewables (excluding hydropower) than Germany does.
That’s not because Japan has inferior engineers or weaker industries, but only because Japan’s government allows its powerful allies—regional utility monopolies—to protect their profits by blocking competitors. Since there’s no mandatory wholesale power market, only about 1% of power is traded, and utilities own almost all the wires and power plants and hence can decide whom they will allow to compete against their own assets, the vibrant independent power sector has only a 2.3% market share; under real competition it would take most of the rest. These conditions have caused an extraordinary divergence between Japan’s and Germany’s electricity outcomes. Continue reading
Liberals attack environmental charities, (but right wing Institute of Public Affairs is unscathed)
Activist charities targeted http://www.examiner.com.au/story/2382849/activist-charities-targeted/?cs=95 By MATT MALONEY June 28, 2014,
The Liberal Party’s Federal Council on Friday night unanimously endorsed a policy motion put up by Bass Liberal MHR Andrew Nikolic to remove consumer and competition law exemptions for eco-charities. He argued that environmental groups should be treated the same as corporations under the act, and that tax deductibility for donations and reduced fees for court action should be removed.
He said there were 583 approved environmental groups under the act, and 13 of these were allowed to receive tax-deductible donations. “I am seeking to remove exemptions so environment groups are not above the law,” Mr Nikolic said. “Part of taking this forward now requires ministers in the state and federal government to act together to remove the exemption.”
Mr Nikolic’s motion follows moves by the state government to repeal the Tasmanian forest peace deal and clamp down on forest protesters through tough new laws involving hefty fines and three-month mandatory prison sentences.
Wilderness Society spokesman Vica Bayley said the latest move would not only hit community groups but the industry groups that the government had pledged to protect.“The Liberals have torn down the only collaborative and constructive thing going and replaced it with draconian measures,” Mr Bayley said.
“It’s a backward step and demonstrates that they believe that their policies will fail and the state will descend back into conflict.”
He said amendments to consumer and competition law would increase the level of controversy and contention in forestry in Tasmania as the government would be seen as one that wanted to block dissenting voices.
Legal precedent as Japanese town takes legal action against nuclear reactor
Abe’s nuclear renaissance ignores stiff opposition BY JEFF KINGSTON SPECIAL TO THE JAPAN TIMES 28 June 14 “……….Are the potential dangers of hosting a reactor an acceptable risk given the alternative of economic decline and depopulation? Many communities in remote coastal areas where Japan’s fleet of reactors are sited are grappling with this calculus. Until now the Aomori Prefecture fishing port of Oma has been famous for its bluefin tuna catches, but that is changing due to the town’s decision to host a nuclear power plant.
Just across the Tsugaru Strait from Oma, the city of Hakodate, Hokkaido, filed a lawsuit earlier this year against the central government and the utility to block construction of the Oma mixed-oxide fuel (MOX) reactor. This is the first lawsuit in Japan of its kind in which a local government is the plaintiff seeking an injunction against building a nuclear plant. Continue reading
Victorian town Yackandandah going for Totally Renewable energy
Energy builds for Yackandandah renewables target http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2014/06/27/4034789.htm By Nick Fogarty
Members of TRY heard about Wildspoldsried – which produces three-times its total energy needs from renewables – at a community energy congress in Canberra last week. TRY spokesperson, Matthew Grogan, said their hope is that Yackandandah will be producing 100 percent of its own energy needs from renewables by the year 2022.
“We’ve got incredible fossil fuel resources … it’s tried and true technology and there’s a lot of it there,” Mr Grogan said. “But we know the damage that it causes and it’s at crisis point, the damage that that’s causing. “In addition to that brown coal we’ve also got one of the world’s best profiles of solar energy.”
TRY is encouraged by the fact that north-east Victoria receives more solar radiation than Germany, the world’s largest producer of solar energy. The switch to renewables has also brought financial benefits for Wildspoldsried, Mr Grogan said, from “energy tourism” and the sale of excess power back into the grid.
Wildspoldsried made the switch with stunning speed, having aimed for a target of 100 percent renewables within 10 years, but achieved the goal in five years. It’s early days for the Yackandandah group, but a community-owned petrol station and an already-high uptake of solar among residents shows a willingness to look for alternatives.
Yackandandah is not alone in its vision, with around 50 other Australian communities attending last week’s congress.
Mr Grogan said TRY had already approached local supermarkets (the area’s largest energy users) and funding bodies to sell their vision. “We know the technology is out there, we know solar panels are coming down and batteries are coming down as well in price,” Mr Grogan said. “It’s a really exciting phase to be honest, we’re just approaching it with a lot of creativity and taking any opportunities as they arise.”
Japan;s nuclear utilities in financial problems
Two Japanese nuclear power utilities have received bail outs from Japan’s state backed bank. Hokkaido and Kyushu power companies both received bail outs. Both companies are heavily invested in nuclear power. Meanwhile nine power utilities in Japan held their annual shareholder meetings this week. All involved shareholder calls to end the use of nuclear power by the companies. All were rejected by the utilities.
TEPCO’s shareholder meeting was particularly chaotic with multiple calls for the company to end their nuclear program. All shareholder calls for these changes were rejected in large part due to the government holding a majority share of the company. TEPCO insists they will still try to restart their nuclear reactors at Kashiwazaki Kariwa. TEPCO also announced a plan to go into the power storage business in Europe. They hope to install energy storage systems to buy up cheap energy at night and sell it back to the grid during daytime peak use when prices are high.
The NRA had harsh words for Japan’s nuclear power utilities. In a recent meeting NRA officials said the utilities were doing the bare minimum to respond to safety screenings and are not actually taking plant safety seriously. There may be a new complication however for the nuclear utilities. The government has voted to open up the residential power markets to competition. This could give the public a tangible way to divest from supporting the old utility model put in place by the US after WWII. This could also mean big losses for these nuclear utilties. Not only would they lose their residential customer base, they would lose the ability to force rate hikes on them to pay for bad business decisions. These newly opened markets would also likely consist of more competition coming from renewable energy as that is easier and cheaper to build.
Yes Virginia, thorium nuclear reactors ARE a weapons proliferation danger
Thorium: Proliferation warnings on nuclear ‘wonder-fuel’ Phys Org, Thorium is being touted as an ideal fuel for a new generation of nuclear power plants, but in a piece in this week’s Nature, researchers suggest it may not be as benign as portrayed.
The element thorium, which many regard as a potential nuclear “wonder-fuel”, could be a greater proliferation threat than previously thought, scientists have warned. Continue reading
Are Australians climate dinosaurs?
Climate of the nation 2014 – Australian attitudes on climate change: are Australians climate dinosaurs? Kristina Stefanova, John Connor, Tim O’Halloran Climate Institute 23 June 2014
Synopsis: Are Australians climate dinosaurs? Climate of the Nation 2014, benchmarking Australian attitudes to climate change, finds that political leaders risk being stuck in the past as public attitudes on climate change and its solutions are on the rebound.
In mid-2014, more Australians think that climate change is occurring and are concerned about impacts, present and future. There is a rebound in desire to see the nation lead on finding solutions and a strong expectation of government to address the climate challenge.
Opposition to carbon pricing has continued to decline and there is a decline in the minority supporting repeal. For the first time more support carbon pricing than oppose it, even though there is lingering confusion around it. http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=14-P13-00026&segmentID=2
Renewable energy growth in South Africa, with carbon tax to be implemented
Successes, Challenges, and Opportunities in the Renewable Energy Sector in South Africa by: Kimberly van Niekerk, Energy Liaison, Afribiz Group, Inc. on June 29, 2014. The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) hosted a major clean energy discussion focused on the sector in South Africa at the US Consulate in Johannesburg on Friday, June 6, 2014.
“……….Yousuf Haffejee, Head of Single-Buyer Office at ESKOM, set the context for the state of clean energy in South Africa. He explained that much has happened in the last two years of which South Africa can be very proud. A total of forty-seven power purchase agreements (PPPs) have been signed with independent power producers (IPPs) as part of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP), totaling 3,900MW. Interestingly, this accounts for roughly 10% of the South African grid, which up to now has been dominated, to the tune of a whopping 96%, by coal. Of this, 605MW has been connected to the grid, with solar power accounting for two-thirds in just this short time period.
Ironically, Haffejee said that South Africa is now a victim of its own success, in that the biggest worry is increasingly whether it can keep up with the growth of renewable energy. He explained that the grid is accustomed to power projects taking 8-10 years to come on to the grid. By contrast, renewable energy projects can be ready in just two years. The market is also a contributing factor as renewable energy players have taken advantage of steadily declining solar prices amid increasing prices for coal. If one factors in the carbon tax – soon to be implemented in South Africa, one can argue that certain renewables are more competitive than coal…….http://www.afribiz.info/content/2014/successes-challenges-and-oppor1
By 2016, will Tony Abbott be dragged kicking and screaming to election with an ETS policy?
Palmer and Gore: What are they good for? Independent Australia Sandi Keane 29 June 2014, “………New climate convert, Clive Palmer, will, no doubt, have attended the UNCCC’s COP21 Climate Conference in Paris in 2015, where he’ll have hogged the limelight promoting a reincarnated ETS for Australia.
Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) will have risen alarmingly and comparisons will be made with 2013, when they fell the most in 23 years — thanks to the carbon tax.
Undoubtedly, all the blame will be laid at the feet of the Abbott Government.
Thanks to Al Gore’s intervention, the world will be watching with great interest to see if his play paid off.
Result? Australia will no longer been seen as a laggard, but as a global leper.
Clive’s Damascus conversion from hero of the little people to self-appointed hero of the planet will see him and his ankle-biting PUPs wedging Abbott at the 2016 election.
Abbott has already attracted the scorn of the world media. As more embarrassing news rolled in of our boorish, blundering leader abroad, a new Twitter hashtag – #anidiotabroad – sprang up and was trending during the course his foreign gafcation.
So what is the most likely outcome?
There’ll be more internal ructions if Abbott continues to stare down the will of the people and squander our opportunity to grab a share of the low-carbon economy. His failure to reduce our CO2 emissions will see him flayed alive by the media.
For a man as bereft of ideas as Abbott, he’ll surely follow his hero’s playbook and be dragged kicking and screaming with an ETS to the election — just like Howard did.
It’s, indeed, hard to see this government holding out with the prospect of electoral defeat — die-hard skeptics, right-wing nutters, neo-lib ideologues, the IPA and mining moguls with bulging campaign treasure chests notwithstanding.
But when politically powerful coal mining billionaires decide the time for action on climate change has come then the end of the age of the climate dinosaurs has truly arrived. http://www.independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/palmer-and-gore-what-is-it-good-for,6619
Protection from electromagnetic radiation – sense or nonsense?
Radiation protection – sense or nonsense? Geovital 30 June 14 Is radiation protection meaningful or just hype among a few crazy people?
This question misses the point… It is not a question of whether radiation protection is meaningful or not – nowadays it is a necessity!
The question should be: What more has to happen to health before man will take action?……..
The ether is filled with microwave radiation from mobile phone telecommunication, directional antennas, wireless, radio, TV, GPS, amateur radio, police, fire departments, aviation, radar, hotspots in cafes and restaurants, and all the local radio stations… this is probably the greatest source of man-made pollution today.
One could even go further and raise the following hypothesis:………http://aus.geovital.com/radiation-protection-sense-or-nonsense/
Increased complaints from Victorians about electromagenetic radiation
Electromagnetic radiation (EMR) health complaints soar in Victoria June 20, 2014 by Stop Smart Meters Australia ARPANSA (Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency) commenced Australia’s first centralised EMR Health Complaints Register on 4 July 2003. The Register collects reports of health concerns related to possible EMR field exposures in the range of 0-300 GHz.
Out of a total of 91 reports received up until June 2013, 36 (40%) were received in the 2012 – 2013 reporting period alone. Moreover, 78% of the reports for the July 2012 – June 2013 period came from just one state – Victoria…….http://stopsmartmeters.com.au/2014/06/20/electromagnetic-radiation-emr-health-complaints-soar-in-victoria/
25 Liberal MP’s call for aluminium production to be exempt from Renewable Energy Target
Federal Government under internal pressure to scrap Renewable Energy Target costs for aluminium industry, ABC News, By political reporter Eliza Borrello, 30 June 14, More than a quarter of the Federal Government’s lower house MPs have signed a petition calling for aluminium production to be exempt from the Renewable Energy Target.
Twenty-five Coalition backbenchers have signed the letter, which has been sent to Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane and Environment Minister Greg Hunt.
The target is designed to ensure Australia gets 20 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020…….http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-30/government-under-pressure-to-scrap-ret-costs-for-aluminium/5558300
Film shown by British Nuclear Test Veterans’ Association
Nuclear test veterans hope film will help fight http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/politics/nuclear_test_veterans_hope_film_will_help_fight_1_3660114 Nuclear test veterans in Norfolk are hoping a film shown to MPs in Parliament last week that outlines their experiences more than 50 years ago will finally help them get recognition for their suffering. Thousands of servicemen took part in the tests in Australia and the South Pacific in the 1950s and 1960s, and veterans claim that they were made ill as a result of being exposed to radiation.
The 40-minute film, entitled Nobody told us Anything, documents the veterans’ participation in the tests, as well as their experiences and their families’ experiences since the tests took place.
The film screening was hosted on Wednesday by the British Nuclear Test Veterans’ Association and campaigning MP, John Baron. As well as gaining official recognition, the remaining veterans hope to secure a £25m fund to be held in trust to fund their needs and their families’ needs. It comes only months after prime minister David Cameron said he would ask “further questions” within government to see what more could be done to help thousands left afflicted due to the atomic tests.
Gordon Wilcox, a 76-year-old grandfather-of-four from Attleborough, who features in the film, was just 20 when he was sent to Christmas Island in 1957.
He said: “A lot of veterans and their families were affected very soon after the tests. Touch wood, at the moment I’m okay. Our concern is long-term, and the fact that radiation does affect chromosomes and genes, and the effects can last for 10 generations. The film has passed the message on to MPs and we hope a fund will be set up to cover health cover requirements for veterans and their families.”
Earlier this year, another veteran David Freeman, from Thorpe St Andrew, spoke about fears his family could suffer birth defects for generations because of his exposure to radiation. Several of his children and grandchildren have suffered genetic defects, he said, but the Ministry of Defence denies any link.
Are you fighting to get recognition or compensation from the government? Email david.bale2@archant.co.uk
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 