Tony Abbott’s Big Speech: no mention and NO QUESTIONS on climate change
I have just listened to Australia’s Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, delivering a lengthy, waffling and repetitive speech at the National Press Club luncheon. Not that this was a surprise, seeing that it represents a last ditch of a beleagured politician to convince sceptical journalists, and the public, that he is The Greatest. That was pretty much the theme – that and the previous labor government being responsible for all our ills.
No matter – as far as I’m concerned, everything that Tony Abbott says is pretty irrelevant to Australia’s present and future condition.
IN 2007 Australia had a Prime Minister who stated that climate change is “the great moral, environmental and economic challenge of our age”
I didn’t expect Abbott to mention Climate Change.
But what about our journalists? There they were – apparently aiming to trap Tony about his leadership position.
I would have liked some more questions about the government’s policies. And at least just one little question about Australia’s policy, or lack thereof, on Climate Change
CSIRO Report on Climate Change in Australia
Climate change in Australia http://apo.org.au/research/climate-change-australia
CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology have released climate change projections for Australia that provide updated national and regional information on how the climate may change to the end of the 21st century.
The projections are the most comprehensive ever released for Australia and have been prepared with an emphasis on informing impact assessment and planning in the natural resource management sector. Material has been drawn from observations and from simulations based on up to 40 global climate models and four scenarios of greenhouse gas and aerosol emissions during the 21st century.
The 2015 projections provide greater levels of detail and confidence compared to previous projections. Findings are consistent with previous projections research and analysis for Australia, and incorporate an increased knowledge base.
The new climate change projections for Australia are funded by the Department of the Environment through the NRM Planning for Climate Change Fund with co-funding from CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology.
The Technical Report is intended to provide detailed information for researchers and decision makers. It is a comprehensive report outlining the key climate change projection messages for Australia across a range of variables. The report underpins all information found in other products, including this website. It contains an extensive set of figures and descriptions on recent Australian climate trends, global climate change science, climate model evaluation processes, modelling methodologies and downscaling approaches. The report includes a chapter describing how to use climate change data in impact assessment and adaptation planning.
Key findings
Overarching findings
Australia’s climate has already changed.
- It has become hotter since 1910, with warming across Australia of 0.9°C
- Rainfall has increased in northern Australia since the 1970s and decreased in south-east and south-west Australia
- More of Australia’s rain has come from heavy falls and there has been more extreme fire weather in southern and eastern Australia since the 1970s.
- Sea levels have risen by approximately 20cm since 1900.
Projections for Australia’s future climate vary regionally and depend on which of the four greenhouse gas and aerosol emissions scenarios is considered. Overarching findings include:
- Australia’s average temperature will increase and we will experience more heat extremes and fewer cold extremes.
- Extreme rainfall events that lead to flooding are likely to become more intense.
- The number of tropical cyclones is projected to decrease but they may be more intense and reach further south.
- Southern and eastern Australia is projected to experience harsher fire weather.
- Sea levels will continue to rise throughout the 21st century and beyond.
- Oceans around Australia will warm and become more acidic.
Additional findings
Temperature
- Australian average temperature has increased by 0.9° C since 1910.
- We have seen more hot days and less cold days.
- Temperatures will continue to increase over the 21st century.
- The extent of those increases will depend on global emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols.
- By late in the century (2090), Australian average temperature is projected to increase by 0.6 to 1.7°C for a low emission scenario, or 2.8 to 5.1°C under a high emission scenario.
- Hot days are projected to occur more frequently while there will be fewer frost days.
Rainfall
- Winter and spring rainfall in southern Australia is projected to decline while changes in other areas are uncertain.
- For the rest of Australia, natural climate variability will predominate over rainfall trends caused by increasing greenhouse gases until 2030. By 2090, a winter rainfall decrease is expected in eastern Australia.
- Overall, extreme rain events are projected to become more intense.
- This finding is consistent across Australia even in areas where average rainfall is projected to decrease or the average direction of change is uncertain. This is largely due to the ability of a warmer atmosphere to hold more water.
- However, the projected reduction in average rainfall in south-west Western Australia may be so strong as to weaken this extreme rainfall tendency.
Drought
- The time in drought will increase over southern Australia, with a greater frequency of severe droughts.
- The time in drought and the frequency of extreme droughts may increase elsewhere in Australia.
- A projected increase in evaporation rates will contribute to a reduction in soil moisture across Australia.
Tropical cyclones
- Tropical cyclones may occur less often; however they will likely be more intense.
Snow
- There will be a decrease in snowfall, an increase in snowmelt and thus reduced snow cover.
Fire Weather
- Southern and eastern Australia are projected to experience harsher fire weather, including an increase in the number of days with a ‘severe’ fire danger rating.
- Projections for fire weather in northern Australia and inland areas are less certain.
Sea level rise
- Sea levels will continue to rise throughout the 21st century and beyond.
- Projections of sea level rise for the Australian coastline by late in the century (2090) are comparable to, or slightly larger than, the projected global mean sea level rise of up to 82 cm under a high emission scenario.
- A collapse in the marine based sectors of the Antarctic ice sheet could make sea level rise projections several tenths of a metre higher by late in the century.
Massive Upper Hunter wind and solar farm underway, despite Abbott govt
Upper Hunter wind and solar farm operator undeterred by RET changes http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-31/upper-hunter-wind-and-solar-farm-operator-undeterred-by-ret-cha/6059566 The company behind a massive Upper Hunter wind and solar farm has not been deterred by renewable energy target changes, with work on its project now underway.
Pamada plans to have 34 wind turbines, along with its solar plant and associated substations, at its Kyoto energy Park near Scone. Access roads have been constructed, ahead of work starting on a site compound.
Reductions in the Renewable Energy Target (RET) have hampered the project, but project director Mark Sydney said he is determined to push ahead. “We’ve got a lot of support in the community, for a whole lot of reasons,” he said. “Yes we have started work.
“We have access happening, but we will then continue in a measured way to do everything we can until hopefully government policy changes a little bit better for investor outlook in renewables.”
Mr Sydney said his company is undeterred by the RET changes, mindful of the benefits the project could have. “With the new technology, if you just looked at the residences and businesses aside, probably the Upper Hunter, the Hunter and half of Newcastle would come from just the wind turbines themselves,” he said. “Most of the Hunter could easily be served by just the wind farm.”
“Peaceful’ nuclear India launches long-range missile
India tests nuclear-capable missile from mobile launcher, DW, 30 Jan 15 India has carried out the first launch of its Agni-V long-range missile from a mobile mount. The weapon, which can carry nuclear warheads, is capable of reaching China and even Europe.
Saturday’s test-launch of the Agni-V ballistic missile was the first time that the weapon has been fired from a truck mount – called a “canister” – rather than a concrete launchpad, a spokesman for India’s Defense Research and Development Organization said.
The mobile launchpad will facilitate flexible deployment of the missile, which has a range of 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles) – making it capable of reaching the Chinese mainland, or nearly all of western Europe.
“Successful test-firing of Agni-V from a canister makes the missile a prized asset for our forces,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter.
The 17-meter (18.6-yard) weapon, which weighs 50 tons, was launched from the test range on Wheeler Island off the eastern state of Orissa.
It is the third time that the Agni-V missile, named after the Sanskrit word for “fire,” has been tested, having received its initial launch in April 2012 (pictured above).
Deterring ‘evil eyes’
The test comes as India, the largest importer of arms in the world, is involved in a defense upgrade to the tune of $100 billion (88.6 billion euros).
Modi has said he wants to increase India’s military power to the extent that no other country “dare cast an evil eye” on it. His right-wing government has pushed on with long-delayed projects worth over $60 billion since taking power in elections in May. http://www.dw.de/india-tests-nuclear-capable-missile-from-mobile-launcher/a-18227324
The corporate nuclear scandal of Britain’s Sellafield
This is an extraordinary and detailed article. I regret that I have here just picked out significant parts and headings (in order to get across the main points) . This is a perfect example of how a government can be captured by vested corporate interests. This process is certainly not new – for Sellafield, for Britain, for the world. The author has carefully researched and detailed the way the government, Parliament, UK
“The use of cost reimbursement contracts for Sellafield Limited and its subcontractors means the financial risks are borne by the taxpayer.”
Sellafield – how the nuclear industry fleeced taxpayers, Ecologist, David 
Lowry 19th January 2015 Last week the consortium holding a £22bn contract to clean up the Sellafield nuclear site was sacked, writes David Lowry. But this is just the end of a long and scandalous tale of corporate profit at taxpayers’ expense, and the active collusion of ministers and senior officials in fighting off Parliamentary scrutiny. Continue reading
Environmental regulations in fact have benefits for the economy – OECD
They also found market-based environmental policies, such as the scheme to price carbon dumped by the Abbott Government last year, “tend to have a more robust positive effect on productivity growth.”
The way some vested interests complain you’d think Australia’s green tape burden was terribly onerous by international standards. But the OECD’s international comparison of environmental stringency tells a different story.
OECD says green tape is not damaging the economy, The Age January 31, 201 Matt Wade Senior writer Economists are at their best when they challenge conventional wisdom and debunk the spurious claims of vested interests. The boffins at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, one of the world’s top research outfits, have done just that with a ground-breaking analysis of the economic effects of environmental policies, often derided as “green tape.”……….
economists at the OECD have made a surprising discovery: green tape might not cost nearly as much as politicians and business leaders claim. The Organisation has created an index that calculates the explicit and implicit cost of environmental policies. Its economists used this index to assess the strictness of environmental regulations across 24 wealthy OECD members – including Australia – between 1990 and 2012 and to measure the effect of those regulations on productivity. Continue reading
Survey finds that most USA Republicans want action against climate chnage
Most Republicans Say They Back Climate Action, Poll Finds, NYT By CORAL DAVENPORT and MARJORIE CONNELLYJAN. 30, 2015WASHINGTON — An overwhelming majority of the American public, including half of Republicans, support government action to curb global warming, according to a poll conducted by The New York Times, Stanford University and the nonpartisan environmental research group Resources for the Future.
67 percent of respondents, including 48 percent of Republicans and 72 percent of independents, said they were less likely to vote for a candidate who said that human-caused climate change is a hoax.
The results came as climate change was emerging as a source of debate in the coming presidential campaign.
In 2012, all the Republican presidential candidates but one — Jon M. Huntsman Jr. — questioned or denied the science that determined that humans caused global warming, and opposed policies to curb greenhouse gas emissions. But over the past year, President Obama has proposed aseries of Environmental Protection Agency regulations intended to reduce carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants, which Republicans in Congress have attacked as a “war on coal.”……..
And while the poll found that 74 percent of Americans said that the federal government should be doing a substantial amount to combat climate change, the support was greatest among Democrats and independents. Ninety-one percent of Democrats, 78 percent of independents and 51 percent of Republicans said the government should be fighting climate change…….
among those who support the Tea Party, 49 percent said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who said “I’m not a scientist” or a variant……..http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/31/us/politics/most-americans-support-government-action-on-climate-change-poll-finds.html?ref=us&_r=1
Pakistan: need to develop renewable energy, not nuclear
Generating energy from alternative resources more feasible than nuclear plants: speakers, Pakistan Today, 1 Feb 2015 Physicists, architects, engineers, economists and civil society activists on Sunday emphasized the need to adopt alternative energy sources like solar and wind instead of nuclear power plants for generation of electricity in Pakistan as it is not cheaper as claimed by the Atomic Energy Commission of Pakistan.
Instead of providing nuclear reactors, China should be asked to provide money for power generation through solar and wind, said the experts while speaking at a workshop on ‘proposed karachi nuclear power plants: preparing for the environmental impact assessment and public hearing’ jointly organised by the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) and the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) at a local hotel.
“The citizens of Karachi should take part in a large number in the expected public hearing for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) by the government after the orders by Sindh High Court,” said Dr AH Nayyar, Professor of Physics at Quaid-e-AzamUniversityIslamabad. It is for the first time that an EIA and public hearing is being held for a nuclear power plant.
They stressed the need to sensitise the local communities especially fishermen about dangers of radiations which may be great threat to their lives.
Dr Nayyar said the present government was setting up two nuclear power plants, K2 and K3, along Karachi coast without acquiring the mandatory EIA report. The SHC order has asked the government to arrange a public hearing for the EIA. But for that the EIA document should be made available for the general public much before the actual hearing so they can study and understand.
He pointed out that some concerned citizens had gone to the court against the nuclear power plants and during the hearing, the PAEC had confessed that earlier it had done the EIA process in a “wrong way,” without following the legal process. It had acquired the EIA from Sindh Environmental Protection Agency without holding public hearing……………….http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2015/02/01/city/karachi/generating-energy-from-alternative-resources-more-feasible-than-nuclear-plants-speakers/
New South Wales distances itself from Abbott govt on Climate Change
NSW signs up to global climate group, SMH, Peter Hannam February 1, 2015 The Baird government has moved to burnish its climate change credentials, becoming Australia’s first conservative government to sign up to The Climate Group.
- NSW will join South Australia and Tasmania as the only Australian states to be members of the international non-profit organisation, which brings business, governments and communities together to promote renewable energy and cut carbon emissions blamed for global warming. Both SA and Tasmania signed up under Labor-led governments……….
- NSW has distanced itself over the past year from conservative counterparts, including the Abbott government, on climate and other issues. It backed leaving the Renewable Energy Target as it is, in contrast to the Abbott government’s efforts to cut the 2020 goal by as much as 40 per cent, and has spent $3 million preparing climate change studies for expected impacts to 2030 and 2070……..
- London-based The Climate Group shut its Australian offices in mid-2013, citing an “increasingly challenging political environment for action on climate change” at the time.
Its States & Regions members account for more than 300 million people and 13 per cent of global GDP, said Libby Ferguson, a group director.
NSW was “a forward-thinking state” with “progressive renewable policies”, Ms Ferguson said…..http://www.smh.com.au/environment/nsw-signs-up-to-global-climate-group-20150201-13301u.html
Indian tax-payers now liable for nuclear accident costs!
Good News! US Corporations Won’t Have to Pay for Nuclear Disasters in India, FAIR,
But what is the news? Here’s how the paper’s Mandakini Gahlot summarizes the agreement:
Picking up from a stalled 2008 civil nuclear agreement between the two countries, the deal would allow US firms to invest in energy in India. It also resolves a dispute over US insistence on tracking fissile material it supplies to the country and over Indian liability provisions that have discouraged US firms from capitalizing on the agreement.”……
These corporations–who have the political backing of the US government–have succeeded in getting international conventions to agree that “no one other than operators can be held responsible” in the event of a nuclear catastrophe. The suppliers want assurances that these international conventions, and not Indian law, will be applied in the wake of such an event.
The “breakthrough” between Obama and Modi seems to be an agreement that the law will be “tweaked” to let US corporations off the hook in case of a devastating accident. For example, suppliers of nuclear equipment could be redefined as “contractors” and therefore not be liable under Indian law.
Of course, if USA Today explained that Obama had gotten the Indian prime minister to find a loophole that would allow US corporations to avoid having to compensate victims of nuclear disasters that they contributed to, that would be harder to present as a “good news!” story. http://fair.org/blog/2015/01/27/good-news-us-corporations-wont-have-to-pay-for-nuclear-disasters-in-india/
“Eliminate nuclear weapons” – protestors rally outsde White House
Protesters rally outside White House, demanding ‘total elimination’ of nuclear weapons http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/01/31/protesters-rally-outside-white-house-demanding-total-elimination-of-nuclear-weapons/ By DeNeen L. Brown January 31 About 100 demonstrators, holding signs that said, “No $1 Trillion Nuclear Arsenal,” rallied outside the White House Saturday, calling on President Obama to halt plans to invest billions of dollars to expand and rebuild the country’s nuclear arsenal.
“The Obama administration is putting us on a path to spend one trillion dollars, overhauling our nuclear arsenal over the next three decades,” said John-Michael Donahue, a spokesman for Global Zero, an international movement demanding the elimination of all nuclear weapons. “President Obama should abandon his $1 trillion nuclear arsenal and get back on track to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons, Global Zero.” Continue reading
Victorian government seeking federal climate money for energy efficiency programs
Schools and hospitals could win from climate-fund bid, The Age February 1, 2015 Jason Dowling and Tom Arup School buildings and hospitals could be upgraded to save power and reduce emissions under a potential bid from Victoria for a slice of the Abbott government’s multibillion-dollar climate-change fund.Victorian school buildings and hospitals could be upgraded to save power and reduce greenhouse gas emissions under a state government bid for a slice of the Abbott government’s multibillion-dollar climate-change fund.
Environment Minister Lisa Neville met her federal counterpart Greg Hunt to discuss how Victoria could access the $2.55 billion emissions reduction fund – the central pillar of the Coalition’s “direct action” policy.
She said while it had previously been unclear how states could win federal funding to reduce emissions, the conversation with Mr Hunt had been encouraging that it would be possible to get support to introduce energy efficiency measures across a series of schools and hospitals.
“He was saying we could do that, so hopefully that’s right,” she said.
Under the federal policy, companies and governments can bid for funding to cut emissions. Funding will go to projects that show through an auction process that they can cut emissions at lowest cost.
On other climate change policies, Ms Neville told Fairfax Media the Andrews government would review the state Climate Change Act and would look at reintroducing a state emissions reduction target. The former Labor Brumby government introduced a target of a 20 per cent emissions cut by 2020, but it was scrapped by the Coalition………
Ms Neville said South Australia was also reviewing its climate change laws and she hoped the two states could work together to become an investment target for renewable energy. A joint emissions reduction target with South Australia was not out of the question.
Environment Victoria chief executive Mark Wakeham said he would also like to see the state government explore ways to use the federal emissions reduction fund to shut some of the state’s high-emissions brown coal power generation.
On a new emissions reduction state target, Mr Wakeham called for a body such as the federal Climate Change Authority to be given the job of advising Victoria on targets.
He said Labor’s previous state target should be the starting point, and that targets should be short term to remain front of mind for politicians. ……..http://www.theage.com.au/environment/schools-and-hospitals-could-win-from-climatefund-bid-20150131-13277i.html
1 This month
7 April – WEBINAR – Australia and the Doomsday Clock – Preventing nuclear war through NoFirstUse and other policies
Online | Tuesday April 7, 4:00-5:30pm, Australian Eastern Time / 8:00-9:30am Central Europe Time
– Access the registration link
15 April – Zoom –Nuclear Power is Not the Solution
Apr 15, 2026 01:00 AM in Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
Join the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) on Tuesday, April 14th for a timely webinar exploring the risks associated with nuclear power and challenging the myth that it offers a simple, safe, carbon-free solution to the climate crisis
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 