20 May – the week in climate and nuclear news
CLIMATE CHANGE. Australia’s coming election: climate change policy to be a vote changer. Australia’s political leaders ignoring climate change, in lead-up to election. Great Barrier Reef should be a central election issue – Tim Flannery. As sea levels rise fast, CSIRO sacks world sea level expert ! Sydney Peace Prize to go to Naomi Klein.
Corporations rejoice as Fairfax media sacks a top investigative journalist
SOUTH AUSTRALIA. Now that South Australia’s shonky Nuclear Royal Commission is over, the push for making Australia the hub of global radioactive trash moves into a new stage. And, I’m happy to report, it is a troubled one!
South Australian Premier creates two new Nuclear Advisory Agencies. Unfortunately their touted “independence” is already in doubt. Parry Agius – founding member of Uranium lobby group – should not be on a new “independent” Nuclear Advisory Board. The S.A. government sets up parliamentary inquiry on proposed nuclear waste importing
The Citizens Juries are being organised by New Democracy. I’ve had several emails from them, in response to my questions, and I do think that they are trying to do this nuclear community consultation honestly and fairly.
However , there is considerable distrust in South Australia, about this process. Global nuclear waste dump for South Australia is opposed by women and Labor voters. Premier Jay Weatherill could now be in a dither over nuclear waste dump proposal. Aboriginal groups demand better consultation on nuclear waste dump plan.
ALP National President Mark Butler states that there is no change to Labor’s policy against importing nuclear waste . Maritime Union of Australia will fight plans to import world’s nuclear waste. No Dump Alliance – an anti-nuclear advocacy group launched.
No change to Labor’s policy against importing nuclear waste – National President Mark Butler
Labor National President Mark Butler raises doubts about international nuclear waste dump proposed for South Australia, Adelaide Now , 19 May 16 LABOR national president and Port Adelaide MP Mark Butler has poured cold water over the proposal for an international nuclear waste storage facility to be located in South Australia.
The State Government will need federal approval if it decides to adopt Royal Commissioner Kevin Scarce’s recommendation for the international waste dump.
Labor’s national policy platform prohibits further Australian involvement in the nuclear fuel cycle beyond uranium mining — including the importation of foreign nuclear waste.
Mr Butler, federal Labor’s environment spokesman, said Wednesday the case was yet to be made for a waste dump in SA.
“I think it’s still a very open question about whether the South Australian community will accept that or not,’’ Mr Butler said during a debate with Environment Minister Greg Hunt at the National Press Club in Canberra.
“Our position as federal Labor is that no case has been made to change our longstanding platform about this issue.’’….http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/labor-national-president-mark-butler-raises-doubts-about-international-nuclear-waste-dump-proposed-for-south-australia/news-story/12626f088948b5b9e72953e65ac2dd30
Remind Labor Party of their staunch policy against nuclear industry expansion
2015 National Policy Platform states:
- Labor will:
- Vigorously and totally oppose the ocean dumping of radioactive waste;
- Prohibit the establishment of nuclear power plants and all other stages of the nuclear fuel cycle in Australia;
- Fully meet all Australia’s obligations as a party to the NPT; and
- Remain strongly opposed to the importation and storage of nuclear waste that is sourced from overseas in Australia.
It would be good if people could contact Butlers office and welcome this comment. And as many as possible contact Labor contacts, candidates and connections to make them aware of this and call for them to echo it.
Maritime Union of Australia will fight plans to import world’s nuclear waste
Despite Northern Territory legislation preventing the transport and storage of nuclear waste, Mr Giles met with the South Australian Premier to discuss the nuclear royal commission findings and to hatch a rail or road transport plan.
MUA Fights Plans to Contaminate Aussie Hands with World’s Nuclear Waste, 18 May 16
The Maritime Union of Australia will fight any plans to allow the world’s spent nuclear fuel rods and radioactive waste to enter Australia through the Port of Darwin.
The MUA is outraged NT Chief Minister Adam Giles has gone out of his way to not only offer to accept the hazardous cargo, but then transport it through Territorian communities to its destination in South Australia.
“Mr Giles is happy to sell out Territorians so that Malcolm Turnbull can use them as a dirty rag for his own personal gain and to benefit his top end of town mates,” MUA NT branch secretary Thomas Mayor said.
“It’s like putting Homer Simpson in charge of nuclear waste and his big business “Mr Burns” mates are rubbing their hands together. All the while Chief Clancy, aka Natasha Griggs, is none the wiser.”
The MUA says the move further compromises Australia’s national security.
“Malcolm Turnbull allowed the strategic Port of Darwin to fall under the control of Chinese company Landbridge, when it was granted a controversial 99 year lease,” Mr Mayor said.
“If his counterpart Adam Giles is successful then he will be allowing a foreign company oversight of high level nuclear waste.
“Turnbull has already sold out Australian shipping. Not only will foreign flagged ships carry the hazardous cargo, but the port that they are taking it to will also be run by foreign interests.
The MUA warns the plan would see high level hazardous waste transported thousands of kilometres through many Territorian communities to South Australia.
Mr Mayor said there was no agreement with traditional land owners to use their land.
“Yet again, Natasha Griggs is silent on an important issue to the people she purports to represent. Has she or any of her CLP counterparts even consulted with the traditional landowners, the Larrakia people?”
Despite Northern Territory legislation preventing the transport and storage of nuclear waste, Mr Giles met with the South Australian Premier to discuss the nuclear royal commission findings and to hatch a rail or road transport plan.
The Commission report says it takes 500 years for the most radioactive elements of high level waste to decay and total isolation from the environment is needed for hundreds of thousands of years.
Environmental and Public Health Benefits of Solar Power
New Berkeley Lab Study Tallies Environmental and Public Health Benefits of Solar Power, Berkely Lab, Jon Weiner 510-486-4014 • MAY 18, 2016 Berkeley, CA — Solar power could deliver $400 billion in environmental and public health benefits throughout the United States by 2050, according to a study from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
“We find that a U.S. electric system in which solar plays a major role—supplying 14% of demand in 2030, and 27% in 2050—would result in enduring environmental and health benefits. Moreover, we find that the existing fleet of solar plants is already offering a down-payment towards those benefits, and that there are sizable regional differences in the benefits,” said Ryan Wiser of Berkeley Lab’s Energy Technologies Area.
The total monetary value of the greenhouse-gas and air pollution benefits of the high-penetration solar scenario exceeds $400 billion in present-value terms under central assumptions. Focusing on the existing end-of-2014 fleet of solar power projects, recent annual benefits equal more than $1.5 billion under central assumptions.
The report, The Environmental and Public Health Benefits of Achieving High Penetrations of Solar Energy in the United States, may be downloaded here. The report is part of a series of papers published as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s On the Path to SunShot study. The DOE launched the SunShot Initiative in 2011, with the goal of driving down the cost of solar energy so that it was cost-competitive with other forms of electricity by the end of the decade. The new reports take stock of the progress already made, and highlight various barriers and opportunities that remain to achieving SunShot-level cost reductions. The full set of reports, including two others involving Berkeley Lab, can be found here…..http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2016/05/18/berkeley-lab-study-tallies-benefits-solar-power/
24 May – NUCLEAR FRONTLINES: THE POLITICS OF RADIOACTIVE RACISM
NUCLEAR FRONTLINES: THE POLITICS OF RADIOACTIVE RACISM
Tuesday May 24, 2016: 6pm to 7.30pm
Northcote Town Hall, 189 High St, Northcote.
Guest speakers include Adnyamathanha Traditional Owners Regina and Vivianne McKenzie, whose land in SA’s Flinders Ranges is being targeted for a national nuclear waste dump. Learn about their struggle and what we can do to help. For background info and to watch short video statements by Regina and Vivianne, please visit www.foe.org.au/waste.
Other issues will include nuclear policies in the context of the upcoming federal election; the plan to turn Australia into the world’s nuclear waste dump; and the use of nuclear medicine as a propaganda tool by industry and governments.
Speakers:
Regina McKenzie | Adnyamathanha, SA
Vivianne McKenzie | Adnyamathanha, SA
Alex Bhathal | Federal Greens candidate for Batman
Dr Margie Beavis | Medical Association for Prevention of War
Dr Jim Green | Friends of the Earth (www.foe.org.au/waste)
MC: Dave Sweeney | Australian Conservation Foundation
Bookings (not essential): http://goo.gl/kHOizT
Contact: ace@foe.org.au,
London market’s solar scheme, saving money and greenhouse emissions
London borough installs 6,000 solar panels over marketplace http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/19/london-borough-installs-6000-solar-panels-on-market £2m scheme by Hounslow council on Western International Market will be biggest solar scheme by any local authority, and use batteries to store energy. A London council is unveiling a vast installation of 6,000 solar panels on a wholesale market rooftop, which it says is the largest such array put up by a local authority.
The London Borough of Hounslow says its £2m investment in solar, which has been installed on the roof of Western International Market, is also the first by a council to adopt battery storage to maximise the power from the panels.
The 1.73 megawatt (MW) array of 6,069 panels and four 60kW lithium batteries system now generates half the site’s required electricity.
The site is west London’s largest wholesale market for fresh produce and flowers, and uses around 3.5 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity to provide climate controlled facilities to around 80 wholesalers and buyers – the equivalent of 1,750 homes a year.
Hounslow council, which owns the market near Heathrow Airport, says the solar system will contribute 2% of its carbon reduction target, cutting emissions by more than 780 tonnes a year.
It will also save £148,000 in energy costs which, along with £100,000 in generation tariff payments and £7,000 in export tariffs, means that the council expects to be £255,000 better off in the first year of operation.
Charles Pipe, energy manager at Hounslow, said: “From the very beginning, this project has been about reducing our carbon footprint and making an investment for the future. “But we have achieved so much more than that. Not only can we expect to see immediate savings on our electricity bills, but we are expecting to see a return on this investment in about five years.” Continue reading
Australia’s political leaders ignoring climate change, in lead-up to election
Climate policy silence: Can’t our leaders handle the heat?, ABC, 19 May 16 By Greg Jericho We’re way past the point of pretending the world isn’t warming, so the question really should be why the major parties are so silent on their climate policies during an election campaign, writes Greg Jericho.
One aspect of having an election during winter is that even though temperature records are being broken, climate change is largely out of voters’ minds.
While there is fierce debate over housing affordability, jobs and industrial relations, the debate on climate change has largely been put to the side by Labor and only used by the Government as a fear tactic to cover their own policy failure.
On Monday, NASA announced that April this year was the hottest April on record, marking the seventh month in a row the monthly record had been broken, and the third month in a row of the record being broken by a record amount…….
Since 1880 the record average temperatures for January-April has been set 17 times (including 1880). The average increase in the record has been .07C, and there has never been an increase in the record of more than 0.2C. And yet in the first four months of this year the average temperature was 0.38C above the previous best – an increase 5.3 times greater than the average increase:…..
The temperature in April also meant that the previous 12 months was the warmest 12 month period on record – beating the previous best which was set in March, which beat the previous best which was set in February, which beat the previous best which was set in January, which beat the…
……On the Friday after the budget the Department of Environment released the latest quarterly update on our nation greenhouse gas emissions.
It showed that for the sixth quarter in a row, annual electricity emissions had risen. Continue reading
Rapid growth in solar energy jobs as oil companies shed workers
There Will Be More New Jobs in Solar Than Oil by the End of the Year, Fortune by Jonathan Chew @sochews APRIL 20, 2016, Indeed just released this startling info on energy jobs.
The world’s biggest oil companies are slashing jobs to cope with decreasing revenues, and one knock-on effect has been the drop in oil job postings.
Conversely, however, if the current pace of postings hold, solar would become the largest market for energy jobs by the fourth quarter of 2016, according to numbers tabulated by Indeed, the world’s highest traffic job site…….
Tara Sinclair, chief economist at Indeed. “Whether or not solar overtakes oil on Indeed, energy workers would do well to position themselves for work in renewable fields such as solar, wind, and hydroelectricity.”
This corresponds with a recent report by The Solar Foundation that highlighted the rapid growth of the U.S. clean energy sector. By the end of this year, the solar sector should have 240,000 workers under its wings, and currently employs around 77% more workers than the coal mining industry……http://fortune.com/2016/04/20/solar-oil-jobs-indeed/
Renewable energy transition is stalling world greenhouse gas emissions
Surge in renewable energy stalls world greenhouse gas emissions Falling coal use in China and the US and a shift towards renewable energy globally saw energy emissions level for the second year running, says IEA, Guardian, John Vidal, 17 March 16, Falling coal use in China and the US and a worldwide shift towards renewable energy have kept greenhouse gas emissions level for a second year running, one of the world’s leading energy analysts has said.
Preliminary data for 2015 from the International Energy Agency (IEA) showed that carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector have levelled off at 32.1bn tonnes even as the global economy grew over 3% .
Electricity generated by renewable sources played a critical role, having accounted for around 90% of new electricity generation in 2015. Wind power produced more than half of all new electricity generation, said the IEA.
The figures are significant because they prove to traditionally sceptical treasuries that it is possible to grow economies without increasing climate emissions.
“The new figures confirm last year’s surprising but welcome news: we now have seen two straight years of greenhouse gas emissions decoupling from economic growth. Coming just a few months after the landmark COP21 agreement in Paris, this is yet another boost to the global fight against climate changem” said IEA director, Fatih Birol…….
A seperate report by the European Environment agency (EEA) shows that the EU-wide share of renewable energy has increased from 14.3% in 2012 to 15% in 2013. This allowed the EU to cut its demand for fossil fuels by 110m tonnes of oil equivalent in 2013. This, said the EEA, is the equivalent of a gross reduction of CO2 emissions of 362m tonnes in 2013. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/16/surge-in-renewable-energy-stalls-world-greenhouse-gas-emissions?CMP=share_btn_tw
Great Barrier Reef should be a central election issue – Tim Flannery
Saving Great Barrier Reef from climate change should be central election issue, says Tim Flannery http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/17/saving-great-barrier-reef-climate-change-should-be-central-election-issue-says-tim-flannery
Scientist says lack of attention to climate change is ‘staggering’ given it is Australia’s last chance ‘to close down coal-fired power stations and save the reef’, Guardian, Calla Wahlquist, 17 May 16, Tim Flannery says preserving the Great Barrier Reef from coral bleaching linked to climate change should be a central issue in the federal election campaign.
Flannery, a scientist and member of the Climate Council, said the lack of attention paid to climate change so far in the eight-week campaign was “staggering”.
“This needs to be the reef election,” he told Guardian Australia. “This is the last moment I think that we can realistically expect that we can enact some policies … to close down coal-fired power stations and save the reef.
“Other issues are still going to be there in another four years. This one won’t.”
A study in April found that almost 93% of the Great Barrier Reef had been affected by global bleaching, part of a global coral bleaching event that scientists say was caused partly by El Niño and partly by background global warming.
The aerial survey, conducted by James Cook University, found the bleaching was most severe in reefs north of Port Douglas, where about 81% of reefs were assessed as having severe bleaching. Prof Terry Hughes, head of the National Coal Bleaching Taskforce, told Guardian Australia last month that the mortality rate in coral reefs in that area was already at more than 50%.
Hughes said it was five times worse than the last two bleaching events, in 1998 and 2002, when 40% of the reef escaped bleaching.
Coral bleaching has also been recorded in Western Australia’s Kimberley region, where between 60-90% of some reefs are reported to be bleached. Continue reading
Women at the helm in UN climate change talks
With women at the top, UN climate body has chance for real change Women now hold six of the most influential positions at global climate talks, but can they make a difference on the ground? Climate Home reports, Guardian, Ed King, 18 May 16 Whisper it quietly, but a gender revolution is taking place at the global climate change negotiations.
As of 17 May, the six most influential positions within the UN process are all held by women, a significant increase on last year’s total of two.
Outgoing UN climate chief Christiana Figueres has held her role for six years, but it’s the steady arrival of other women in top jobs that is a sign of change.
France environment minister Ségolène Royal is now president of the talks, aided by two UN “climate champions”: Moroccan minister Hakima El Haite and Paris Agreement architect Laurence Tubiana.
This week, Saudi Arabian diplomat Sarah Baashan and New Zealand’s former climate ambassador Jo Tyndall completed the team, taking charge as co-chairs of the UN talks……
Veteran climate justice campaigner and former Ireland president Mary Robinson described the appointment of Bashaan and Tyndall as a “significant step” towards gender balance at the talks…….http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/18/with-women-at-top-un-climate-body-has-chance-real-change
America’s veterans transition to Climate Change Fighters – Solar Ready Vets
Solar Ready Vets Transforms US Military Into Climate Change Fighters, Clean Technica, May 18th, 2016 by Tina Casey
At least 190,000 veterans are expected to transition out of the US military each year over the next several years, and the federal program Solar Ready Vets is gearing up to match them with solar jobs. The Energy Department has just announced that it is adding five more military bases to the program’s roster of solar training locations. The agency will also pour $10 million into 10 new training projects that will help rev up the solar industry’s ability to absorb new workers. Continue reading
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 