The federal parliament’s Joint Standing committee on Treaties (JSCOT) has today signed off on the use of public funds to support research into so-called Generation IV nuclear reactors.
“This reckless decision follows a rushed process with no public hearings. It lacks evidence and justification and flies in the face of a clear and sustained global trend away from nuclear energy options,” said Australian Conservation Foundation campaigner Dave Sweeney.
ACF joined Friends of the Earth Australia in making a detailed critique of the nuclear plan to JSCOT (attached).
The submission highlighted that the various Generation IV nuclear systems share many of the same risks and constraints as the wider nuclear industry, including prohibitive costs and safety, waste and proliferation concerns.
“Australia’s involvement with Generation IV promotion is a distraction from the real energy challenges and solutions,” said Dave Sweeney.
“Propping up nuclear research is not consistent with clear action to address nuclear non-proliferation, energy transition or climate change. It’s also inconsistent with both Australian prohibitions and community expectations on nuclear power.”
These concerns have been noted in both the Greens’ dissenting report and federal Labor’s additional comments, however they are not reflected in the final report.
“Committing public funds to a risky, divisive and under-performing industry deserves the highest scrutiny and justification, not an under the radar rubber-stamp,” Mr Sweeney said.
House Dems probe into reported Flynn, Saudi Russia energy deal http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/19/politics/michael-flynn-russia-energy-deal/index.htmlBy Jim Sciutto and Tom LoBianco, CNNJune 20, 2017 (CNN)A pair of top House Democrats are digging into whether former national security adviser Michael Flynn may have misled officials on his security clearance form about two Middle East trips — including one reportedly about building $100 billion worth of nuclear energy plants with help from Russia’s nuclear power agency.
The top Democrats on the House oversight committee and the House foreign affairs committee sent a request to Flynn’s lawyers — as well as two consultants — seeking additional documents about a summer 2015 trip he took to the Middle East to float a nuclear energy deal involving Russia.
The letter cites a recent Newsweek article detailing Flynn’s previously undisclosed trip and a plan that involved Saudi Arabia selling energy from the nuclear projects to US allies in the Middle East and a promise from those Gulf countries to purchase $100 billion in arms from Russia that otherwise would have been sold to Iran. Continue reading →
Leading environment groups have said the fight to keep Western Australia nuclear free was not over despite a serious broken promise by the McGowan Government on the key environmental issue.
CCWA Director Piers Verstegen said the decision to allow WA uranium mines to proceed on Aboriginal lands was a clear broken promise and a kick in the guts for communities and the environment.
“Should these mines go ahead they would cause permanent damage to our environment and communities and also export WA uranium to countries where it will inevitably result in radioactive waste and risk.
“This terrible decision is a betrayal of the many people, communities, Traditional Owners, trade unions, churches and environment groups who placed their faith in Labor to keep WA uranium free.
“Environmental standards went out the window under the Barnett Government and the approvals that were granted for these uranium mines are some of the most compromised decisions that government made.
“The decision by the McGowan Government to allow those approvals to stand without so much as an inquiry to investigate them, and without even consulting the local communities, workers and Traditional Owners who voted for them in good faith, sends a very bad message about the Government’s commitment to protecting our environment.
“The McGowan Government may think it is OK to let some of the worst decisions in the state’s history stand, but communities, environment groups, workers and Traditional Owners certainly won’t be backing down in our fight to prevent this bad decision turning into a series of toxic and polluting uranium mines.
“We believe there are serious legal flaws in the way these approvals were granted by the Barnett Government and we will continue to contest them at every stage of the process, including through pursuing legal options to protect our communities and environment from this toxic and unwanted industry.
“There will be a lot of members of the Labor Party, a lot of Traditional Owners, and a lot of voters who will be extremely disappointed by this decision which is a direct breach of long-standing state Labor policy and the trust that Western Australians placed in the McGowan Labor Party when they were elected.
“We have worked closely with local communities and Traditional Owners who would be affected by each of these proposals and we certainly won’t be abandoning them in the same way that the McGowan Government appears to be doing.”
National environment group the Australian Conservation Foundation has called the move a retreat from responsibility and will increase its efforts to end plans for uranium mining in WA.
ACF’s Nuclear Free Campaigner Dave Sweeney said “Premier McGowan went to the election saying that uranium mines would not be allowed to proceed unless they had final approval or were in construction.
“None of the four uranium proposal has final approval, none has begun construction and none of the companies have even made a final investment decision.”
“This decision is far from a done deal for uranium mining in WA. No uranium was mined or exported under the pro-nuclear Barnett Government and we will continue to do what is necessary to keep WA’s uranium in the ground.”
The West Australia Nuclear Free Alliance, an Indigenous alliance opposed to uranium mining, have expressed their deep disappointment by the announcement from Labor that will allow four uranium mines to proceed, that have been contested by Traditional Owners
Janice Scott, Spinifex Pilgi Woman “The Labor Government, we thought they would stand up for us be strong, and all that we’re fighting for – be different from the other Government. They told us lies. We believed that Labor they would help us to stop uranium mining, they got our trust and that’s why we voted for them.”
Mr Glen Cooke Ngaanyatjarra elder “we will be stepping up the fight talking to our countrymen. This impacts our lands and stories all over not just the mine sites. Tribal people are saying we don’t want uranium. Enough is enough. We will take this further, this country is beautiful and we have to look after it for our children and grandchildren and all future generations.”
“What is so disappointing is that the Labor Government did not sit down and talk with us about this decision which affects our country. Today’s decision Labor has not made one friend but has lost them many.” Concluded Mr Cooke.
The groups, including Conservation SA, Friends of the Earth and the Australian Conservation Foundation have lodged a submission with the federal Department of Industry, Innovation and Science calling on the government to abandon any plans for a dump at Kimba.
Farming land near Kimba is one of two sites being targeted for the dump, the other near Hawker in SA’s Flinders Ranges.
Friends of the Earth campaigner Jim Green says the process to find a dump site has been flawed and divisive.
He says most of the waste is located at the Lucas Heights reactor site south of Sydney and that is where it should stay.
Australian Conservation Foundation campaigner Dave Sweeney said radioactive waste was a national issue that demanded the highest level of inclusion and scrutiny.
“All Australians have a right to be involved to help make sure that this difficult issue is given the best possible consideration,” he said.
“What is planned is a national radioactive waste facility so while local community consultation is useful, an evidence based, national conversation is essential.”
Australia warned it has radically underestimated climate change security threat
Senate inquiry starts as report into political, military and humanitarian risks of climate change across Asia Pacific released, Guardian, Ben Doherty 21 June 17, As the Senate launches an inquiry into the national security ramifications of climate change, a new report has warned global warming will cause increasingly regular and severe humanitarian crises across the Asia-Pacific.
Disaster Alley, written by the Breakthrough Centre for Climate Restoration, forecasts climate change could potentially displace tens of millions from swamped cities, drive fragile states to failure, cause intractable political instability, and spark military conflict.
Report co-author Ian Dunlop argues Australia’s political and corporate leaders, by refusing to accept the need for urgent climate action now, are “putting the Australian community in extreme danger”. Continue reading →
A huge part of Antarctica is melting and scientists say that’s bad news, CNN, By AJ Willingham, June 20, 2017NASA: Rising sea levels more dangerous than thought
Story highlights
Rain and significant ice melts in Antarctica surprised scientists
In the future, these events could cause ice to melt and break off, which would make sea levels rise
(CNN)Antarctica is experiencing weird weather, and the changes have some scientists worried about the future.
There’s an area on the west side of the icy continent called the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, and last January, scientists found a 300,000-square-mile portion of its perimeter was melting. That’s an area roughly two times the size of California, covered in slush.
“A melt of this magnitude is relatively rare in Antarctica,” said Julien Nicolas, one of the paper’s authors at the Ohio State University Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center. “There have been about three or four events of this size in the last 40 years.”
For more than two weeks in January 2016, a passive microwave satellite observed surface ice melt two times the size of California.
The news also is ominous for another reason: It means the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is essentially being melted from both sides. El Niños push warm water under the sheet. On top, colder westerly winds usually do enough to stave off any approaching warm weather, but in the 2016 incident, they didn’t.
This event also brought about another surprise for scientists: Rain.
“We saw in our observations that there were some rain, we heard from some parties on the Ross Ice Shelf, and we saw it on the weather models,” Nicolas said. “That’s very unusual. We don’t have a record of rain in Antarctica, so we don’t know how often it’s happened in the past.”
Why it matters
Rain and slush would make for a miserable day anywhere, but the weird weather patterns observed over the two-week period in 2016 painted a potentially worrisome picture for the future.
If more extreme El Niños occur, ice shelves such as the Ross Ice Shelf on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet will melt and be weakened. Sometimes, those ice melts can lead to dramatic rivers and waterfalls that leak off of the ice structure. Take a look at a recent video [top of this post] of the Nansen Ice Shelf, which is north of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet:….http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/19/weather/antarctica-melt-texas-rain-climate-change-trnd/index.html
Ian McAuley, 20 June 17
The Finkel Report is not only too accommodating of the Coalition’s coal fetish, as Ben Eltham points out. It’s also too conservative from an engineering perspective because it’s constructed around a 1960s model of electricity supply https://newmatilda.com/2017/06/18/the-finkel-report-back-to-the-future-and-the-1960s/
Batteries vs pumped storage hydropower – a place for both?
Two very different storage technologies – one old, one new; one that takes years to build, one that can be built ‘within 100 days (or it’s free)’. How else do they differ, and is there a place for both?
Turnbull and Trump both demonising renewables for no reason
Turnbull’s pursuit of “baseload dispatchable” power has all the hallmarks of the Trump administration’s campaign against renewables. But data shows that countries with lots of wind and solar have better energy security.
NNEF has just published its fourth annual New Energy Outlook with electricity’s future looking sunny — and windy, too — to the tune of trillions of dollars of new investment.
AGL says only renewables will provide new “baseload”, not coal
AGL ridicules Coalition push for new “baseload” coal plants, saying that the only new “baseload” would be renewables, with gas or storage. “There’s a lot of misinformation out there,” says CEO Andy Vesey.
Queensland rejects battery swap, but restricts use of storage with premium tariffs
Queensland decides against proposed voluntary “buy out” of premium solar feed in tariffs in exchange for battery storage, but announces new rules to stop premium tariffs being rorted by batteries.
Rooftop solar’s new boom – when installing PV becomes a no-brainer
Falling technology costs and yet another hike in electricity prices are combining to make rooftop solar an economic no-brainer for most Australian households and businesses. Just ask Cory Bernardi.
Tony Abbott: Concetta Fierravanti-Wells challenges former PM on climate policy ‘about-face’ ABC News, PM20 June 17 By political reporter Tom Iggulden, Former prime minister Tony Abbott is being accused of damaging Australia’s international reputation and his own political credibility in another outbreak of internal coalition infighting.
Key points:
Prime ministers are judged on what they’ve done when in government, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells says
Criticism follows Tony Abbott’s comment his Paris Agreement targets were “aspirational”
She calls on Mr Abbott to reflect on his actions for the good of the party
International Development Minister Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, once seen as an ally of Mr Abbott’s, says he has performed a “total about-face” on climate policy that is threatening to turn off investors.
“Credibility is a very important commodity in politics,” she told PM.
“Any former prime minister will be judged on what they’ve actually done when they were in government, not on what they say they should have done or could have done subsequently.”
The criticism follows Mr Abbott’s assertion last week that the Paris Climate Agreement targets he devised as prime minister in 2015 were “aspirational”.
Belectric completes second solar farm, plans two more Germany solar and storage developer Belectric says it plans to complete two more solar farms in Australia by the end of the year, after finishing a 4.77MW solar plant at Goondiwindi , Queensland, using a new, low cost installation system. http://reneweconomy.com.au/belectric-completes-second-solar-farm-plans-two-more-65632/
The Road to War brings a sharp focus to why it is not in Australia’s best interest to be dragged into a war with China which will almost inevitably go nuclear very quickly. The filmmaker has interviewed some of Australia’s senior foreign policy analysts who have vast experience behind them in analysing what really is going on here as the United States rattles its sabres with China. And sets us up to be its proxy, like the poor Ukranians have been fed into the Meatgrinder. So America can remain the Top Dog. The Road to War reveals how the United States through its spy base at Pine Gap and by stationing six nuclear capable B52 bombers in the Top End (without permission from the traditional owners) is making Australia a prime nuclear target if the current war of words suddenly melts down into full scale war.
The Road to War shows the implicit connection between Carbon emissions (the US military uses a whopping 70% of America’s annual petroleum to move its armies and vast War Machine around the globe to its 800+ military bases..but under a loophole wangled at Kyoto, the US military does not have to report its C02 annual emissions). The Road to War starts screening at selected cities and regional centres in March. See the trailer end for details.
Antinuclear 