Former UN climate leader supports MP Zali Steggall, Kerryn Phelps, Mayo MP Rebekha Sharkie, and MP, Julia Banks
‘Appalling’ policy inaction draws former UN climate leader into 
federal election campaign https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-07/canberra-inaction-on-climate-change-appallling/11088336
Key points:
- Christiana Figueres led the global negotiating process that culminated in the 2015 Paris climate change agreement
- She has thrown her support behind four female independents whose key opponents are Liberals
- Speaking to a Sydney forum, Ms Figueres said the Paris Agreement required countries to bring forward the most ambitious possible national targets every five years
Christiana Figueres led the UN’s global negotiating process that culminated in the 2015 Paris climate change agreement, and is now a climate leader at the World Bank.
She has thrown her support behind Zali Steggall, who is standing against former prime minister Tony Abbott in the NSW seat of Warringah, Wentworth MP Kerryn Phelps, Mayo MP Rebekha Sharkie and the MP for Chisholm, Julia Banks, who resigned from the Liberal Party and is contesting the nearby seat of Flinders as an independent.
Ms Figueres said the four women “set out strong policy platforms and longer-term vision for what it would take for Australia to take its rightful place as a leader in the global fight against climate change”.
She condemned what she called “the ridiculous climate wars in Australia that have led to a very damaging climate and energy policy vacuum for more than a decade”.
“This inaction is putting us at war with a climate that has no more room for atmospheric pollution,” Ms Figueres said.
Independents praised for their ‘courage’
Two of the four candidates — Dr Phelps and Ms Steggall — on Tuesday attended a meeting in Sydney of Mission 2020, which was established after the Paris Agreement to drive global action on climate change in order to cap greenhouse gas emissions and limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Speaking via video link, Ms Figueres praised the four independents for “your courage and leadership in having put climate action and clean energy at the forefront of your respective campaigns.
“As mothers, we all share a deep sense of responsibility to make right what is currently going very wrong.”
After the meeting Dr Phelps told the ABC that she thought it “enormously significant that a world leader on climate change has backed the independents who are backing action on climate change.”
“We have a moment in time when can put in place policies that will make a difference to the future of our planet,” Dr Phelps said.
Business leaders, clean energy lobbyists and investors advocating stronger climate change action and policy signals briefed the candidates at the forum.
We have been hearing today from investors … and people who understand the science of climate change better than anyone in the country and they are telling us that not only is there an urgent need for action, but governments can no longer afford to delay their action,” Ms Phelps said.
“There is a dire message from the science on climate change but there is a positive message about where we can go,” Zali Steggall added.
“With clear policy from government the market will take care of it and we have great potential.”
Cost of inaction
Ms Steggall also responded to concerns raised during the campaign about the cost of Labor’s proposed climate change policies.
“The price of climate change action is nothing compared to the price of inaction.”
Speaking to the Sydney forum, Ms Figueres said the Paris Agreement required countries to bring forward the most ambitious possible national targets every five years.
“Whoever is elected needs to be prepared to bring a revised 2030 target to the table in the next 12 months,” she warned.
The former UN climate change leader dismissed arguments that action in Australia to limit global warming would make little difference to global climate change.
“The fact that Australia only contributes 1.5 per cent of global emissions is not an excuse not to act,” she said.
“If every country adopted that stance, we would be on track to oblivion. Your island neighbours in the Pacific would go under the waves.”
“We look hopefully to the Land Down Under for a watershed election that sparks a new wave of climate leadership.”
Scott Morrison on “cutting green tape” – commentators respond savagely and sceptically
There was a great long stack of comments on the Brisbane Times article (below) – and all condemned Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s pledge to cut environmental regulations – he chose the same day as the UN’s damning report on biodiversity loss was released. Here’s just a couple of samples .They call it “green tape”, many others call it saving the environment from destructive ultra right policies.
Scott Morrison perpetuating the Liberal policy of ‘cutting environmental red tape’.No wonder 1 million species of flora and fauna around the world are on the brink of extinction within just decades..
“Federal government botched scrutiny of plan to bulldoze pristine forest”
(SMH 27 Nov 2018) “The Morrison government has conceded it botched scrutiny of a plan to bulldoze 2000 hectares of pristine Queensland forest near the Great Barrier
Reef and has been forced back to the drawing board following a legal challenge by conservationists.”
“The development comes as confidential documents show government MPs lobbied environmental officials to wave through the proposal, which would raze land almost three times the size of the combined central business districts of Sydney and Melbourne.”
“Old growth forest in the vicinity of Kingvale Station, where 2000 hectares is set to be cleared.”
“Environment Minister Melissa Price agreed to court orders that the weak assessment applied to the Kingvale proposal was unlawful.” https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/federal-government-botched-scrutiny-of-plan-to-
bulldoze-pristine-forest-20181127-p50il2.html#comments
Melissa Price is the Liberal member for Durack in WA.
Only 10 more days until Melissa Price can be kicked out of parliament for good.
PM shifts attack on Labor to ‘green tape’ he says costs Australian jobs, Brisbane Times, By David Crowe, May 7, 2019 Prime Minister Scott Morrison has vowed to stop the spread of union power and stem the growth of environmental rules that he blames for costing Australian jobs, as he sharpens his pitch to voters in the final days of the election campaign.
Ahead of his final debate against Opposition Leader Bill Shorten in Canberra on Wednesday night, Mr Morrison warned of a threat to the economy from the expansion of union “red tape” and environmental “green tape” that tied down employers when they should have more freedom to expand and hire workers…….
Lagging Labor in the polls with only 10 days to go until ballots are cast, the Prime Minister warned that a vote for Labor would give unions control over industrial laws and the Greens control over environmental laws.
“I don’t want to see the Labor Party get to office where they tie businesses up with all sorts of union red tape and all sorts of the Greens’ green tape, which would just cost people jobs,” he said……
The Coalition has blamed “lawfare” and “green tape” for halting or delaying mining and other projects in recent years, turning this into a major dispute with Labor and the Greens.
Mr Morrison said voters should remember that Labor sought to apply native vegetation laws more widely and increase the power of the Environmental Protection Agency to slow down developments.
“They want to hypercharge an Environment Protection Authority which will basically interfere and seek to slow down and prevent projects all around the country,” he said.
Another nail in the coffin of the ‘integral fast nuclear reactors’ championed by Ben Heard, Barry Brook et al.
Jim Green.Nuclear Fuel Cycle Watch South Australia https://www.facebook.com/groups/1021186047913052/– 9 May 19
Another nail in the coffin of the ‘integral fast reactors’ championed by Ben Heard, Barry Brook et al.U.S. nuclear power stations not ready for climate change
Sohn: Climate clouds gather over U.S. nukes – Part 1, Times Free Press, May 5th, 2019
U.S. nuclear power plants weren’t built for climate change.
So says the headline in April 18 Bloomberg News special online expose. The lead example, of course, is Japan’s Fukushima-Daiichi reactor meltdowns after a 9.0 earthquake and consequent tsunami.
The earthquake itself, almost 81 miles offshore, did no damage. The two tsunami waves that followed were a different story. And no, earthquakes have nothing to do — that we know of — with climate change. Nor do tsunamis. But flooding certainly does, and that’s why Fukushima’s story illustrates this point.
When the quake hit the Fukushima plant — a near twin of TVA’s Brown’s Ferry plant in North Alabama, the reactors went into automatic shutdown mode, as all nuclear plants are designed to do. It’s a safety feature — like a fuse blowing when your circuits are overloaded. But not even shutdown could prevent catastrophe when less than an hour later two enormous ocean waves swamped the back-up diesel generators, the seawater pumps, the back-up electrical switchgear and a series of batteries in the plant’s basement. With no power, the pumped flow of cooling water to surround the hot radioactive cores ceased.
From there, the dominoes fell fast, and within three days, three of six reactor cores had melted. Explosions ripped away parts of the containment structures. Within hours, mandatory evacuations began in a radius at 1.2 miles and gradually expanded to 12.4 miles. A voluntary evacuation was requested in the 12.4-to-18.6-mile area, and 10 days later, the Japanese government set a 12.4-mile-radius “no-go” area. Some 160,000 people were evacuated from their homes. Years later, 81,000 evacuees remained displaced, as much of the nearby land is still uninhabitable. ……
the nuclear industry, on the whole, fought Jaczko’s recommendation of redesigning the plants. Nuclear people instead thought it would be enough to focus mainly on storing emergency generators, pumps, and other equipment in on-site concrete bunkers — a system they dubbed Flex, for Flexible Mitigation Capability. Flex was the process TVA adopted. Spokesman Jim Hopson says TVA was the first nuclear utility in the U.S. to implement and certify its FLEX facilities at Watts Bar, and among the first to certify its entire nuclear fleet.
In a sad way, we’re lucky that TVA took that early approach, because in January, NRC’s new majority — three commissioners appointed by President Trump — ruled that nuclear plants wouldn’t have to update equipment to deal with new, higher levels of expected flooding. The commission even eliminated a requirement that plants run Flex drills.
Jaczko and others told Bloomberg the NRC already hadn’t done enough to require owners of nuclear power plants to take preventative measures — and that the risks will only increase as climate change worsens.
Jaczko said the new ruling nullified the work done following Fukushima. “It’s like studying the safety of seat belts and then not making automakers put them in a car.”
Using data from the Union of Concerned Scientists, Bloomberg mapped the plants expected to flood an average of at least twice a month by 2060. Some 90% of the current 59 operating plants were shown as having a minimum of one to four flood risks for which the facilities were not designed. TVA’s Brown’s Ferry in North Alabama, Watts Bar in Spring City, Tennessee, and Sequoyah in Soddy-Daisy all made that risk list.
Should we worry? We’ll take a deeper look Monday.https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/opinion/times/story/2019/may/05/sohn-climate-clouds-nukes/493926/
Scott Morrison and climate leadership ?
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Fijian PM to call for climate leadership SBS, 8 May 19 Prime Minister Scott Morrison has admitted Australia’s emissions have increased, as a new report warns major change is needed to protect the environment. Scott Morrison has admitted Australia’s emissions have been rising, as a new international report shows climate change is a key factor driving species to extinction.”Yeah they have lifted,” the prime minister told ABC’s 730 program on Monday night, when asked about carbon emissions……
A new report warns that major change is needed globally to prevent further environmental destruction, with one million species currently at risk of extinction. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services global assessment reveals nature is declining at rates previously unseen in human history. Frogs, big cats and birds are at great risk of extinction and change is needed now, co-chair of the report Sandra Diaz says. “When nature is in trouble we, and our wellbeing, are in trouble,” Prof Diaz told ABC Radio National on Tuesday. “Our style of consumption and production and trade and general lifestyles are costing us the earth, literally.” The report, which is based on 15,000 scientific and government sources, says the biggest drivers of environmental destruction are changes in land and sea use, exploitation of organisms, climate change, pollution, and invasive species. “Climate change is going to become an increasingly important driver,” Prof Diaz said. “We will be seeing an accelerated decrease in biodiversity … unless we change dramatically the way we trade, we consume, we produce, we do business.” Reducing the amount of meat we eat is an easy start, she added. Findings from the report will be used at a global conference next year in China, where leaders are expected to agree to a “Paris agreement for nature”. Labor leader Bill Shorten says climate change is one of the top four issues of the election. “The government just gets itself tied up in knots over doing anything, and in the meantime businesses and community and young people, they all just want real action on climate change.” Mr Shorten has come under pressure to explain the cost of his climate policies, which includes a 45 per cent emissions reduction target by 2030, but he says the cost of not acting is far greater.https://www.sbs.com.au/news/fijian-pm-to-call-for-climate-leadership |
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Australia’s role in the extinction crisis
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UN environment warning: 10 key points and what Australia must do From native species to Indigenous land management and water efficiency: Australia’s role in the extinction crisis, Guardian, Calla Wahlquist@callapilla 7 May 2019 |
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Wangan and Jagalingou Country The Frontline In ‘Adani’s Federal Election’
The Karmoo Dreaming: a Celebration of the Water Protectors
“But the weekend in Clermont wasn’t about the show put on by Adani or their right-wing political mates. It was about the generous and sacred Karmoo Dreaming celebration of the water protectors.
This event was organised and hosted by the W&J Council to celebrate their culture and law, including honouring their vital role, over millennia, as custodians of their lands and water. W&J Council welcomed the Bob Brown Foundation convoy onto their country, and into the Karmoo (water) ceremony and celebration.
“The water is our life. It is our dreaming and our sovereignty. We cannot give that away…. Water is central to our laws, our religion and our identity. It is the Mundunjudra, the water spirit, the rainbow serpent.” .KristenLyons
May 8 Energy News — geoharvey
Opinion: ¶ “We’ll Soon Know The Exact Air Pollution From Every Power Plant In The World. That’s Huge.” • A nonprofit AI firm called WattTime will use satellite imagery to track the air pollution (including carbon emissions) coming out of every single power plant in the world precisely, in real time. And it’s going to […]
South Korea plans to continue to ban all seafood imports from Fukushima Prefecture and seven other prefectures near Fukushima to protect public health and food safety — Fukushima 311 Watchdogs
SEJONG, May 7 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s new ocean minister vowed Tuesday to ensure that potentially dangerous seafood will not reach South Korean tables. “There should never be anything that could compromise public health” and food safety, Moon Seong-hyeok, minister of oceans and fisheries, said in a meeting with reporters ahead of his planned meeting […]
Butler says Coalition missing on climate, and won’t even debate — RenewEconomy
Butler says Melissa Price and Angus Taylor have refused invitations to debate climate and energy policies at National Press Club. The post Butler says Coalition missing on climate, and won’t even debate appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via Butler says Coalition missing on climate, and won’t even debate — RenewEconomy
Age of cheap coal power is over for Australia, says BNEF — RenewEconomy
Bloomberg New Energy Finance says it’s cheaper in Australia, right now, to build new wind or solar than to operate and generate power from shovelling coal into existing plant. The post Age of cheap coal power is over for Australia, says BNEF appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via Age of cheap coal power is over for Australia, says BNEF — RenewEconomy
Australian mayors want more ambition on climate change, 100% renewables — RenewEconomy
Group of mayors across Australia demand Federal Government lift its game on climate action, support local communities and aim for 100% renewables. The post Australian mayors want more ambition on climate change, 100% renewables appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via Australian mayors want more ambition on climate change, 100% renewables — RenewEconomy
Solar and storage to power NDIS housing in first of its kind pilot — RenewEconomy
First-of-its-kind project will incorporate solar and battery systems into dedicated housing for participants of the NDIS. The post Solar and storage to power NDIS housing in first of its kind pilot appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via Solar and storage to power NDIS housing in first of its kind pilot — RenewEconomy
Rooftop solar kills summer peak in W.A., as renewables nudge 50% share — RenewEconomy
In W.A. the “hot season” peak is now the same as the winter peak, thanks to rooftop solar. The share of renewables is also nudging 50% at times. The post Rooftop solar kills summer peak in W.A., as renewables nudge 50% share appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via Rooftop solar kills summer peak in W.A., as renewables nudge 50% share — RenewEconomy
Solar’s stunning rise takes big chunk out of coal in daytime market — RenewEconomy
Huge increase in solar capacity over last year is reshaping daytime power and taking a big lump out of coal generation. The post Solar’s stunning rise takes big chunk out of coal in daytime market appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via Solar’s stunning rise takes big chunk out of coal in daytime market — RenewEconomy
Antinuclear 