Few permitted to vote on nuclear waste dump
Barb Walker shared a post Flinders Local Action Group– 17 Oct 19
Only the residents living within the small Council areas of Kimba and Flinders Ranges have been given to opportunity to vote for or against the establishment of a Nuclear Waste Dump in South Australia. This proposal is driven by the Federal Government which, under the Radioactive Waste Management Act, have the power to override all State laws. SA Premier Steven Marshall has stated that he will back the dump if there is ‘Broad Community Support’.
If you have been denied a vote, or disagree with what is happening,
let someone know how you feel.
Please go to : https://www.foe.org.au/have_your_say
A new bribe given on the eve of Kimba and Wallerberdina nuclear waste dump ballot
Peter RemtaOctober 15 No Nuclear Waste Dump Anywhere in South Australia
Suddenly on the eve of the ballot another $4 million is given to the communities – is this incredible or Just plain vote buying?
Hurricane Hagibis Spreads Fukushima Radiation (But No, 2,667 Bags of Decontaminated Waste were NOT Washed Away!)
https://nuclear-news.net/2019/10/17/hurricane-hagibis-spreads-fukushima-radiation-but-no-2667-bags-of-decontaminated-waste-were-not-washed-away/ Nuclear HotSeat BY NHADMIN OCTOBER 16, 2019 Fukushima Hurricane Hagibis Flooding – deluge of water washes full bags of “decontaminated” soil, plants, and other radioactive matter into Furumichi river near the Japanese city of Tamura in Fukushima Prefecture (above). No report yet on how much radioactive material from the decomposing, torn waste bags was washed back into the environment. http://nuclearhotseat.com/2019/10/16/fukushima-hurricane-hagibis-flooding-spreads-radiation-risks/
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Below are brief extracts – transcript from this important podcast.
Hurricane Hagibis – Alarms went off – City said an unknown number of radioactive waste bags were lost…
Each bag weighs more than one tonne…. some bags not swept away but still damaged
Nancy Faust of SimplyInfo.org. “- not enough information yet… Tepco did have time to prepare for the typhoon.
Tepco phrased it vaguely about the readings of radioactivity – equipment is monitored – readings showed that rain-water was leaking in to various facilities. They measured only the water itself, not radiation. Tepco has not talked about how much water is coming in to the reactor. We worry about how much water is coming in , and then washing things out.”
Question: Do we know how many bags of radioactive material were washed away?
“One report from one city Tamara City – has 2667 bags onsite – did not say how many were washed away -said that 6 were found….. We don’t know yet how many were washed away
We also don’t know the condition of these bags at the storage site. Older bags at higher risk of breaking. They have a lifespan of about 6 years. Also we don’t know what the level of radioactivity is in these bags.
We may get some bits of information about how much radiation was dispersed over the next weeks. Simply Info will be looking for differences in radiation level reports. Tepco not legally obliged to give this information.
From Arnie Gunderson.
Sean McGee reminds that there will be dispersal of radiatioactive material after the area dries out, and from the mountains.
The story that all 2667 bags were swept away is incorrect . That imprecision in the report was in the headline.
The Japanese government and Tepco will try to obscure the facts. It’s incumbent upon us to be accurate. |
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Public excluded from Delloitt Risk Assessment report for the radioactive waste repositary
Tim Bickmore No Nuclear Waste Dump Anywhere in South Australia, 17 Oct 19At the Flinders Ranges District Council meeting last night, the public were excluded when the Delloitt Risk Assessment report for the radioactive suppository was tabled ~ implied ‘commercial in-confidence’ reasoning ~ so details yet to be released….
Will that info be provided to punters before the Poll? https://www.facebook.com/groups/1314655315214929/
Liberal Democrat MP David Limbrick pushes for nuclear power to be approved as “renewable”
Tomorrow I will be putting forward an amendment to add nuclear to the list of approved energy sources for the Renewable Energy Target Bill. If the purpose of the bill is to encourage low carbon electricity production, it doesn’t make sense to exclude it.
Yeelirrie Solidarity Camp 2019 — WA Nuclear Free Alliance
https://videopress.com/embed/9MTCN51L?hd=0&autoPlay=0&permalink=0&loop=0
Building the Base ~ Red Earth, Big Skies The first ever Yeelirrie Solidarity Camp that replaced this year’s Walking for Country was launched at the end of September 2019 as a one week camp out on Tjiwarl country, or better known as the Goldfields region of Western Australia near the site of the proposed uranium mine. […]
via Yeelirrie Solidarity Camp 2019 — WA Nuclear Free Alliance
Government blocks crossbench motion to declare a climate change emergency — RenewEconomy
Morrison government blocks motion moved by Greens, supported by Labor and cross-benchers, to declare a climate change emergency. The post Government blocks crossbench motion to declare a climate change emergency appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via Government blocks crossbench motion to declare a climate change emergency — RenewEconomy
Australia’s climate crisis: destruction of forests
An epidemic of land clearing is sabotaging efforts to address climate change. Farming communities are bitterly divided over the issue – but it also has global consequences
Roger Fitzgerald’s family has been farming near Moree since 1925. But these days he feels under siege on his own farm. His 1,700-hectare property, 50km north of the town, is now surrounded by the operations of the sprawling agribusiness Beefwood Farms, which has been steadily buying up land in New South Wales to expand its operations.
The old easement to Fitzgerald’s cottage across the sprawling Beefwood property has been planted over with crops. His letterbox has mysteriously disappeared on several occasions, making it hard for visitors to spot the entrance to his farm. But it is the extent of land clearing by his neighbour, Beefwood’s owner, Gerardus Kurstjens, that has upset him the most.
Fitzgerald says the microclimate of the nearby Welbon plains has moved a kilometre further on to his property since losing a tree line on Kurstjens’ property that once sheltered his land.
Pockets of remaining vegetation have been ripped from the grey soil to expand cultivation and square up paddocks – and the first Fitzgerald knows of it is when the bulldozers arrive.
“There is something seriously not right about the extent of land clearing in my little part of the world,” he says.
Think of land clearing like a rezoning in the city. Land cleared for cropping west of Moree sells for $2,500 a hectare whereas grazing land will sell for between $700 and $1000 a hectare. East of Moree most of the prime land has already been converted to crops and sells for $6,800 a hectare, three times the value of grazing land.
Clearing vegetation has the potential to add millions to a property’s value, as well as yielding high returns in a good year.
That alone is enough for farmers to risk up to $1m in fines for illegally clearing, according to one former NSW Office of Environment and Heritage compliance officer, who asked not to be named.
But while land clearing might benefit individual farmers in the short term, the loss of native vegetation comes with enormous costs for the rest of us.
“Land clearance and degradation is one of the greatest crises facing Australia and the world,” says Bill Hare, the chief executive and senior scientist with Berlin-based Climate Analytics. “It undermines the basis for food production, is causing species loss and ecological decline, destroys climate resilience, degrades water resources and reverses carbon storage on the land.”
Pollution from land clearing is projected by the federal government to remain at about 46m tonnes of carbon dioxide a year to 2030, roughly equivalent to emissions from three large coal-fired power plants. The rate at which we are clearing land in Australia is almost immediately wiping out gains being made under tax-payer funded schemes to address climate change.
Australia is among the 11 worst countries when it comes to deforestation, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
Queensland, with its vast swathes of untouched land on Cape York, has the highest clearing rate, but NSW is rapidly becoming a hotspot – and there is less to lose, with only 9% of the state’s vegetation in its original state.
What is becoming clear is that successive NSW governments have failed to explain the science behind preserving native vegetation – both in relation to climate change and protecting the landscape and endangered species – to farmers and the public.
Instead, land clearing laws in the state have been successively weakened, first by Labor and then more comprehensively by the Coalition, with the introduction of amendments to the Local Land Services Act in August 2017.
“NSW’s native vegetation laws were [once] based on the principle that broad-scale land clearing would not be permitted and clearing could only proceed if it could be shown to maintain or improve environmental outcomes,” says Rachel Walmsley, a solicitor at the NSW Environmental Defenders Office.
“The new act brought in a new approach with the twin stated objectives of arresting the current decline in the state’s biodiversity while also facilitating sustainable agricultural development.”
But while farmers are mostly happy with the new rules, environmentalists say they have ushered in an environmental disaster because they allow farmers to self-assess whether clearing is permissible.
The old act also protected paddock trees; the amended act has made it much easier to get rid of them.
Critics say farmers have been given the green light to clear.
“I have sat in meetings where arguments have been put that driving a tractor around a tree is a significant cost in diesel for farmers,” Walmsley says.
“There’s no valuation of the ecosystem services these trees provide: clean water, clean air, healthy soils and hosting pollinators. There’s no dollar value put on vegetation.”………
The facts are unequivocal. NSW is losing vegetation at an alarming rate………………… https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2019/oct/17/stripped-bare-australias-hidden-climate-crisis
Severe fire danger for northern New South Wales
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Plenty more bush to burn’: Severe fire danger for northern NSW, SMH. By Josh Dye, October 16, 2019 A total fire ban has been declared for six regions in the state’s north and north-east on Thursday as firefighters brace for “severe” fire conditions.The NSW Rural Fire Service is warning residents to be vigilant with “hot and windy” weather putting firefighters on high alert. There’s plenty more bush out there to burn,” an RFS spokesman said.
“Winds are likely to average 40km/h from the north to north-west with gusts up to 70km/h.” Temperatures are forecast to reach up to 35 degrees in parts of the state’s north on Thursday, including near Casino where two bushfires burnt out of control last week. Two people died, 64 homes were destroyed and more than 122,000 hectares were scorched in the fires. Firefighters are also worried about the possibility of extra fires being ignited from lightning strikes with possible storms on the radar……. https://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/plenty-more-bush-to-burn-severe-fire-danger-for-northern-nsw-20191016-p531bt.html |
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Independent MP Zali Steggall to propose climate change bill to parliament — RenewEconomy
Zali Steggall to propose climate legislation to parliament based on UK example to compel government action on climate change. The post Independent MP Zali Steggall to propose climate change bill to parliament appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via Independent MP Zali Steggall to propose climate change bill to parliament — RenewEconomy
Building dams and praying for rain is not a drought policy
Building dams and praying for rain is not a drought policy. We are in a climate emergency and it is our farmers and the environment who are suffering because of inaction from this government
Coal power takes dive in September, as renewables hit new record — RenewEconomy
September’s generation data marks noticeable turning point for National Electricity Market. Wind and solar push coal to lowest levels since carbon price. The post Coal power takes dive in September, as renewables hit new record appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via Coal power takes dive in September, as renewables hit new record — RenewEconomy
AEMO provides glimpse of future grid: Not much fossil fuel, even less “base-load” — RenewEconomy
AEMO offers glimpse of new energy system, one dominated by wind and solar, with storage, batteries and EVs playing a key role, and fossil fuels barely to be seen. The post AEMO provides glimpse of future grid: Not much fossil fuel, even less “base-load” appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via AEMO provides glimpse of future grid: Not much fossil fuel, even less “base-load” — RenewEconomy
October 16 Energy News — geoharvey
Opinion: ¶ “What happens when a city bans car from its streets?” • Many modern cities have been built around cars, with huge amounts of space set aside for roads and parking. Now, some cities are trying to design the car out of the urban landscape altogether. Both Oslo and Madrid have started work on […]
Why network operators will take thousands of customers off the grid — RenewEconomy
Western Power unveils network of the future, where thousands of regional customers are taken off grid and given renewables and storage, saving money and boosting reliability. The post Why network operators will take thousands of customers off the grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via Why network operators will take thousands of customers off the grid — RenewEconomy
Antinuclear 