Ethics – Australia and the climate and nuclear threats
It would be funny, if it were not so serious. Australia, the continent already experiencing the effects of global heating, and with a government now contemplating starting the nuclear industry, – seems to be sleeping on, in comfortable ignorance about what is happening.
We all know – it is dinned into us daily – that it’s all about economics.( And sport). All our actions are justifiable if they can be show to further economic growth.
Who dares mention ethics?
What if decisions and actions were determined by the principle of acting decently and truthfully?
Then politicians, academics, journalists and other opinion leaders would have to speak clearly in plain words, about bushfires, the Murray Darling rivers, floods, and pollution. Then solutions would be chosen for environmental protection, and for the public good. The public good would include our Pacific neighbours, and indeed, Australia’s role in the global community.
Of course, there would be costs – changes in lifestyle, in employment, in our use of energy and other resources, in increased taxation. It would require fairness to disadvantaged groups, and to those most affected by extreme weather.
It’s about time that ETHICS came back into public thinking and action.
Australia is now led by a man who is ignorant of all but advertising and marketing slogans. Our politicians, obsessed with one aim, to keep their seats in Parliament, cannot be relied upon to understand the ethics of Australia’s situation – as the canary in the mine of climate and nuclear threats.
Still – there are thousands of Australians, especially indigenous Australians, and many groups like the Australian Conservation Foundation, and Friends of the Earth who do “get it”, and who lead the pressure on governments to really face up to these dangers.
“Intermediate Level” nuclear wastes for South Australian are really “High Level”
Barb Walker shared a post. Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste In The Flinders Ranges. Relaying important information at the request of Dr. Susi Andersson
Intermediate level radioactive waste (ILW) is not the gloves, masks and gowns mentioned by Alan Moskwa (Nuclear Safety (26/11/19). Australia’s intermediate level waste (ILW) includes the spent fuel elements of the HIFAR (Australia’s first) reactor, which are classified as high level waste in many other countries. In ANSTO’s words, 98% of their ILW is waste specific to the post reactor processing of uranium targets to produce Mo-99 and other radiopharmaceuticals.
Dr. S Andersson https://www.facebook.com/groups/941313402573199/
The Murray Darling water crisis and what governments must do to fix this
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Fish kills and undrinkable water: here’s what to expect for the Murray Darling this summer, The Conversation, Jamie Pittock
Professor, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University, November 27, 2019 A grim summer is likely for the rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin and the people, flora and fauna that rely on it. Having worked for sustainable management of these rivers for decades, I fear the coming months will be among the worst in history for Australia’s most important river system.The 34 months from January 2017 to October 2019 were the driest on record in the basin. Low water inflows have led to dam levels lower than those seen in the devastating Millennium drought. No relief is in sight. The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting drier-than-average conditions for the second half of November and December. Across the summer, rainfall is also projected to be below average. So let’s take a look at what this summer will likely bring for the Murray Darling Basin – on which our economy, food security and well-being depend. Not a pretty pictureAs the river system continues to dry up and tributaries stop flowing, the damaging effect on people and the environment will accelerate. Mass fish kills of the kind we saw last summer are again likely as water in rivers, waterholes and lakes declines in quality and evaporates. Three million Australians depend on the basin’s rivers for their water and livelihoods. Adelaide can use its desalination plants and Canberra has enough stored water for now. But other towns and cities in the basin risk running out of water. Governments were warned well before the drought to better secure water supplies through infrastructure and other measures. But the response was inadequate. Some towns such as Armidale in New South Wales have been preparing to truck water to homes, at great expense. Water costs will likely increase to pay for infrastructure such as pumps and pipelines. The shortages will particularly affect Indigenous communities, pastoralists who need water for domestic use and livestock, irrigation farmers and tourism business on the rivers………. How to fix thisGovernments must assume that climate-induced drought conditions in the basin are the new normal, and plan for it. Action should include:
Investing in these adaptation actions now would provide jobs during the drought and prepare Australia for a much drier future in the Murray-Darling Basin. https://theconversation.com/fish-kills-and-undrinkable-water-heres-what-to-expect-for-the-murray-darling-this-summer-126940 |
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More than 160 bush and grass fires are burning across New South Wales
NSW firefighters battle 100 new blazes, Herald Sun, Heather McNab, 27 Nov 19, More than 160 bush and grass fires are burning across NSW after about 100 fresh blazes ignited in a 24-hour period.
The NSW Rural Fire Service on Wednesday evening said 163 fires were burning in NSW with 75 uncontained. There were more than 2200 personnel in the field working to slow the progress of the blazes.
The Bureau of Meteorology said thunderstorms which hit Sydney on Tuesday afternoon and the state’s northeast in the evening had produced large hailstones and damaging winds – while lightning also sparked fresh fires.
“Over the past 24 hours, around 100 new fires kicked off,” the RFS posted on Twitter at 5.30pm on Wednesday.
“Crews will work over coming days to control this large number of fires ahead of forecast elevated fire danger on Saturday,” the agency posted later that evening…….. https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/almost-130-fires-burning-across-nsw/news-story/67d86650512ce39d8af0cb2e34109b21
Short term fixes for staggeringly long lasting nuclear wastes
The Staggering Timescales Of Nuclear Waste Disposal, Christine Ro https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinero/2019/11/26/the-staggering-timescales-of-nuclear-waste-disposal/#621facec29cf
High-level nuclear waste consists largely of spent fuel from nuclear reactors. Though it makes up a small proportion of overall waste volumes, it accounts for the majority of radioactivity. This most potent form of nuclear waste, according to some, needs to be safely stored for up to a million years. Yes, 1 million years – in other words, a far longer stretch of time than the period since Neanderthals cropped up. This is an estimate of the length of time needed to ensure radioactive decay.
They’re also such mind-bogglingly long periods that in 1981, the US Department of Energy established the Human Interference Task Force to devise ways to warn future generations of the dangerous contents of nuclear repositories. This was a challenging task then, and nuclear semiotics remains the stuff of science fiction. Written language has only existed for about 5,500 years, so there’s no guarantee that Earth’s inhabitants, tens of thousands of years from now, would understand any of the writing systems currently in use. The meanings of visual signs also drift over time. The more whimsical “ray cat solution,” of genetically engineering cats to glow in the presence of radioactive material, is even less reliable.
Even stopping nuclear power operations is a necessarily drawn-out process. Decommissioning a single nuclear reactor typically takes about 20 years. Most countries grappling with nuclear waste are planning for at least 40 to 60 years just to implement their repository programs.
After brief flirtations with amusingly bad ideas including shooting nuclear waste into space, the consensus among nuclear scientists is that the best option for dealing with high-level nuclear waste is deep geological disposal. One of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s conditions for such a geological site is low groundwater content, which has been stable for at least tens of thousands of years, and geological stability, over millions of years. Thus, Japan, with its seismic instability, is unlikely to have any suitable candidates for deep geological disposal.
Like many countries, Japan is relying on interim storage of high-level waste while hoping that longer-term solutions will present themselves eventually. In fact, no country even has an operational deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel. (The US has a deep disposal site in New Mexico for “transuranic” waste from nuclear weapons, which is long-lived and intermediate-level waste whose elements have higher numbers than uranium in the periodic table.)
It’s challenging to find a site that ticks all of the geological boxes (including relatively impermeable material with little risk of water infiltration), and that isn’t politically controversial. To take two notable examples, communities in Nevada, US and Bure, France have hotly opposed plans to establish repositories. Given the history of environmental justice globally, it’s likely that any future locations approved for nuclear waste dumps will be found in poor areas.
Only one country, Finland, is even building a permanent spent-fuel repository. Even in Finland, however, it’s estimated that a license won’t be issued until 2024. Similar licenses for other European countries scouting out possible locations likely wouldn’t be available until 2050 in Germany and 2065 in the Czech Republic. And these countries are outnumbered by those that don’t even have an estimated timeframe for licensing, as they’re so far back in the process of searching for a site.
Strategies remain worryingly short-term, on a nuclear timescale. Chernobyl’s destroyed reactor no. 4, for instance, was moved in July 2019 into a massive steel and concrete “sarcophagus” that will only last 100 years. Not only will containers like this one fall short of the timescales needed for sufficient storage, but no country has allotted enough funds to cover nuclear waste disposal. In France and the US, according to the recently published World Nuclear Waste Report, the funding allocation only covers a third of the estimated costs. And the cost estimates that do exist rarely extend beyond several decades.
Essentially, we’re hoping that things will work out once future generations develop better technologies and find more funds to manage nuclear waste. It’s one of the most striking examples of the dangers of short-term thinking.Check out my website.
Australia’s ‘permanently wet’ rainforests now burning for the first time
Bushfires devastate rare and enchanting wildlife as ‘permanently wet’ forests burn for first time ABC, RN BY ANN ARNOLD 27 NOV 19 The rainforests along the spine of the Great Dividing Range, between the Hunter River and southern Queensland, are remnants of Gondwana, the ancient supercontinent that broke up about 180 million years ago.
“Listening to the dawn chorus in these forests is literally an acoustic window back in time,” ecologist Mark Graham tells RN’s Saturday Extra.
“It’s like listening to what the world sounded like in the time of the dinosaurs.”
The forests are mountaintop islands that have been “permanently wet” for tens of millions of years.
But now, these forests are being burnt for the first time.
“We are seeing fire going into these areas where fire is simply not meant to go,” says Mr Graham, a fire specialist with the Nature Conservation Council.
Most of the focus of Australia’s catastrophic fires has been on people and property — with the exception of koalas, which have come to symbolise the non-human costs.
Beyond the koalas are many rare and fascinating creatures whose lives and homes have been destroyed, or remain threatened.
“The fauna in these landscapes requires permanently wet conditions, and many of the fauna species in these landscapes simply have no tolerance to fire,” Mr Graham says.
The most ancient birds on the planet
The songbirds that live in these ancient wet forests have always lived there…….
One reason the north coast of New South Wales is a global biodiversity hotspot is it has the most species of eucalypts in the world, and the best areas of Antarctic Beech forest.
“These forests are recognised globally for their outstanding universal values because they are essentially the oldest forests remaining on the planet,” Mr Graham says.
The tree hollows host many fauna species, for shelter and breeding. The hollows take centuries to develop to full size. They can’t be replaced.
“You have to wait 200 to 400 years until they develop again,” Mr Graham says.
One of two nature conservation areas he privately owns, and manages for their natural values, has been almost obliterated by fire.
He wants to present only the facts, and avoid fuelling a media and political circus around the fires……https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-27/bushfires-devastate-ancient-forests-and-rare-wildlife/11733956
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE UN’S COP 25 CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE UN’S COP 25 CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE, https://ensia.com/notable/cop-25-un-climate-talks/ Andrew Urevig @aurevig November 26, 2019 — In 2015, 195 countries adopted an international treaty aiming to limit global warming to less than 2 °C (3.6 °F) above average preindustrial temperatures in order to avert the worst of Earth’s climate emergency.
How exactly will these countries implement that treaty, the Paris agreement? That’s a key question for the thousands of people set to attend the COP 25 negotiations, the 25th annual Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Despite a last-minute change of location from Chile to Spain, the talks are still slated for December 2–13.
Representatives of countries around the world are preparing to negotiate rules for international carbon markets, finalize details on climate finance and ready the world for the crucial next decade of action on the climate crisis. Chilean environmental minister Carolina Schmidt will preside over the negotiations.
Double Counting Strikes Back
According to Schmidt, “COP 25 will be the COP of implementation.” The main goal is to fill in the legal and technical details of the Paris agreement. That work began at COP 24, which was held last year in Poland.
Left unresolved last year were the rules for voluntary carbon emissions markets, which would let nations meet their pledged emissions cuts by trading reductions with other countries. In a June interview, Schmidt said that these rules, covered under Article 6 of the Paris treaty, would be a major focus of COP25.
Finishing the work of COP 24, this year’s negotiations should finalize the details of the Paris agreement. But consensus could be difficult to reach. During the last climate talks, according to Carbon Brief, draft rules for the carbon markets would have prohibited double counting of emissions, a scenario in which reductions would be counted by both the country that achieved them and the country purchasing those reductions as emissions offsets. But the delegation from Brazil rejected that prohibition, pushing the conversation off to this year.
Other Issues
Other issues will be on the table, too. Countries at COP 25 will discuss details for climate finance to support countries designated as developing as they adapt to climate change and mitigate their carbon emissions.
Outside the halls of power, COP 25 could see street demonstrations and other protests. Last year’s talks coincided with protests worldwide, including 3,000 who marched in Katowice, Poland, where the talks were held.
U.S. diplomats will be among the negotiators — but potentially for the last time. President Donald Trump notified the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on Nov. 4, 2019, that the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris agreement. The U.S. is scheduled be officially out of the deal by Nov. 4, 2020, less than a week before COP 26 will begin in Glasgow, Scotland. A U.S. delegation will still be invited to attend the conference — but not to negotiate, in an official capacity, the future of the Paris accord.
Pope Francis, in Japan, Warns of ‘Selfish Decisions’ on Nuclear Energy
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Pope Francis, in Japan, Warns of ‘Selfish Decisions’ on Nuclear Energy
Making the first visit to the country by a pope in 38 years, Francis called for an end to the nuclear arms race in visits to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. NYT, By Motoko Rich, 25 Nov 19, TOKYO — In the first visit to Japan by a pontiff in 38 years, Pope Francis on Monday edged close to calling for the renunciation of all nuclear power in a country that experienced the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl but has yet to determine a viable alternative for its energy needs.A day after traveling to Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the only places where atomic bombs have ever been used in war, the pope met in Tokyo on Monday with victims of the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown that ravaged northeastern Japan. Francis noted that the Catholic bishops of Japan had called for the shutdown of all nuclear plants in Japan after the 2011 disaster, in which waves from the tsunami overpowered the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and set off catastrophic meltdowns in three reactors. “As we think about the future of our common home, we need to realize that we cannot make purely selfish decisions,” the pope said on Monday, “and that we have a great responsibility to future generations.” Although Japan has a tiny and shrinking Catholic population, the pope drew thousands of people to his appearances in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, where he called for an end to the nuclear arms race. In denouncing any use of atomic weapons as “a crime not only against the dignity of human beings but against any possible future for our common home,” he appeared to go further than his predecessors, who called for an end to stockpiling nuclear arms. “The arms race wastes precious resources that could be better used to benefit the integral development of peoples and to protect the natural environment,” the pope said in an address in Peace Park in Nagasaki, which commemorates the 74,000 people who died in the atomic bombing on Aug. 9, 1945, three days after the bombing of Hiroshima, which killed 140,000 people. “In a world where millions of children and families live in inhumane conditions, the money that is squandered and the fortunes made through the manufacture, upgrading, maintenance and sale of ever more destructive weapons are an affront crying out to heaven,” he added. …… On Monday, Francis also addressed the deterioration of international ties at a time when populist governments and leaders have taken to looking inward. “We are witnessing an erosion of multilateralism, which is all the more serious in light of the growth of new forms of military technology,” he said in Nagasaki. “Such an approach seems highly incongruous in today’s context of interconnectedness; it represents a situation that urgently calls for the attention and commitment of all leaders.”……. He described what he called the disconnectedness of a group of young people he had met at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Tokyo . “They remain on the margins, unable to grasp the meaning of life and their own existence,” he said. “Increasingly, the home, school and community, which are meant to be places where we support and help one another, are being eroded by excessive competition in the pursuit of profit and efficiency. Many people feel confused and anxious; they are overwhelmed by so many demands and worries that take away their peace and stability.” …….. Reporting was contributed by Makiko Inoue, Eimi Yamamitsu and Hisako Ueno. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/25/world/asia/pope-francis-japan-nuclear.html Motoko Rich is Tokyo bureau chief for The New York Times. She has covered a broad range of beats at the Times, including real estate (during a boom), the economy (during a bust), books and education. @motokorich |
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Catholic doctrine; the use and even the possession of nuclear is immoral
Pope Francis: not using or possessing nuclear arms will be added to the Catechism, Catholic Outlook,27 November 2019 During the in-flight press conference aboard the plane bringing him back to Rome from Japan, Pope Francis answers journalists’ questions on a variety of issues: from the immoral use and possession of atomic weapons, to the financial investigation inside the Vatican.
“The use of nuclear weapons is immoral, which is why it must be added to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Not only their use, but also possessing them: because an accident or the madness of some government leader, one person’s madness can destroy humanity.”
In addition to repeating this strong message pronounced at Hiroshima, Pope Francis responded to many questions posed to him by the journalists during the flight bringing them back to Rome from Japan.
Now follows an unofficial translation of the in-flight press conference……….
“Hiroshima was a real human catechesis on cruelty. I could not visit the Hiroshima museum because time did not permit, because it was a difficult day. But they say it’s terrible. There are letters from Heads of State, Generals explaining how a greater disaster could be produced. The experience was much more touching for me. And there I reiterated that the use of nuclear weapons is immoral, that is why it must be added to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Not only their use, but also possessing them: because an accident or the madness of some government leader, one person’s madness can destroy humanity. The words of Einstein come to mind: ‘The Fourth World War will be fought with sticks and stones.’ ” …….
“The ugly hypocrisy of the ‘arms trade’. Christian countries, European countries that talk about peace and live off weapons. This is hypocrisy, a word from the Gospels: Jesus said it in Matthew, Chapter 23. We have to stop this hypocrisy. It takes courage to say: “I can’t talk about peace, because my economy earns so much through arms sales’”. These are all things we need to say, without insulting and vilifying any country, but speaking as brothers and sisters, for the sake of human fraternity: we must stop because this is a terrible thing. “………… https://catholicoutlook.org/pope-francis-not-using-or-possessing-nuclear-arms-will-be-added-to-the-catechism/
Power bills to fall by $40 as New South Wales Central West becomes wind and solar power hub,
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Power bills to fall by $40 as Central West becomes wind and solar power hub, Central West Daily News, David Fitzsimons 26 Nov 19
The Central West will become the focus of wind and solar energy generation in NSW under a state government plan that would see 450 construction jobs created and household electricity bills cut by $40 a year. Energy Minister Matt Kean said Australia’s first Renewable Energy Zone would be developed in the Central West over the next few years. Mr Kean said the 3000 megawatt pilot program was aimed at attracting up to $4.4 billion in private sector investment into the region for clean energy generation…….
The Central West project is the first of three planned for NSW as part of the NSW Electricity Strategy which was unveiled by Mr Kean. It said the Central West was chosen for the pilot because it has “significant existing investment and investor interest.”…… https://www.centralwesterndaily.com.au/story/6508798/power-bills-to-drop-by-40-as-central-west-becomes-hub-for-wind-and-solar-power/?fbclid=IwAR0WqMLLb5ODbAA0EU-h8VPtnfVoU8PYrvFIEhNhuTeOVKunqnhR4f3PWms |
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New Mexico worried about Stranded Nuclear Wastes: South Australia should be, too
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high-leveHancock said he also opposed the project and the bill over the suggestion of transporting the waste hundreds or thousands of miles away from generator sites where it is currently stored. “This approach doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “Why not do it in places that already have storage sites? It’s going to sit there for years. Let’s make that less dangerous. It can be done without massive transportation around the country.”
The Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act was advanced by a unanimous voice vote to the House by the Energy and Commerce Committee on Nov. 20. The bill, if passed, would move forward with safety licensing for a permanent nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, while providing the U.S. Department of Energy the authority to proceed with a program for consolidated interim storage (CIS) while the Yucca Mountain project progresses. It also prioritized the transportation of spent nuclear fuel from generator sites in seismically active areas, and ensured the DOE has the funds to build and operate a repository U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), the only representative from New Mexico who sits on the committee, introduced an amendment that was approved to create a grant program to study the impacts radiation exposure including family members and non-workers resulting from uranium mining. “Though we have a responsibility to address the waste issues that result from our country entering the atomic age, I am deeply concerned that this bill makes it more likely that a future interim storage site — potentially one in New Mexico — becomes a permanent home for nuclear waste,” he said. One such interim facility, proposed by Holtec to be built in a remote, desert area near the Eddy-Lea county line, drew concerns from New Mexico environmentalist groups as it could put local communities at risk as well. Don Hancock, nuclear waste program director at the Southwest Research and Information Center in Albuquerque cited a clause in the bill that required the governor of a state that would host a CIS facility to consent before moving forward. Continue reading |
Tipping points leading to ‘Hothouse Earth’ already “active”, scientists warn — RenewEconomy
Group of leading climate scientists warn that tipping points that could cause irreversible and rapid global warming are already ‘active’. The post Tipping points leading to ‘Hothouse Earth’ already “active”, scientists warn appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via Tipping points leading to ‘Hothouse Earth’ already “active”, scientists warn — RenewEconomy
November 27 Energy News — geoharvey
Opinion: ¶ “Climate Change ‘Converts’ Reveal What Changed Their Minds” • In what feels like a former life, Jerry Taylor penned op-eds, appeared on cable news networks, and worked the “entire orbit of right-wing media,” arguing climate change was not a real problem. Now he is the head of a think-tank promoting a carbon tax. […]
Labor ramps up pressure on Taylor, the minister who wouldn’t be missed — RenewEconomy
Labor ramps up calls for energy minister Angus Taylor to stand aside, as NSW police commissioner downplays significance of Morrison’s ‘intervention’. The post Labor ramps up pressure on Taylor, the minister who wouldn’t be missed appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via Labor ramps up pressure on Taylor, the minister who wouldn’t be missed — RenewEconomy
China going wrong — John Quiggin
Despite the opacity of Chinese politics, it is clear that things are going badly wrong there. In just the last week, we’ve seen The rejection of the officially backed candidates in Hong Kong’s local electionLeaks exposing the massive repression of the Uighur populationThe defection of an alleged Chinese spy, with allegations of interference in Australia’s…
Antinuclear 