#ScottyFromMarketing appoints nuclear-coal enthusiast as Australia’s new resources minister
Liberal policy
Pro-coal, pro-nuclear, anti-renewables MP is Australia’s new resources minister, REneweconomy, , Queensland MP Keith Pitt – an outspoken support of coal and nuclear and critic of wind and solar – has been elevated to the federal cabinet and replaces Matt Canavan as the Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, as flagged by RenewEconomy yesterday
Liberal politicians jump on the climate bandwagon to promote nuclear power
Goldstein MP, Tim Wilson and North Sydney MP Trent Zimmerman spoke in favour of nuclear power, commending MP Ted O’Brien for his parliamentary inquiry into the issue, which was tabled in December, and advocating for it to be further explored.
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Coalition MPs clash over climate policy in first party room meeting of 2020
Scott Morrison faces difficult task of repositioning on climate change after assuring voters policies would ‘evolve’ Guardian, Sarah Martin @msmarto, Tue 4 Feb 2020 The prime minister, Scott Morrison, faces a fresh internal row over climate change policy, with MPs clashing over the issue in the first Coalition party room meeting of the year. Continue reading |
Bangarla legal case: voting manipulation brought about “Yes” vote for Kimba nuclear waste dump ballot
Kimba radioactive waste debate hits court as Barngarla community says its concerns have been ‘ignored’
An Aboriginal corporation will launch a fresh legal battle over the Federal Government’s decision to store radioactive waste near Kimba, saying traditional owners’ views were “ignored”. Michelle Etheridge, Regional Reporter, The Advertiser, 4 Feb 2020,
An Aboriginal corporation says it is likely to launch a new legal challenge over the Federal Government’s decision to use farming property Napandee, near Kimba, to store radioactive waste.
It comes as the Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation is already set to return to the Federal Court on February 21.
The organisation, which represents native title holders, is appealing Justice Richard White’s decision in July to dismiss its claim against Kimba Council.
It had argued the council discriminated against native title holders when it decided to exclude those who did not live in the area from a community ballot to gauge support for the radioactive waste storage site.
The Barngarla community conducted its own postal ballot, with all of the 83 traditional landowners who responded rejecting the proposal. It followed the Kimba vote – conducted on the Government’s behalf – finding 62 per cent of respondents were in favour of the facility, which would come with a $31 million community funding package.
In a statement, the Barngarla corporation this week said it would “likely” launch new judicial review proceedings after the results of its ballot were “ignored”.
The Federal Government has maintained that a nuclear waste site must have “broad community support”.
“The only reason why there was a yes vote was because Barngarla were excluded, and this has then been used as the justification to allow the facility to be built, entirely ignoring Barngarla’s views,” the Barngarla statement said. “The Barngarla stand with most of the farming industry against this proposal. However, the more important issue now is the fact that voting manipulation has allowed for the decision to occur.”………https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/sa-business-journal/kimba-radioactive-waste-debate-hits-court-as-barngarla-community-says-its-concerns-have-been-ignored/news-story/255f1f0cbbc8ccc33aabae7dad03089a
ANSTO Senior Nuclear Officer Admits Admits ANSTO reclassifies High Level Wastes as Intermediate Level.
Note the wastes in question – vitrified – at the top of the list above
Kim Mavromatis No Nuclear Waste Dump Anywhere in South Australia 
shared a link. ANSTO Senior Nuclear Officer Admits Admits – France classifies waste from reprocessed Spent Nuclear Fuel as High Level Nuclear Waste – and when the waste gets shipped back to Aust it is reclassified as Intermediate.
Australians will cringe, when our govt gives its climate-denialist policy in Glascow
The Coalition’s climate policy is an international embarrassment https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/the-coalitions-climate-policy-is-an-international-embarrassment,13559
AT A RECENT Press Club lunch, Prime Minister Scott Morrison dug deep to defend the Coalition’s response to the national and global climate emergency by defending a policy which is essentially that of former Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s in 2013. Continue reading
Flooding events highlight the danger to proposed uranium mining sites Yeelirrie and Wiluna
K-A Garlick at Nuclear Free WA |
6 Feb 20, In an area where two uranium mines are proposed ~ Yeelirrie and Wiluna, there have been massive rain influx, leading to widespread floods across the Goldfields country.
Toro Energy Wiluna uranium project expands over two lake systems and over 100 kms. The project includes four uranium deposits – Lake Way, Centipede, Millipede and Lake Maitland.
The project proposal includes a high risk inappropriate site to attempt disposal of up to 50 million tonnes of radioactive tailings that would be stored in mined out pits on the edge of Lake Way in a floodplain and in the drainage channel of a creek.
The company’s studies of hydrogeology, hydrology and geochemistry were all heavily criticised in Peer Reviews submitted as part of the environmental assessment. With these floods today, the planned emplacement of 50 million tonnes of long-lived radioactive mine waste in a floodplain poses a very serious risk to the environment and public health.
Arctic permafrost thaw plays greater role in climate change than previously estimated
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UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER ABRUPT THAWING OF PERMAFROST WILL DOUBLE PREVIOUS ESTIMATES OF POTENTIAL CARBON EMISSIONS FROM PERMAFROST THAW IN THE ARCTIC, AND IS ALREADY RAPIDLY CHANGING THE LANDSCAPE AND ECOLOGY OF THE CIRCUMPOLAR NORTH, A NEW CU BOULDER-LED STUDY FINDS. Continue reading |
In 2020 Adelaide City Council to become South Australia’s first carbon neutral local government
Renewable energy to fully power city council, INDAILY , Stephanie Richards, 5 Feb 20,
Adelaide City Council says it will become South Australia’s first carbon neutral local government by the end of this year following the signing of a “landmark” renewable power purchase agreement.
Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor this morning announced the council had entered into an agreement with Melbourne-based energy retailer Flow Power to source all its electricity from solar and wind power.
The contract means all council-owned infrastructure and buildings – including street lights, libraries, community centres and Town Hall – will be powered by 100 per cent renewable energy from July.
The switch is expected to slash the council’s current carbon emissions – more than half of which are tied to electricity use – by 11,000 tonnes each year.
Verschoor told reporters this morning the agreement would result in a 20 per cent reduction to the council’s electricity costs, however she said she was “not allowed to talk dollars” due to commercial confidentiality.
She said the agreement would mean the council would become carbon neutral-certified by the end of this year, joining the already-certified Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne city councils.
Carbon neutrality, or having a net-zero carbon footprint, is achieved when the amount of greenhouse gas emissions emitted into the atmosphere is balanced by the amount being removed.
“This partnership will not only save our ratepayers money, it helps cement Adelaide’s international clean and green reputation,” Verschoor said…….. https://indaily.com.au/news/local/2020/02/05/renewable-energy-to-fully-power-city-council/
#ScottyFromMarketing “won’t be bullied” by climate science
Mr Morrison’s comments echoed those of his deputy prime minister during the height of the bushfire crisis.
In November, Mr McCormack attacked those who were linking climate change to the severity of the bushfires, labelling them “inner-city raving lunatics”
 Scott Morrison says he won’t be ‘bullied’ on climate by inner city voters, https://www.sbs.com.au/news/scott-morrison-says-he-won-t-be-bullied-on-climate-by-inner-city-voters Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he “won’t be bullied” into changing his government’s position on climate change as National MPs renew demands for more investment in coal.
5 Feb 20, BY TOM STAYNER
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has declared he won’t be “bullied” by inner-city voters as he downplayed concerns of a fresh climate war inside the Coalition. Continue reading
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Adani about to receive criminal conviction over false documents
Adani agrees to plead guilty to giving ‘false or misleading documents to an administering authority’, may be fined up to $3m
Key points:
- The company’s Australian arm, Adani Mining Pty Ltd, is listed for sentencing in the Brisbane Magistrates Court
- It belatedly declared clearing land on its mine site after environmentalists complained to the government
- The company says it has been prosecuted for an “an administrative error”
Adani has agreed to plead guilty to giving “false or misleading documents to an administering authority”, according to the court file and sources familiar with the case.
The company’s Australian arm, Adani Mining Pty Ltd, is listed for sentencing today in the Brisbane Magistrates Court.
It faces a fine of up to $3 million if convicted under the Environmental Protection Act.
According to notes in the court file made by Magistrate Stephen Courtney and seen by the ABC, the matter is “to be [a] plea of guilty”.
In court papers, the Department of Environment and Science (DES) says Adani filed its annual return in March 2018 with a graph declaring it cleared no land on the Carmichael mine site, north-west of Clermont, in 2017-18.
The DES alleged it became aware of the offence six months later. It alleged Adani “knew or ought reasonably to have known [the document] was false or misleading” because it had planned and carried out land clearing before and during the reporting period.
On September 6, 2018, conservation group Coast and Country raised land clearing allegations with the State Government, citing satellite imagery.
State and federal environment department officials then inspected the site within days……..https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-06/adani-to-plead-guilty-court-qld/11932640
Greens leader Adam Bandt vows to hold torch to Coalition on climate
 Greens leader Adam Bandt vows to hold torch to Coalition on climate, The New Daily, 3 Feb 20, Adam Bandt has been elected unopposed as Greens leader following the surprise resignation of Richard Di Natale
The only Greens member in the lower house, Mr Bandt was formally endorsed by his federal party room colleagues in Canberra on Tuesday morning. He has promised to pursue a “Green New Deal” focused on including dental treatment in Medicare, making education free by abolishing public school fees, and replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy. Mr Bandt aims to win the balance of power in the upper and lower houses of federal parliament at the next election. In the meantime, he intends to pressure the Morrison government to take stronger action on climate change. Mr Bandt labelled the Coalition government “criminal” for abolishing the carbon price under Tony Abbott and argued climate inaction was fanning the ongoing bushfire crisis. He also claimed big businesses were “killing people” by contributing to a “climate catastrophe”. Mr Bandt said the Greens would provide “real opposition” and hold the government to account He said the major parties were “singing from the same song sheet” on coal mining. “I’m not one of those people who says that Labor and the Liberals are the same,” he said, shortly after his election to the leadership. “But when it comes to coal, Labor is now using exactly the same terminology as the Liberals.” Queensland senator Larissa Waters will remain co-deputy of the party and will share the role with Tasmanian senator Nick McKim. Senator Waters will also be the Greens leader in the Senate……https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/politics/australian-politics/2020/02/04/adam-bandt-greens-leader/ |
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City of Adelaide seals deal to go 100% renewable, starting July — RenewEconomy
Adelaide strikes energy offtake deal with Flow Power to source 100% renewables – from 1 July 2020, “if it’s run by the City of Adelaide, it’s being powered by renewable electricity.” The post City of Adelaide seals deal to go 100% renewable, starting July appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via City of Adelaide seals deal to go 100% renewable, starting July — RenewEconomy
Let’s talk about gas: It’s expensive, dirty and struggling to compete with batteries — RenewEconomy
Gas generation is an expensive proposition on almost all grounds. And the world can’t afford its emissions either. The post Let’s talk about gas: It’s expensive, dirty and struggling to compete with batteries appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via Let’s talk about gas: It’s expensive, dirty and struggling to compete with batteries — RenewEconomy
February 5 Energy News — geoharvey
Opinion: ¶ “From Billie Eilish To Maroon 5, Green Touring Is Becoming The New Normal” • Green touring has been around for decades, with musicians including Neil Young and Bonnie Raitt among the movement’s pioneers. But as effects of climate change continue to intensify, the music industry is now making this approach mainstream. [CNN] ¶ […]
South Australia expects to cut emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 — RenewEconomy
South Australia Liberal government aims to cut emissions by more than 50 per cent by 2030, double the federal Coalition government’s target. The post South Australia expects to cut emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 appeared first on RenewEconomy.
via South Australia expects to cut emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 — RenewEconomy
1.This month.
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 