Lithium for renewable energy technologies – a Covid recovery way for Australia
How Australia’s ‘white gold’ could power the global electric vehicle revolution
Miners and environmentalists have reached an uneasy truce over lithium – both agree Australia should be mining more of this key ingredient in renewable energy batteries, by Max Opray
”……….On the one side, environmentalists are engaging with a resources sector they distrust to nudge it towards lithium, an element which is used in batteries for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage systems due to its remarkably high energy density.
On the other, miners like Brown are suppressing scepticism of green causes to carve out a future in a world aiming to divest itself of fossil fuels.
Brown joined Altura Mining in 2009, and set about helping the small coal miner diversify into other resources as a way of hedging against headwinds facing the fossil fuel.
Lithium, hyped as the “white gold” of the 21st century, seemed a promising investment. But securing investors for Altura’s exploration tenements in the remote ochre deserts of the Pilbara proved challenging……..
Despite the urgency of the climate crisis, the attachment to coal runs deep for Australians like Brown, and leaving it behind wasn’t easy. ……..
The ‘white gold’ rush
Australia leads the world in lithium production and possesses an estimated 6.3m tons of lithium reserves.
The metal is fast becoming a geopolitical bargaining chip, as China, the US and other major powers jostle to secure access to an element expected to surge in demand as the global economy rapidly ramps up production of electric vehicles and renewable energy storage systems, not to mention lithium-ion mobile phone batteries.
The most common form of extraction in Australia is by crushing a hard rock called spodumene, and from that extracting lithium concentrate using a separation method that Brown says is similar to some coal processing systems.
Harry Fisher, senior consultant at business intelligence company CRU Group, believes the economic recovery from Covid-19 will be the moment the long-promised lithium rush finally gets underway.
“Governments continue to promote the merits of a ‘green recovery’, with EV subsidies being increased in Germany, France, UK and many others,” he says. “Policy is likely to continue to support demand.”
Australia has no formal green recovery plan, but Fisher suggests that might not matter if the rest of the world does.
Fisher forecasts that demand will grow to 830 kilotonnes by 2025, up from around 330 kilotonnes this year. In particular demand, Fisher says, is the spodumene that Australia specialises in…….
Altura will be a key supplier to Shanshan’s new lithium chemical plant in China, which plans to produce 25,000 tonnes per annum.
The deal came, says Brown, thanks to China’s two-year extension of state subsidies and tax breaks for electric vehicles until the end of 2022.
The subsidies were also cited by Pilbara Minerals, the operator of a neighbouring Pilgangoora lithium mine, as a reason for optimism.
Australia’s major competition in the global market is the “lithium triangle” of Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, which extracts the metal out of the region’s salt lakes……..
Elsa Dominish, research principal at the Institute for Sustainable Futures, said the environmental impact of lithium mining is similar to other forms of hard rock mining.
She says Australia has an opportunity to establish the world’s best practice for lithium mining by monitoring water and energy use, management of waste, and impact on sacred cultural sites.
Dominish emphasises that lithium’s footprint pales in comparison to the impact of coal. “In addition to emissions … coal mining is one of the most damaging forms of mining considering health and environmental impacts, particularly respiratory impacts from exposure to coal dust,” she says…….
When Adam Bandt assumed the Greens leadership in February, he immediately went to work spruiking a Green New Deal.
Bandt had even planned to visit the Greenbushes Lithium Mine in south-west WA, the largest hard rock lithium operation in the world, to sell the message of transitioning coal miners into jobs in new energy metals. The trip was called off due to the Covid-19 crisis.
Miners have long moved to where the resources are, and Queensland and New South Wales coal workers might need to relocate to the Pilbara for new lithium mining gigs. In the case of Greenbushes however, there is a coal mining community right on its doorstep.
Unions and the Western Australian government are pushing for a planned Greenbushes expansion to employ coal workers from the nearby Collie mine and power plant, in a bid to secure a future for them as the local coal industry withers away.
Industry analysts, lithium miners, and green groups also agree on something else: simply digging the lithium out of the ground and exporting it with minimal processing is a wasted opportunity.
According to the Million Jobs Plan report, produced by climate thinktank Beyond Zero Emissions, Australia earns only 0.5% of the value of its exported lithium ore, with the remainder going to overseas companies that further refine it and manufacture lithium-ion batteries.
South Australia, home to Tesla’s Big Battery, is developing battery manufacturing capacity, and BZE argues Western Australia could invest in lithium refinement, battery component manufacture, and recycling, to contribute towards 100,000 new jobs nationally by 2025. The state is already host to several processing facility projects.
Heidi Lee, project lead for the Million Jobs Plan, says the Covid-19 shutdown is a generational opportunity for the Australian government to set signals to unlock investment, such as a new renewable energy target………..
The coronavirus pandemic has devastated the economy but also presented a unique opportunity: to invest in climate action that creates jobs and stimulates investment, before it’s too late. The Green Recovery features talk to people on the frontline of Australia’s potential green recovery. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/10/how-australias-white-gold-could-power-the-global-electric-vehicle-revolution
Australia’s environmental scientists are being gagged
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Research reveals shocking detail on how Australia’s environmental scientists are being silenced The Conversation Don Driscoll -Professor in Terrestrial Ecology, Deakin University, Bob Pressey, Professor and Program Leader, Conservation Planning, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Euan Ritchie, Associate Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Noel D Preece, Adjunct Asssociate Professor, James Cook University, September 9, 2020 Ecologists and conservation experts in government, industry and universities are routinely constrained in communicating scientific evidence on threatened species, mining, logging and other threats to the environment, our new research has found.
Our study, just published, shows how important scientific information about environmental threats often does not reach the public or decision-makers, including government ministers. In some cases, scientists self-censor information for fear of damaging their careers, losing funding or being misrepresented in the media. In others, senior managers or ministers’ officers prevented researchers from speaking truthfully on scientific matters. This information blackout, termed “science suppression”, can hide environmentally damaging practices and policies from public scrutiny. The practice is detrimental to both nature and democracy.
Code of silenceOur online survey ran from October 25, 2018, to February 11, 2019. Through advertising and other means, we targeted Australian ecologists, conservation scientists, conservation policy makers and environmental consultants. This included academics, government employees and scientists working for industry such as consultants and non-government organisations. Some 220 people responded to the survey, comprising:
In a series of multiple-choice and open-ended questions, we asked respondents about the prevalence and consequences of suppressing science communication.
About half (52%) of government respondents, 38% from industry and 9% from universities had been prohibited from communicating scientific information. Communications via traditional (40%) and social (25%) media were most commonly prohibited across all workplaces. There were also instances of internal communications (15%), conference presentations (11%) and journal papers (5%) being prohibited.
Ministers are not receiving full information’Some 75% of respondents reported having refrained from making a contribution to public discussion when given the opportunity – most commonly in traditional media or social media. A small number of respondents self-censored conference presentations (9%) and peer-reviewed papers (7%). Factors constraining commentary from government respondents included senior management (82%), workplace policy (72%), a minister’s office (63%) and middle management (62%). Fear of barriers to advancement (49%) and concern about media misrepresentation (49%) also discouraged public communication by government respondents. Almost 60% of government respondents and 36% of industry respondents reported unduly modified internal communications.
One government respondent said:
University respondents, more than other workplaces, avoided public commentary out of fear of how they would be represented by the media (76%), fear of being drawn beyond their expertise (73%), stress (55%), fear that funding might be affected (53%) and uncertainty about their area of expertise (52%). One university respondent said: I proposed an article in The Conversation about the impacts of mining […] The uni I worked at didn’t like the idea as they received funding from (the mining company)……….
The system is brokenOf those respondents who had communicated information publicly, 42% had been harassed or criticised for doing so. Of those, 83% believed the harassers were motivated by political or economic interests………… https://theconversation.com/research-reveals-shocking-detail-on-how-australias-environmental-scientists-are-being-silenced-140026 |
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Moorabool wind farm community fund distributes $125,000 to the local community — RenewEconomy
Goldwind Australia today announced the inaugural Moorabool North Community Fund grant distribution of $125,000 to 11 local community groups. The post Moorabool wind farm community fund distributes $125,000 to the local community appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Moorabool wind farm community fund distributes $125,000 to the local community — RenewEconomy
Queensland seeks wind, solar and storage proposals to fill renewable energy zones — RenewEconomy
Queensland calls for registrations of interest in new renewable generation and storage projects in first formal step towards unlocking new renewable energy zones. The post Queensland seeks wind, solar and storage proposals to fill renewable energy zones appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Queensland seeks wind, solar and storage proposals to fill renewable energy zones — RenewEconomy
September 9 Energy News — geoharvey
Science and Technology: ¶ “Trickle Of Green Hydrogen Turns Into Flood Of Good News For Renewables” • Wind and solar developers are eyeballing green hydrogen as a pathway for future growth, and it looks like they won’t have to depend on the transportation sector for sole support. Hydrogen has many other uses, aside from being […]
September 9 Energy News — geoharvey
Victoria’s biggest solar farm starts sending power to grid after long delays — RenewEconomy
The 256MW Kiamal solar farm – the biggest solar project in Victoria, and one of the most heavily delayed in the country – finally sending power to the grid. The post Victoria’s biggest solar farm starts sending power to grid after long delays appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Victoria’s biggest solar farm starts sending power to grid after long delays — RenewEconomy
Latrobe Valley solar and battery project approved by Victoria planning minister — RenewEconomy
A 75MW solar farm and big battery planned for near Toongabbie in Victoria will go ahead after being waved through the approvals process by the state government. The post Latrobe Valley solar and battery project approved by Victoria planning minister appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Latrobe Valley solar and battery project approved by Victoria planning minister — RenewEconomy
Australia’s gas plans could consume one quarter of world’s shrinking carbon budget — RenewEconomy
New report suggests developing Australia’s gas reserves could produce three times the annual carbon emissions of the entire world. The post Australia’s gas plans could consume one quarter of world’s shrinking carbon budget appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Australia’s gas plans could consume one quarter of world’s shrinking carbon budget — RenewEconomy
Australian government helps two journalists escape Chinese oppression, but no help for Julian Assange to escape American oppression
DOUBLE STANDARDS! What a glaring example of kowtowing to USA!
Julian Assange is not getting fair treatment at the Old Bailey (London) hearing about whether or not he should be extradited to the USA, to face 175 years of gaol, on “espionage” charges. Independent journalists, people from Amnesty, or anyone else likely to give Assange’s side of the story, in reporting this bizarre hearing, is excluded from the courtroom. That’s despite the OLd Bailey’s tradition of an open courtroom.
As far as I can ascertain, they’re now charging Julian with publicising the names of USA agents. But in fact, Assange gave the documents to newspapers, I think it was the Guardian and the New York Times, with an express request to NOT publish those names. And the papers went ahead and published them. Julian didn’t. I also understand that, even then no harm came to any of those agents.
It’s all a trumped up thing. Assange revealed evidence of USA military atrocities. So, like Wilfred Burchett, decades ago, he must be punished by almighty America, and Australia must dutifully follow suit.
NSW push for uranium driven by ideologues happy with fossil fuels
NSW push for uranium driven by ideologues happy with fossil fuels, https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/nsw-push-uranium-driven-ideologues-happy-fossil-fuels Paul Gregoire, September 8, 2020,
When New South Wales MLC Mark Latham tabled a bill in mid-2019 that sought to lift the state’s ban on uranium mining and nuclear facilities, no-one paid too much attention. After all, the One Nation MP makes a habit of trying to grab attention and this throwback to the 1980s seemed more of the same.
The bill was sent to a parliamentary review, chaired by Liberal nuclear zealot Taylor Martin. When its March report recommended backing Latham, NSW deputy premier John Barilaro quickly announced the Nationals would support the proposal.
As debate over the bill looked set to take place late last month, it seemed the Coalition would vote with One Nation. However, on August 24, cabinet announced it would consider its own legislation, rather than throw its weight behind Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party.
While this chain of events seems to be rather happenstance, something more coordinated is at play.
As anti-nuclear activists told Green Left, the move towards mining uranium is part of a push by the Minerals Council of Australia, which reaches all the way to the PM’s office. It is no accident that nuclear energy has resurfaced in the public debate as a more widespread public understanding about the necessary transition to renewables takes place.
No economic benefits
Uranium Free NSW spokesperson Natalie Wasley said the ban on uranium mining has been in place since the late 1980s and that lifting it would not bring in much profit or jobs.
“The price of uranium has been depressed since the Fukushima disaster [in Japan], and it’s not likely to recover any time soon,” Wasley said. “We’ve seen the CEO of Cameco — the largest uranium mining company in the world — say that it doesn’t make sense to invest in primary supply.”
Last November, Cameco chief executive Tim Gitzel said that “even the lowest-cost producers are deciding to preserve long-term value by leaving uranium in the ground”. The Canadian company owns uranium deposits in Western Australia, which are much more significant than those in NSW.
“There are no known economic deposits of uranium in NSW,” Friends of the Earth national nuclear campaigner Dr Jim Green said. “The nuclear push in NSW is driven by far-right wing-nuts who don’t believe in climate change and are quite happy with coal.”
Green was at pains to point out that uranium as an energy source is suffering a global downturn that could mark its end. He said that the trade in uranium in South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia is negligible.
Prior to the NSW Coalition cabinet’s meeting in late August, NSW energy minister Matt Kean had indicated that mining uranium is economically unviable. However, since then he’s since gone silent on the matter and not responded to Green Left’s request for comment.
Desecrating First Nations
“The people who will be first impacted by uranium extraction in NSW — as has happened across the world — will be First Nations people,” NSW Greens MLC David Shoebridge made clear. “Their land will be poisoned. It will be their water that gets poisoned by the radioactive waste.”
Wasley pointed out that areas around Dubbo, the New England region and Broken Hill were raised as potential areas for uranium mining in 2012. At that time, Aboriginal communities voiced strong opposition.
NSW Aboriginal Land Council member Rod Towney told the ABC last month that opening up western NSW for uranium extraction would be a disaster. The Wiradjuri elder said: “We don’t like uranium and what it does”. He added that current mining projects for other resources were also not of benefit to his people.
There is also the significant issue of how to safely dispose of nuclear waste. Wasley said that all nuclear facilities around the world have led to some contamination. She pointed to Jabiru Ranger mine’s ongoing pollution problem in the middle of Kakadu National Park.
“We’ve seen massive contamination spikes in creeks downstream,” Wasley said. “This is in the middle of a World Heritage area, where there are many more layers of scrutiny built into that mining operation than there would be in a remote NSW location.”
Broader agenda
According to Australian Conservation Foundation’s nuclear free campaigner Dave Sweeney, the lack of any economic sense behind investing in either uranium mining or nuclear energy points to this push being an ideological move by conservative MPs on behalf of a larger player.
“There is a very clear campaign from the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) to remove any current political policy ban, legislative restrictions or prohibitions on uranium and nuclear,” Sweeney said.
The seasoned anti-nuclear activist outlined that the MCA is behind an ongoing Victorian parliamentary inquiry into lifting similar moratoriums on uranium and nuclear energy there. He asserts that the industry body is behind the NSW inquiry into Latham’s bill. “They did the same thing at the federal level, with a push by Minister Keith Pitt.”
The federal government established a parliamentary inquiry last year that ultimately recommended the development of, and investment in, nuclear energy.
Pitt was subsequently appointed federal resources minister in February and, while the nation was still reeling from the catastrophic Black Summer bushfires, the new minister suggested the country needed more investment in coal, gas and uranium to “lift” standards of living.
Knocking out renewables
Renowned United States commentator Professor Noam Chomsky has warned that humanity is facing two great existential threats: uranium-fuelled nuclear war and fossil fuel-driven climate change.
Shoebridge, who is the energy spokesperson for the NSW Greens, pointed out that even if NSW uranium is exported under the proviso that it cannot be used in weaponry, it nevertheless frees up others to provide the metal to build toxic arms.
Sweeney maintains that the ultimate purpose of the conservatives’ push for the economically unviable outdated energy source is ideological: it aims to shift the debate away from the urgent need for a just transition to renewables to an argument over fossil fuels versus uranium.
“It’s a way to further increase and facilitate uncertainty, confusion and delay in developing a genuine and credible energy policy at state and national levels to do what we need to do,” the seasoned nuclear-free campaigner said.
Sweeney said that for those who have an interest in maintaining coal or advancing gas, the “nuclear argument is handy”, as it shifts the debate from the increasingly obvious option of renewables, which are “cheaper, more plentiful, more popular and quicker to deploy”.
“This whole nuclear debate is a dangerous distraction from where we need to be which is ending our reliance on fossil fuels and embracing and supercharging renewables,” Sweeney concluded.
INJUSTICE at work? The extradition trial of Julian Assange
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UK: Assange extradition hearing will be a key test for UK and US justice https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/09/uk-assange-extradition-hearing-will-be-a-key-test-for-uk-and-us-justice/?fbclid=IwAR2HY0lPIxV4m0h3u7ikxEmtaJ0m5YxUITtTgqmVViX03L6qsd40vHEwq2Y 4 September 2020 US authorities must drop all charges against Julian Assange relating to his publishing activities, and UK authorities must reject the related US extradition request, said Amnesty International ahead of Julian Assange’s extradition hearing which resumes on Monday and is expected to last several weeks. The hearing will decide on the Trump administration’s request for Julian Assange’s extradition to the US, where he faces a sentence of up to 175 years for publishing materials that document possible war crimes committed by the US military. “This hearing is the latest worrying salvo in a full-scale assault on the right to freedom of expression. If Julian Assange is prosecuted it could have a chilling effect on media freedom, leading publishers and journalists to self-censor in fear of retaliation,” said Amnesty International’s Europe Director, Nils Muižnieks. “If Julian Assange is extradited it will have far reaching human rights implications, setting a chilling precedent for the protection of those who publish classified information in the public interest.” The US extradition request is based on charges that stem directly from the publication of classified documents as part of Assange’s journalistic work with Wikileaks. Publishing such information is a cornerstone of media freedom and the public’s right to access public interest information, and must be protected rather than criminalized. In the US, Julian Assange could face trial on 18 charges, 17 of them under the Espionage Act; and one under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. He would also face a real risk of serious human rights violations including detention conditions that could amount to torture or other ill-treatment, including prolonged solitary confinement. Julian Assange is the first publisher to face charges under the Espionage Act. The fact that Assange was the target of a negative public campaign by US officials at the highest levels undermines his right to be presumed innocent and puts him at risk of an unfair trial. “The UK must abide by its obligations under international human rights law, which forbid the transfer of individuals to another country where they would face serious human rights violations,” said Nils Muižnieks. The case will begin at the Old Bailey, London, on the morning (9.30am UK time) of 7 September. Stefan Simanowitz will be outside the court with an Amnesty International spokesperson. Follow @StefSimanowitz for updates and analysis Amnesty will have trial observers monitoring remotely the entire series of hearings. During the first week, Sebastian Elgueta (@sebelgueta), a UK based barrister, will be monitoring. Background: Amnesty International also has concerns with regard to Julian Assange’s physical and mental well-being, particularly with the spread of COVID-19. Conditions in UK prisons and detention centres are substandard. It is imperative that health and safety protocols are put in place to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection, while ensuring that prisoners’ and detainees’ rights are protected. Bail or release should be considered for any detainee or prisoner who has serious underlying health conditions and is particularly at risk of infection. See Amnesty International’s statement on prison conditions for Assange here |
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Australia’s National Radioactive Waste Management Taskforce plays deceptively with statistics
Kazzi Jai Fight to stop nuclear waste dump in the Flinders Ranges
There are so many things which are really wrong with this flawed proposal….
One thing which keeps rearing its ugly head is the “selective” way that DIIS and its promoters use percentages to support their arguments. Take this extract from Sam Chard in a newspaper called “Echo Daily” from last month….
“The co-location of low and intermediate level waste at the facility has been the basis of the facility proposal since 2015 and the Kimba community was well informed about the proposal, in advance of their local council ballot.
Sixty-two per cent of respondents from the Kimba community supported the proposal moving ahead – 90.41 per cent of eligible locals participated in the ballot.
39.71 per cent of the Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation voted against the proposal in their own ballot – 58.38 per cent did not respond.”
Apart from the fact that THIS proposal is the EXACT SAME PROPOSAL put forward FORTY YEARS AGO….and the “assumption” that the Kimba community was well informed (how EXACTLY did they determine the level of being “informed”?)…what really irks me most is the use of PERCENTAGES!
And not only that – BUT THE SELECTIVE USE OF NUMBERS IN WORDS AND FIGURES! Unless you are being a Secret Squirrel – you need to be CONSISTENT with YOUR NOMENCLATURE!
It needs to read….
” 61.58% of respondents from the Kimba community supported the proposal moving ahead – 90.41% of eligible locals participated in the ballot.
39.71% of the Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation voted against the proposal in their own ballot – 58.38% did not respond – BUT 0% VOTED FOR THE DUMP!”
Or even better yet – “100% of the respondents of the Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation voted against the proposal in their own ballot”….
And include….“In fact, there was no BROAD COMMUNITY CONSENT achieved in the Kimba community at all, as the MINIMUM of 2/3RDS or OVER 66.67% WAS NOT ACHIEVED IN THE COMMUNITY BALLOT!”
Scott Morrison will be praying for a Trump win: they see eye-to-eye on doing nothing about climate change
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Scott Morrison is yearning for a Donald Trump victory The PM will be praying for a Republican win in the US to back up his inaction on climate and the Paris Agreement. The Age, Kevin Rudd 8 Sept 20, A year out from Barack Obama’s election in 2008, John Howard made a stunning admission that he thought Americans should be praying for a Republican victory. Ideologically this was unremarkable. But the fact Howard said so publicly was because he knew just how uncomfortable an Obama victory would be for him given his refusal to withdraw our troops from Iraq.Fast forward more than a decade, and Scott Morrison – even in the era of Donald Trump – will also be yearning desperately for a Republican victory come November. But this time it is the conservative recalcitrance on a very different issue that risks Australia being isolated on the world stage: climate change.
And as the next summer approaches, Australians will be reminded afresh of how climate change, and its impact on our country and economy, has not gone away. Former vice-president Joe Biden has put at the centre of his campaign a historic plan to fight climate change both at home and abroad. On his first day in office, he has promised to return the US to the Paris Agreement. And he recently unveiled an unprecedented $2 trillion green investment plan, including the complete decarbonisation of the domestic electricity system by 2035. By contrast, Morrison remains hell-bent on Australia doing its best to disrupt global momentum to tackle the climate crisis and burying our head in the sand when it comes to embracing the new economic opportunities that come with effective climate change action. As a result, if Biden is elected this November, we will be on track for a collision course with our American ally in a number of areas. First, Morrison remains recklessly determined on being able to carry over so-called “credits” from the overachievement of our 2020 Kyoto target to help it meet its already lacklustre 2030 target under the new Paris regime. No other government in the world is digging their heels in like this. None. It is nothing more than an accounting trick to allow Australia to do less. Perhaps the greatest irony is that this “overachievement” was also in large part because of the mitigation actions of our government. That aside, these carbon credits also do nothing for the atmosphere. At worst, using them beyond 2020 could be considered illegal and only opens the back door for other countries to also do less by following Morrison’s lead.
This will come to a head at the next UN climate talks in Glasgow next year. While Australia has thus far been able to dig in against objections by most of the rest of the world, a Biden victory would only strengthen the hand of the UK hosts to simply ride over the top of any further Australian intransigence. Morrison would be foolhardy to believe that Boris Johnson’s government will burn its political capital at home and abroad to defend the indefensible Australian position. Second, unlike 114 countries around the world, Morrison remains hell-bent on ignoring the central promise of Paris: that all governments increase their 2030 targets by the time they get to Glasgow. That’s because even if all those commitments were fully implemented, it would only give the planet one-third of what is necessary to keep average temperature increases within 1.5 degrees by 2100, as the Paris Agreement requires. This is why governments agreed to increase their ambition every five years as technologies improved, costs lowered and political momentum built……… Under Trump, Morrison has been able to get one giant leave pass for doing nothing on climate. But under Biden, he’ll be seen as nothing more than the climate change free-loader that he is. As he will by the rest of the world. And our economy will be punished as a result. https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/scott-morrison-is-yearning-for-a-donald-trump-victory-20200906-p55sxe.html |
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Endless summers, endless wildfires,
Endless summers, endless wildfires, South Wind 8 September 2020,
If leaders can’t get their heads around the wildfire-climate link, we had better prepare for many more nasty summers “…………. Now, everything is merged into one, and greatly enlarged. In my youth the places I recall having summer fires were Australia, the western United States, and odd outbreaks in Latin America, Africa and Mediterranean countries. Now we hear of fires erupting in other northern lands, as far north as the shores of the Arctic Ocean.
Looking back at this year so far we could be forgiven for thinking the whole world is ablaze. Almost as soon as wildfires are extinguished on one continent they seem to be breaking out afresh on another one.
2020 began with Australia’s record-breaking Black Summer fires destroying millions of hectares of forest and capturing global attention. Within a couple of months fires had broken out in Ukraine, threatening the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear plant.
A month later, smouldering peat that had been primed by years of drying and warming began to spark vegetation fires in Siberia that would eventually number over 600, emitting more carbon in two months than any preceding year and producing a smoke cloud spanning an area bigger than Europe.
The Siberian fires were still burning in mid-August when forests in California erupted into flames, more than a month earlier than the start of a “normal” season in that part of the world and less than two years after its previous record-breaking year.
At the end of a relatively quiet Californian fire season, in 2019-20 Australia got the benefit of that state’s large water-bombing aircraft, one of which crashed in the Australian Alps killing its US crew. Now, with California suffering similar devastation, we are battling to respond to its desperate appeal for reciprocal help.
Add to all those the perennial fires accompanying rainforest clearing in Southeast Asia and Brazil. The Amazon Basin situation is dire. August-September is the land-clearers’ peak burning period, and this year, with legal constraints all but destroyed under president Jair Bolsonaro, the area burnt and smoke generated looks like being even worse than what triggered last year’s global alarm.
Last week saw release of the interim report of the inquiry into Australia’s natural disaster management, led by former air force chief Mark Binskin, which was set up by the Morrison government after the Black Summer fires.
As the Black Summer fires showed, the report said, “bushfire behaviour has become more extreme and less predictable. Catastrophic fire conditions may become more common, rendering traditional bushfire prediction models and firefighting techniques less effective.”
No close observer of climate change would be surprised by the coronavirus pandemic’s global progress and the response to it of many political and vested interests. Those interests might wish it were otherwise, but this contagion operates without any reference to the things they hold dear.
Climate change, too, doesn’t recognise human boundaries. We set it off, and by failing to curb carbon emissions, we ensured its impact would continue to grow. Yet Australian governments, ignoring dire warnings from disaster experts, continue to behave as if it doesn’t exist.
This summer may see something of a reprieve. Weather authorities anticipate a wettish spring for eastern Australia. A moist understory is less likely to kindle fire from dry lightning, which has plagued recent fire management in both hemispheres.
But hoping for good weather doesn’t replace what the experts keep saying: a fire plan that doesn’t acknowledge the overwhelming influence of climate change is no plan at all. If partisan politics and vested interests prevent us acting on this, we’d better get ready for many more summers from hell. http://southwind.com.au/2020/09/08/endless-summers-endless-wildfires/
Joe Biden if president will push allies like Australia to do more on climate, adviser says
Joe Biden if president will push allies like Australia to do more on climate, adviser says
Jake Sullivan says the former vice-president, if elected, won’t ‘pull any punches’ on what is a global problem. Guardian Daniel Hurst @danielhurstbne, Mon 7 Sep 2020
Joe Biden will not pull any punches with allies including Australia in seeking to build international momentum for stronger action on the climate crisis, an adviser to the US presidential candidate has said.
If elected in November, Biden will hold heavy emitters such as China accountable for doing more “but he’s also going to push our friends to do more as well”, according to Jake Sullivan, who was the national security adviser to Biden when he was vice-president and is now in the candidate’s inner circle……..
While Australia’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, is likely to welcome the pledge of US coordination with allies on regional security issues, there may be unease in government ranks about the potential for tough conversations about Australia’s climate policies.
The Coalition government has resisted calls to embrace a target of net-zero emissions by 2050 and it proposes to use Kyoto carryover credits to meet Australia’s 2030 emission reductions pledge. Some Coalition backbenchers still openly dispute climate science.
Sullivan said climate change would be a big priority for Biden, both in domestic policy – with climate and clean energy issues placed at the heart of his economic recovery visions – and in foreign policy, where he would do more than just reverse Donald Trump’s decision to abandon the Paris agreement.
He has said right out of the gate, we’re not just rejoining Paris – we are going to rally the nations of the world to get everyone to up their game, to elevate their ambition, to do more,” Sullivan told the Lowy Institute. ………. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/07/joe-biden-if-president-will-push-allies-like-australia-to-do-more-on-climate-adviser-says
1 This month
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about
AUKUS – https://aukuspublicinquiry.com/
PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
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