Call for Rupert Murdoch to support carbon price
Murdoch’s papers here, especially The Australian, seem to have gone off the rails. …It seems it’s OK for Rupert to support a price on carbon with his $6 billion wealth but not for Cate….
Rupert Murdoch should lead climate change fight | Crikey Dick Smith: Rupert, come back to Oz, we need you 30 May “…….. Today I am asking Rupert Murdoch to come back to Australia and give us some much needed leadership.
Whilst most of my wealthy colleagues deny that humans can be affecting climate, this is what Rupert says:
“Climate change poses clear catastrophic threats. We may not agree on the extent, but we certainly can’t afford the risk of inaction. We must transform the way we use energy of course — and not only because of climate change.” Continue reading
Future rainfall will determine if Ranger uranium mine has any future
“This is highly dependent on future rainfall,” the company [ERA – subsidiary of Rio Tinto] said.
Leading Australian uranium mine remains suspended, Mineweb.com -The heavy rains that have kept much of N. Australia waterlogged for months have also resulted in the suspension of one of theworld’s largest uranium mines – Ranger Ross Louthean , 14 Apr 2011 PERTH – Continue reading
Australia’s Climate Commission warns on need for urgent action
Climate jury finds dire need for action to slow warming, Sydney Morning Herald, Ben Cubby, May 23, 2011 THE evidence for global warming is now ”exceptionally strong and beyond doubt” and actions this decade will determine the impact of climate change for the rest of the century, according to the first big report produced by Australia’s Climate Commission. Continue reading
Rooftop protesters challeng Australia’s Minister for Coal, er – Climate Change
“Every dollar that goes back to the billionaire coal companies is a dollar that doesn’t go to ordinary Australians or into renewable energy projects.”
Protesters scale climate minister’s roof, Sydney Morning Herald, 
May 16, 2011 Environmental activists have scaled the roof of Climate Change Minister Greg Combet’s electorate office to protest the federal government’s carbon tax policy. Continue reading
How Australia’s carbon tax could be used for the public good
Let’s give the money into the greening of the economy, the jobs creation, which in Germany they had legislation like this because of the Greens a decade ago and they’ve created 350,000 jobs….put it into local business, put it into the renewable energy business – that includes in rural and regional Australia, create the jobs in this country and keep the profits in this country. And at the same time clean up our economy. Now – so it can compete with the rest of the world
Bob Brown joins Lateline, ABC, Ali Moore, 04/04/2011..……..the Greens’ position is that the compensation should go to householders, not to the polluters as Tony Abbott would do. And let me just make this important observation here: his policy would rip $10 billion out of the taxpayers’ money pool and give it across to the big polluters for a voluntary scheme. You know, it’s not going to work. Continue reading
Australia’s strange rejection of science, on Climate Change
Australia is missing out on a boom in the growth industries of the 21st century. Early adopters of new energy technology have prospered. …….. Globally, renewable energy has attracted more investment than fossil fuels three years in a row……..
Australia lags as the rest of the world acts, The Age, March 29, 2011 GEOGRAPHY has always isolated Australia. Rarely, though, is the effect so obvious as it is in the debate on climate change. Globally, the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions is widely accepted. Visitors to Australia are surprised to find that not only is the effect of emissions in dispute, but even scientific records of climate trends. Continue reading
Young Australians rally for action on Climate Change, oldies rally against it
When you know that you will be directly affected by decisions made by those in power, you think about things in a new light. It’s an entirely different world-view to those who are only a decade or two away from leaving this world behind.
Climate Change has become a generational battle, Anti-Carbon Tax Rallies | AYCC Rallies, Sydney Morning Herald, Ellen Sandell, national director of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, 11 March 11, The debate on pricing carbon has rapidly deteriorated in the past few weeks since Opposition Leader Tony Abbott predicted a “people’s revolt” over the issues. Now, it’s turning into a full-blown generational war. Continue reading
As Australians dither over carbon emissions, seas rise up to our cities
major cities – particularly Sydney – are shown to be under much more immediate threat from sea level rises than previously predicted.
Seas ‘will swamp Sydney yearly‘ | The Daily Telegraph, Simon Benson, 11 March 11, SYDNEY will suffer major sea level inundation events once a year instead of every 100 years, according to an alarming new report on climate change impacts from the Government’s chief adviser. Continue reading
30 European countries successfully managing a carbon price
“The thing that struck me is how the debate has changed here and also that wide perception that I keep hearing that Australia shouldn’t go first,”
“Coming from Europe, that sounds slightly bizarre because there are 30 countries in Europe that have had a carbon price … since the beginning of 2005.”
Aussie carbon tax revolt ‘bizarre’: expert, Sydney Morning Herald, 9 March 11, A European Union climate expert has described Australian opposition to a carbon tax as bizarre, diplomatically pointing out Britain’s Conservatives were more co-operative in opposition. Jill Duggan, who managed Britain’s initial emissions trading scheme (ETS), said there was an incorrect perception that Australia would be going it alone if it put a price on carbon. Continue reading
Australia’s Minister for Coal, and Nuclear? and – er Climate Change
Combet .. is also adamant the coal industry will continue to grow under a carbon price,…..he says a carbon price will make the nuclear option more economically viable…..
Can-do Combet well used to taking heat, The Australian, Sid Maher, March 05, 2011As he approaches the sharp end of negotiations to flesh out the detail of the climate change framework announced by the Prime Minister, Combet makes several principles clear. Continue reading
Australian govt spends 12 $billion for fossil fuel industries, 1 $billion for clean energy
Federal spending favours fossil fuels, study finds, The Age, Adam Morton, March 1, 2011 AUSTRALIAN taxpayers spend 11 times more encouraging the use of fossil fuels than on climate change programs – and the sum is growing. Continue reading
Koch brothers’ influence will reach Australia to fight carbon tax
The nastiest end of the anti-tax campaign will come from a right-wing extremist grouping that includes Fox News’s Glenn Beck and is backed by the notorious Koch brothers. Koch and Koch are oil barons who run the largest private company in the USA and fund climate sceptics, race haters and the Tea Party, with funding tentacles reaching into Australia……
Another step towards renewable energy – Unleashed (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 25 Feb 2011, “…..The “can’t do” campaign will be meeting in PR war rooms across Australia this morning, deciding how much to spend on lobbying, advertising and astro-turfing. Continue reading
Julia Gillard playing it smart with carbon tax
This time, Julia Gillard is playing a cannier game. There were almost no policy details released yesterday beyond the decision to implement a fixed price, and the decision to include transport but to leave out agriculture. That left little for industry critics to go on, and allowed Gillard to cleverly foreshadow Abbott’s anti-tax attack.
It’s Getting Hot In Here | newmatilda.com, 25 Feb 2011, By Ben Eltham Whether you call it a carbon tax or a carbon price, the carbon wars are back on. This time round, Gillard is playing it smart on climate policy. Continue reading
Greenhouse gas emissions and extreme weather events – Australia take note
The Canadian/Oxford research is highly politically significant, because it will help to strip away the “stonewall”, do-nothing tactics that various governments have used to excuse themselves from dealing seriously with climate change. The studies will have particular relevance in Australia, where extreme weather events are all too evident, and where token gestures by government are the order of the day as far as climate change is concerned.
Greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change, CPA – The Guardian, Peter Mac, 23 February 2011In Australia the public’s attention has been firmly fixed on the havoc wrought by floods in the eastern states, cyclones in Queensland and the Northern Territory, and bushfires in Western Australia. However, extreme weather events are also occurring in many nations overseas. Continue reading
BHP’s world-wide operations hit by floods
Big firm, big profit, big problem, The Age, Eric JohnstonFebruary 17, 2011 “….In the last six months BHP wasn’t just affected by the devastating floods in Australia. It also had to contend with floods in South Africa, Columbia and Brazil.”In some cases it is worse than we’ve had in Australia,” Kloppers said yesterday….”Big firm, big profit, big problem
1 This month
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
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