Tony Abbott – the mad monk and Ziggy Switkowski are spruiking nuclear power – again!
Abbott’s election advice to Morrison: it’s time to hit the nuclear switch https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/abbotts-election-advice-to-morrison-its-time-to-hit-the-nuclear-switch/news-story/11b479d55f4d52ce7e84a2a3f19390b2 JOE KELLYPOLITICAL REPORTER @joekellyoz 15 Sep 18
Tony Abbott has called on the Morrison government to sharpen the political contest with Labor ahead of the election by moving to lift the prohibition on nuclear power, as Bill Shorten leaves the door open to reviving the now “dead” national energy guarantee.
The former chair of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and current chair of NBN Co, Ziggy Switkowski, told The Weekend Australian yesterday it was sensible to clear the regulatory pathway for the next generation of small nuclear reactors.
A revived debate over nuclear power was also backed by North Queensland MP Warren Entsch, a supporter of the NEG, who said all elements of energy policy should be on the table.
Speaking on 2GB radio in Sydney yesterday, Mr Abbott said there was “absolutely no reason why, when it’s economic, we shouldn’t have nuclear power generation in Australia”.
“One of the things that we could easily do is go into the parliament (and) seek to change the law here. When you’re seeking a third term, when you’re defending a one-seat majority, when you’ve got a few self-inflicted wounds, when you’ve got the unions and GetUp and the Greens as well as Labor against you, you’ve got to be prepared to create a contest.”
The push to revive the nuclear debate follows Scott Morrison declaring the NEG dead, while opposition energy spokesman Mark Butler this week held out the prospect of Labor moving to revive the policy in government following engagement with industry.
Dr Switkowski said the future for nuclear power was “likely to be defined by the arrival of small modular reactors (SMRs) of a 100MW scale” that could provide power for up to 100,000 people.
“They will be affordable, low-risk and an investment that business will find attractive,” he said. “That is likely to happen later in the 2020s, but will have special relevance to Australia where we have towns and industries and mines and desalination plants, all of (which) could be served by one of these SMRs.
“The opportunities for … large reactors have now largely disappeared … It is, however, very sensible to clear away the regulatory obstacles to developing business plans and evaluating technologies in order to have an option in the 2020s to adopt these SMRs.”
Mr Entsch told The Weekend Australian a fresh discussion on lifting the 1998 prohibition on nuclear power “made sense”, saying technological improvements made it possible to build smaller and safer reactors. “The reality is that nuclear power … is clean and green,” he said. “There is zero emissions. If they made a decision to do it, there wouldn’t be an objection from me.”
LNP MP Luke Howarth, in the Queensland seat of Petrie, said the nation “should be having the discussion about how to build a nuclear industry” because it would help drive the “jobs of the future”.
Others rejected the push to revive the debate. South Australian Liberal MP Tony Pasin said: “Whilst I respect the view of Mr Abbott, in my view our government’s policy agenda needs to be focused on proposals which will put serious downward pressure on energy prices over the course of the immediate term.”
Senator Cory Bernardi believes in nuclear power, but doesn’t believe in climate change
Doesn’t Cory Bernardi get it? – that the nuclear lobby now loves to believe in climate change – so it can pretend that nuclear power is the cure.
Cory Bernardi writes to Angus Taylor, asking for nuclear moratorium removal, 2GB LUKE GRANT , 14 Sep 18, Senator Cory Bernardi has written to the Federal Energy Minister, 
asking him to remove the moratorium on nuclear energy.
The Australian Conservatives’ leader has asked Angus Taylor to support a bill to lift the blanket ban on nuclear. With 40% of the world’s uranium resources residing in Australia, Bernardi says the government would be “mad” not to pursue the power option………….
Bernardi adds that the Morrison Government needs to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, to show that they have fully liberated themselves from Turnbull’s beleaguered energy agenda.
“It’s a symbolic gesture that shows they’re setting out on a new path of Australian sovereignty to make sure every business, family, pensioner and household can afford to turn on the lights.” https://www.2gb.com/cory-bernardi-writes-to-angus-taylor-asking-for-nuclear-moratorium-to-be-lifted/
Contrary to Scott Morrison’s deceptive boast – Australia is on track to miss Paris climate targets
 Australia on track to miss Paris climate targets as emissions hit record highs https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/sep/14/australia-on-track-to-miss-paris-climate-targets-as-emissions-hit-record-highs
NDEVR Environmental data suggests Australia will miss targets by 1bn tonnes of carbon dioxide under current trajectory, Guardian, Lisa Cox, 14 Sept 18, [good graphs on original] Australia remains on track to miss its Paris climate targets as carbon emissions continue to soar, according to new data. The figures from NDEVR Environmental for the year up to the end of June 2018 show the country’s emissions were again the highest on record when unreliable data from the land use and forestry sectors was excluded. It is the third consecutive year for record-breaking emissions. NDEVR replicates the federal government’s national greenhouse gas inventory (NGGI) quarterly reports but releases them months ahead of the official data. Previous NDEVR figures have been within 1% of the official figures when eventually released. The government has yet to publish any emissions data for 2018. Its last update was for the year to December 2017, which it published in May and showed Australia’s emissions continue to soar. NDEVR’s report projects Australia will miss its Paris targets by about a billion tonnes of carbon dioxide if emissions continue on their current trajectory. It projects that emissions, excluding land use, will be 558m tonnes, the highest since records began in 2002. It finds that transport emissions were the highest on record in the final quarter of the 2018 financial year and continue to rise. NDEVR said this was due to the rapid increase in the use of diesel fuel in both passenger cars and heavy transport. Emissions from stationary energy and fugitive emissions continue to trend upwards. The rise in stationary emissions is mostly attributable to energy industries excluding electricity generation NDEVR’s report projects a drop in emissions from the electricity sector for the final quarter of the 2018 financial year because of a reduction in total electricity generation in the national electricity market states and an increase in generation from renewables. But Matt Drum, the managing director of NDEVR Environmental, said Australia was still not on track to meet its Paris targets. “Tracking the Paris trend line, they’re still heading north and missing Paris by a long way and our 2050 two-degree target by an even greater margin,” he said. “The data’s telling us clearly again that we’re not on a trajectory to meet our targets, there’s no effective policy to meet our targets, but we’re still hearing commentary from the government that we’re on track to meet our targets.” |
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Darebin Council, Victoria leads the way on climate change action
It’s not too late to act on climate change, The Age, Paul Gilding 11 Sept 18, People engaged in the climate debate are often bewildered by society’s lack of response. How can we ignore such overwhelming evidence of an existential threat to social and economic stability?
Darebin in Melbourne. This local council looked rationally at what the science told them – that we face a crisis and the only logical response is to declare a climate emergency. And so they did. In consultation with their community, they then developed the Darebin Climate Emergency Plan.
Yes, it’s frustrating that these things take time. Therefore, knowing we can still “win” is key. Towards this end I co-wrote nearly 10 years ago a journal paper, The One Degree War Plan, with Professor Jorgen Randers, showing how achieving 1 degree of warming was surprisingly realistic with a WWII style mobilisation. Recently along the same lines, The Climate Mobilisation developed a “Victory Plan” to show what a WWII style economic mobilisation across the USA could look like.
Find this hard to imagine? It is. But as we learnt from Churchill in 1940, when we shift our thinking to “what is necessary”, what we can achieve is quite extraordinary. Or as Nelson Mandela said: “It always seems impossible, until it’s done.”
Paul Gilding is a Fellow at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/it-s-not-too-late-to-act-on-climate-change-20180911-p50318.html?crpt=index
Australian Communities Foundation Divests $90 Million From Fossil Fuels
A leading Australian foundation is entirely divesting its $90 million corpus investment portfolio from fossil fuels to focus on environmentally sustainable investments. Pro Bono News, 12th September 2018, Luke Michael, Journalist, Australian Communities Foundation has transitioned its portfolio to an ethical investment approach over the past three years, and on Wednesday pledged to fully divest from fossil fuel investments.ACF CEO Maree Sidey told Pro Bono News the change was driven by their donors.
“We made that move because our donors have very strong values around social justice and taking a sustainable approach to the environment,” Sidey said.
“And we were asked by our donors to really start thinking about our investments and how we were aligning our investments with the social outcomes that we wanted to see through our distributions.”
ACF’s commitment means no new investments in the top 200 oil, gas, or coal companies, and selling any of these existing investments within five years.
The organisation will turn its investment focus to climate solutions such as renewable energy, sustainable agriculture and water efficiency…………
The commitment is part of a global DivestInvest announcement at the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco.
The global DivestInvest movement has commitments from almost 900 organisations – with combined assets of $6.2 trillion – to stop investing in fossil-fuel companies.
Clara Vondrich, global director of DivestInvest Philanthropy, welcomed ACF’s commitment, noting that “any mission-based philanthropy that pours grant dollars into programming while remaining invested in fossil fuels is treating symptoms while ignoring the cause”. https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2018/09/australian-communities-foundation-divests-90-million-fossil-fuels/
Flooding Dangers to proposal for Nuclear Morgue in South Australia
Susan Craig Susan and 4 others are consistently creating meaningful discussions with their posts. .Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste Dump In Flinders Ranges SA, 12 Sept 18 There is also some other interesting news regarding Lake Torrens National Park and it’s proximity to the proposed site being outside the site characteristic criteria. There are so many evidence based flaws in this proposal that are now percolating to the surface. The AECOM report under Hydrology and Flood Risks Assessment Finding referred ONLY to the floods of 1955 and 2005. The report DID NOT take into account the floods of 1989.
Ship loaded with Australia’s nuclear wastes arriving at Cherbourg, France
sean mcgee@arclight2011-12 Sept 18 The cargo “at discount”, BBC Austria, loaded with 4 containers of Australian nuclear waste (236 Assemblies) approaching the French coast to land its cargo in #cherbourg where 4 trucks will carry them to #orano #Lahague. The Stopover is scheduled by… facebook.com/permalink.php?…Senator Matt Canavan ridicules climate health report, days after climate health expert wins Liberal safe seat
Canavan ridicules climate health report, days after climate health expert wins Liberal safe seat, REneweconomy, 12 September 2018But Canavan, who appears to have a new role in the Coalition Cabinet as minister for Not Taking Climate Science Seriously, dismissed the work as seemingly drug influenced, and based on “imaginary” threats.
“This report reads like it was written during poetry slam night at the happy herb cafe,” the senator reportedly told The Courier-Mail, a Murdoch newspaper, on Wednesday……..https://reneweconomy.com.au/canavan-ridicules-climate-health-report-days-after-climate-health-expert-wins-liberal-safe-seat-73431/
Dan van Holst Pellekaan MP on plan to store radioactive trash in rural South Australia
Heather Mckenzie Stuart shared a post.Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste Dump In Flinders Ranges SA, Conversation Starter 11 Sept 18,
Dan van Holst Pellekaan MP Proposed storage of domestic radioactive waste:I’ve always said that I will strongly support a community which does not want to host a waste site (and similarly if it is wanted), and that has never changed.
The Kimba and Hawker districts are the ones being proposed by the federal government and its is vital to get a reliable assessment of those local communities’ opinions. The efforts of the Barngarla people to have the opinions of traditional owners who do not live in the district included are understandable, and this also gives everyone a bit of time while the court considers that request. The federal government has said that it will still undertake a vote, but after the court confirms who should be allowed to vote.
And once that has been done, we’ll all know the results and we can halt or progress the process together.https://www.facebook.com/groups/344452605899556/
68% of Australians want govt to set genuine emissions targets to meet our Paris climate commitments
Climate poll shows Morrison politically vulnerable as more voters back action https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/sep/12/climate-poll-shows-morrison-politically-vulnerable-as-more-voters-back-action
Number of Australians concerned about impact of climate change and wanting coal phased out rises, Guardian, Katharine Murphy Political editor @murpharoo12 Sep 2018 A growing number of Australians are concerned about the impact of climate change, and more than half of a survey of 1,756 voters believe the Morrison government needs to stay in the Paris agreement, despite Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US.
A study tracking voter sentiment for more than a decade, funded first by the Climate Institute and now by the Australia Institute, finds 73% (up from 66% in 2017) of respondents concerned about climate change, and a clear majority, 68%, believes the government should set domestic targets to comply with our Paris commitments.
An increased 67% want coal-fired power to be phased out within 20 years, up from 61% in 2017.
The findings suggest the Morrison government is politically vulnerable on climate change at the next federal election. The prime minister has declared Australia will not pull out of Paris but also abandoned the national energy guarantee that imposed an emissions reduction target on the electricity sector. Continue reading
Australia is going backwards on climate change action, as Morrison govt, Trump-like, spruiks “success”
Just before Christmas last year, the Australian Government published a report which suggests that — without significant policy change — Australia will miss that commitment by a long way. Emissions in 2020 will be just 5 per cent below 2005 levels, according to the official projections and — without further measures to cut them — emissions will grow by 3.5 per cent on 2020 levels in the 10 years to 2030.
In other words, we’ll go backwards in the coming decade..
There’s a certain Trump-like quality to Australia’s discourse on emissions reductions, ABC 11 Sep 18 By Stephen Long ,
It seems to be high on the list of the Morrison Government’s talking points: the claim that we’re “on track” to meet our commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris climate accord.
The PM reckons we’ll meet the targets “in a canter”.
“We’re on track to achieve them,” the new Environment Minister, ex-mining industry lawyer and mining executive Melissa Price, also reassured radio listeners, adding that she supports the construction of new coal-fired power stations.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne — back from meeting Pacific Islands leaders whose nations literally face an existential threat from climate change — joined the chorus, as did Energy Minister Angus Taylor.
Australia is on track to “meet and exceed” the Paris commitments, according to Trade Minister Simon Birmingham.
“We are already more than meeting the 26 per cent that was set down in the Paris agreement,” National Party leader Michael McCormack confidently told David Spears on Sky News, though when pressed, he was a bit unsure about what information that claim was based on. Continue reading
Queensland government climate strategy stresses the health impacts
heat stress among children and the elderly was the health sector’s main concern for the future.The new statewide strategy to tackle climate-driven health risks argued doctors could play a role as “highly trusted” messengers about climate impacts to the community, where politicians have failed.
The plan, obtained by the ABC ahead of its launch today by Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles, revealed the health sector regarded a lack of political support — including mixed messages from the Government’s own pro-coal and gas development decisions — as the key barrier to adapting to climate change. Continue reading
Victorian homeowners will be paid nearly $5000 towards the cost of household solar batteries if Labor is re-elected
Victorian Labor offers a $4838 battery bonanza for homes with solar panels , The Age ,By Noel Towell & Benjamin Preiss, 10 September 2018 Victorian homeowners will be paid nearly $5000 towards the cost of household solar batteries by a re-elected Andrews government in the latest move aimed at making the state Australia’s leader in domestic-scale renewable energy.
The latest promise of subsidies for small-scale renewable energy will see households who already have solar panels able to claim half the cost – up to $4838 – of batteries that can store energy generated on their rooftops.
The announcement comes as the Andrews government commits to building six new renewable energy plants across regional Victoria, generating enough power for 640,000 homes.
The three solar and three wind farms, producing 928 megawatts of power, will be built by private companies.
Labor has been encouraged by more than 9000 registrations of interest in its subsidised solar program in the three weeks since it began its announcements. The new batteries policy will cost an estimated $40 million, with 10,000 households expected to take part, lured by the chance of cutting up to $650 from their annual power bills with the rapidly improving battery storage technology.
The announcement is part of a suite of subsidies and payments aimed at putting solar technology in 720,000 Victorian homes. The centrepiece of the government energy renewable election pitch, a $1.2 billion subsidies scheme offering free solar panels to 650,0000 households, was announced in August.
It was followed by a $60 million promise to pay $1000 toward the installation of solar hot water systems in homes that are not suitable for rooftop solar panels.
The latest announcement will open up subsidies to even more households – those already using solar panels to generate power – as Labor looks to build a strong cost-of-living policy platform heading into November’s election………
The government says technology is in development that will allow neighbourhoods to link their batteries, creating “micro-grids” of shared stored power to lower electricity prices even further.
Labor says it will spend $10 million to preparing the state’s ageing power grid for an influx of hundreds of thousands of household micro-generation operations………https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/labor-offers-a-4838-battery-bonanza-for-homes-with-solar-panels-20180910-p502wc.html?crpt=index
Morrison government ignores climate change, and so imperils the health of Australians
 The Morrison Government: An extraordinary health hazard
Doctors for the Environment 10 September 2018, Climate change denial is the denial of many public health casualties.
For example, the increasing number of injuries and deaths from extreme weather events and the psychological and economic trauma consequent to severe climatic change. New Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who when Treasurer carried coal into Parliament, has appointed avid anti-wind farm campaigner, Angus Taylor, as Energy Minister and ex-coal-company lawyer, Melissa Price, as Environment Minister. There has been no mention of climate change in either portfolio. If there is any doubt about the PM’s lack of commitment to Australia’s COP21 agreement to emissions reduction, also consider for a moment that his new chief-of-staff, John Kunkel, spent six years as deputy CEO of the Minerals Council, followed by two years as head of government affairs (that is, lobbying) for Rio Tinto! Furthermore, PM Morrison says climate change doesn’t have to be part of the consideration of drought, yet the science is increasingly secure that Australia is becoming drier and land will be subject to increased evaporation. Now the Government’s signature power policy, the National Energy Guarantee (NEG) is gone, what will replace it? Nothing! Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton who headed the leadership challenge against Malcolm Turnbull, may not be prime minister, but the conservative vandals have succeeded in the wanton destruction of even a holding pattern on carbon emissions. The renewed attack on renewable energy generation will lead to more illness and death from pollution because it will slow the transition away from coal-fired power generation. The thinking is doubly wrong because pollution-related illnesses also cost us, the end-users, about the same in dollar terms as the polluting generators collect in charges — equivalent to politicians throwing away our money!………https://independentaustralia.net/environment/environment-display/the-morrison-government-an-extraordinary-health-hazard,11876 |
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A Toxic Mix: Welfare Reform And The Mob In Remote Australia
‘Rome (Canberra) continues to fiddle while Black Australia burns.
‘Professor Jon Altman weighs in on the ongoing disasters of government policy
that have a tight grip on remote living Indigenous people.’ Continue reading
1 This month
Help Aunty Sue Protect Her Land and Sacred Sites From Destructive Rocket Testing.
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PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
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