Waubra residents dissociate themselves from anti wind farm group
Waubra Wednesday #9 – Community demands its name back from anti-wind farm group On 1 November 2013, the Waubra community ramped up its campaign to reclaim its name from an anti-wind farm campaign group known as the Waubra Foundation. Yes 2 Renewables November 6, 2013 by Leigh Ewbank Fed up with the town’s name being tarnished by claims of a ‘Waubra disease‘, community leaders have sent a petition with 316 signatures to the anti-wind farm organisation asking them to stop using town’s name. Yes 2 Renewables applaud the community’s effort on the issue.
“Waubra is associated with wind towers. We don’t mind that,” Waubra wind farmer Doug Hobson told The Courier. “With the turbines people actually take more notice of our town as they pass through.
“But when you Google ‘Waubra’ the first thing that comes up is something negative about our town. People would think that everyone in Waubra doesn’t like wind farms, and that is not the case,” Hobson added.
The petition was sent to the Waubra Foundation just days after they announced more anti-wind farm campaigners to positions in the organisation, such as retired Liberal MP Alby Schultz who is slated to lobby the Abbott government. Yes 2 Renewables commented on the appointments at Climate Spectator.
It’s clear the Waubra Foundation has no credible claim to use the town’s name. Yet will the Foundation heed the wishes of community members or will it ignore them? Time will tell. For now, Yes 2 Renewables will keep an eye on the situation…….
Petition Text……
Cover Letter sent with the petition….
Bullying tactics by the anti wind farm lobby
Bullying from wind farm opponents a pattern of behaviour http://yes2renewables.org/2013/11/07/bullying-from-wind-farm-opponents-a-pattern-of-behaviour/ November 7, 2013 by Leigh Ewbank Last week, The Canberra Times reported that anti-wind farm campaigner Tony Hodgson has threatened legal action against neighbours who host turbines. The following is a letter to the editor published by the paper:
Anti-wind farm campaigner Tony Hodgson’s threats to sue neighbours who host turbines (‘Threat of legal action against wind farm hosts,’ October 29, p6) are not new.
Earlier this year it was reported that Maurice Newman, business advisor to Prime Minister Tony Abbott and board member of Tiger Airlines, issued a similar threat to Crookwell sheep farmer Charlie Prell. In both cases, the legals threats were made in relation to alleged health impacts of wind farms.
There are now 19 reviews by credible health bodies that show wind energy is clean and safe. It’s time for anti-wind farm groups to accept this and stop bullying potential turbine hosts–people who are seeking a drought-proof income stream for their farm and act on climate change.
It’s OK for people to have disagreements about the aesthetics of wind farms in the bush. Most Australians can accept that. What’s unacceptable is bullying behaviour in the form of legal threats. It’s divisive and prevents communities from assessing the merits of wind farms.
BHP used Australian spy agencies targeting Japan and China
Australian spy agency helped BHP negotiate trade deals The Age, November 7, 2013 Philip Dorling BHP was among the companies helped by Australian spy agencies as they negotiated trade deals with Japan, a former Australian Secret Intelligence Service officer says.
A former diplomat has also confirmed Australian intelligence agencies have long targeted Japanese companies. Writing in The Japan Times, Professor Gregory Clark said Australian companies were beneficiaries of intelligence operations.
“In Australia, favoured firms getting spy material on Japanese contract policies and other business negotiations used to joke how [it had] ‘fallen off the back of a truck’,” Professor Clark wrote.
Business information is a main target for [intelligence] agencies, he said. “The targeting is also highly corrupting since the information can be passed on selectively to co-operative firms – often firms that provide employment and cover for spy operatives.”…….The former spy says informal exchanges with business executives were continuing when he retired in the 1990s. More recently, US diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks and published by Fairfax Media in 2011 revealed former BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers privately offered “to trade confidences” with US officials about China.
”Kloppers has a keen interest in learning everything he can about the Chinese and is not shy about asking us for our impressions,” US Consul-General Michael Thurston reported to Washington in 2009. BHP declined to comment at the time. : http://www.smh.com.au/national/australian-spy-agency-helped-bhp-negotiate-trade-deals-20131106-2x1sw.html#ixzz2jzqhzexO
Former Liberal P.M. John Howard – climate sceptic and nuclear enthusiast
“My view is that the nuclear option should be kept on the table. As it becomes more economic to have nuclear power, we should entertain it.”
Former PM John Howard advocates use of nuclear power, unconvinced on climate change ‘catastrophe’ ABC News, 6 Nov 13, Former prime minister John Howard says claims about global warming are exaggerated. Mr Howard’s comments came ahead of a speech he is set to deliver to the Global Warming Policy Foundation in London.
The foundation is a think-tank established by Nigel Lawson, a former British chancellor of the exchequer, one of the UK’s most prominent climate change sceptics, and father of TV chef Nigella Lawson.
“I am opposed to putting a ludicrously heavy financial burden on often poorer people in the community in the name of shifting to renewables when I am unconvinced that catastrophe is around the corner,” Mr Howard said……
The former PM said he “respected” the science on climate change and was in favour of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. He said nuclear power, shale oil, and gas from fracking were the solutions to the world’s energy needs…….
“My view is that the nuclear option should be kept on the table. As it becomes more economic to have nuclear power, we should entertain it.”
Speaking about Australia’s uranium reserves, he said it was hypocritical for Australia to export uranium for international consumption, but not to use it for domestic power generation. He was reluctant to be drawn on Tony Abbott’s climate policies, but was critical of links made by some between the recent bushfires and global warming. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-06/howard-says-helping-people-out-of-poverty-more-important-than-c/5072162
Film “Utopia” to be shown in Australia on 26 January
..You have been documenting this struggle for decades. What change would you most like to see next?
One word: treaty. That’s the beginning.
John Pilger, Utopia 5 November, 2013 | By Andreas Wiseman Veteran journalist and BAFTA-winning filmmaker John Pilger returns to the screen with new documentary Utopia, about the plight of indigenous Australians. Pilger, who has reported discrimination against Australia’s first people since the 1970s, describes his new film as “a journey into a secret country” describing “not only the uniqueness of the first Australians, but their trail of tears and betrayal and resistance – from one utopia to another.”
Interviewees include Aboriginal leaders, human-rights campaigners, academics and politicians, among them former prime minister John Howard.
Never one to shy away from controversy, the film will be released in Australia on Australia Day (or ‘invasion day’, as Pilger also calls it) and will play at indigenous festivals including Sydney’s Yabun Festival. Continue reading
How quickly Australia could transition to renewable energy
Australia’s rapid renewables transition – all it needs is policy (good tables, graphics) REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson on 5 November 2013 Australia has the opportunity to make an incredibly rapid transition to a mostly renewable energy-based grid within two decades with a strong carbon price and other incentives, but will most likely maintain the status quo and increase emissions from its grid if the carbon price is removed.
That is the broad conclusion of the Climate Change Authority’s draft investigation into the emissions reduction potential for the electricity report, included in a 245-page appendix to the 176 page overview released last week.
The scenarios unveiled by the CCA would make even the most optimist Green policy seem modest in comparison. By 2030, it says, renewables could make up 69 per cent of Australia’s generation (that includes a large slab of geothermal) and by 2050 the grid could be almost emissions free.
That is almost a complete reversal of the current make-up of Australia’s electricity grid, which is dominated by coal and is one of the most energy intensive in the developed world. This table below outlines the scenarios envisaged under the modelling.
The prognosis is not really that outlandish. Renewables already compete with new build fossil fuel generation, Continue reading
Liberal MP Jonathan O’Dea calls for ‘safe, affordable’ nuclear power as climate change solution
MP calls for rethink on nuclear power, SMH November 4, 2013 Sean Nicholls A Liberal MP has renewed his push for serious consideration of nuclear power generation in Australia, arguing the risks are overstated and disasters like Chernobyl and Fukushima can be avoided with modern technology and safety standards.
In an article for the journal Energy News state MP for Davidson, Jonathan O’Dea, says nuclear energy is a “proven supplier of secure, affordable base load power” and the issue of nuclear waste is “manageable”……
Mr O’Dea says carbon dioxide from burning coal and natural gas is “undoubtedly contributing to damage to our oceans and atmosphere…..
The comments come as Resources and Energy Minister Chris Hartcher prepares to announce which mining companies will be invited to apply for uranium exploration licences in NSW following last year’s lifting of a 26-year ban. The ban on exploration has prevented a clear understanding of potential uranium deposits in NSW but the government says it is aware they may exist around Broken Hill.
Premier Barry O’Farrell has said that despite lifting the ban the government is “not about to rush into uranium mining http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/mp-calls-for-rethink-on-nuclear-power-20131104-2wxbo.html#ixzz2jntFzRRo
Australian company Silex in solar and nuclear developments
enriched uranium demand would remain depressed in the next two to three years due to the shutdown of nuclear plants after the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster i
China solar backers sought in Australia, South China Morning Post Silex, claiming a technology edge, is talking to state-backed power generators for investment in an expansion of a major solar farm project Eric Ng eric.mpng@scmp.com 05 November, 2013 Silex Systems, an Australian solar energy and nuclear fuel enrichment technology firm, is in talks with Chinese state-backed power generators to invest in its major solar farm project in Australia and buy its equipment to develop projects in China.
The company, listed in Australia and the United States, commissioned a 1.5 megawatts solar farm in Victoria in July, and plans to build a 100MW expansion project on the same site late next year.
Its 1.5MW plant is Australia’s first grid-connected solar farm based on so-called concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) technology.
Silex chief executive Michael Goldsworthy said the company had started talks with two of the mainland’s five state-owned power generation groups about investing in the proposed 100MW project, and for them to buy equipment from Silex to develop solar farms on the mainland. Continue reading
South Australia gets world’s first wave energy converter
Oceanlinx launches wave energy converter in Australia, Renewable Energy Magazine, Dan McCue Monday, 04 November 2013 Australian wave energy company Oceanlinx team launched the world’s first 1 MW wave energy converter — called ‘greenWAVE’ — on 25 October 2013 in TechPort Adelaide in Australia. By the end of the year, Oceanlinx Ltd.along with the Port MacDonnell community will be celebrating the long awaited connection of the ‘greenWAVE’ energy converter unit to the grid in South Australia.
Built and launched from TechPort in Adelaide, the $7 million project will be the first of its kind to be commissioned in the world. The groundbreaking demonstration unit received $4 million from the federal government in a bid to make the project ready for market.
Once connected to the grid, the unit will be rigorously tested for the best part of 2014, the company said in a written statement.
Based on the Oscillating Water Column principle, the technology is one of the most tested and matured technologies in the wave energy sector.
The unit is completely environmentally friendly sitting under its own weight on the seabed in shallow water with no anchors, mooring or attachment to the seabed. It is expected to act as an artificial reef for sea life. It has no moving parts under the water and is designed to withstand the most aggressive sea conditions. With ease of access to the weather tight power house placed above the sea level, the through life management costs are kept to the minimum…….http://www.renewableenergymagazine.com/article/oceanlinx-launches-wave-energy-converter-in-australia-20131104
AUDIO: Farmers and householders can benefit from Mildura area’s renewable energy developments
North west Victoria tapping into renewable energy http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-04/ag-energy-victoria/5067808Vic Country Hour By Brett Worthington Nov 2013, Victoria’s north west is quickly developing a reputation as the state’s clean energy heartland.
Near Mildura, there are plans to build a power plant that uses waste from almond, grape and grain growing. Just meters away is a 
one of Australia’s largest solar electricity plants, which features satellite dishes covered in mirrors.
Melbourne University researcher David Coote says agricultural communities can slash their bills if they embrace renewable technology. “Somewhere like Mildura could easily target going 100 per cent renewable,” he said. Continue reading
Peter Reith’s conflict of interest on “expert” task force about coal seam gas.
Advice is compromised, The Age, Russell Edwards, 5 Nov 13 Lobbyist Peter Reith, who chaired the state government’s ”expert” taskforce regarding the expansion of coal seam gas, is employed by First State Advisors and Consultants Pty Ltd. Among its clients are Thiess Pty Ltd and the NSW Aboriginal Land Council, both major players in the CSG industry. That the government would take advice from such a compromised party is disturbing. …… http://www.theage.com.au/comment/the-age-letters/actions-underpinned-by-greed-not-compassion-20131104-2wxj1.html#ixzz2jnlts1AD
Defeatism emerging in the Australian uranium industry
Uranium plunge clouds outlook ROBIN BROMBY THE AUSTRALIAN NOVEMBER 04, 2013 JUST as one quarterly report hit the screen proclaiming uranium was at a new eight-year low, the spot price promptly shed another US50c — and thus was born an even newer eight-year low.Spot uranium sank to $US34.75 a pound during the week, a long way from the record $US136/lb it hit in 2007 during the yellowcake frenzy.
Then we had about 260 listed companies that each boasted at least one uranium project. Now we are left with the brave few.
In this space exactly a year ago, we took a relatively upbeat view of the sector. Australia had finally begun uranium sale talks with India (the new federal government may sign the deal by year’s end) and the new Queensland government had lifted its uranium mining ban.
Wisely, this column said it was too early to make the call that the uranium market had bottomed, but that at least the remaining players in the sector were upbeat.
Ditto for this month: still too early, and the brave are still battling on.
And, if the price falls close to $US30/lb, defeatism could emerge. The quarterly report mentioned above came from Manhattan Corp (MHC), which has an inferred 7800 tonnes of uranium at its Ponton deposit in Western Australia. It’s run by Alan Eggers, who seems never to tire of arguing uranium’s story. –
……..Toro Energy (TOE) is positioning itself to be Western Australia’s first producer. But not at current prices. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/uranium-plunge-clouds-outlook/story-e6frg9if-1226752388347#sthash.Wv1Mhsta.dpuf
Australian uranium company Paladin – huge losses and never a dividend
Paladin chief calls for investor calm The Age, November 4, 2013 Peter Ker Resources reporter Paladin Energy chairman Rick Crabb has urged shareholders to cool their lust for executive scalps at the troubled uranium miner, saying that succession planning was in train and that board changes would be counterproductive while an asset sell-down was under way.
Mr Crabb and his managing director, John Borshoff, have been under extra pressure in recent times on the back of shareholder anger at the company’s direction.
An Asian hedge fund has been leading a group of Paladin shareholders that are trying to remove Mr Crabb and Mr Borshoff, and their rebel cause has been helped by proxy adviser ISS, which last week called for shareholders to reject a dilutive share placement that Paladin made in August.
The pressure is likely to continue before this month’s annual meeting, with the Australian Shareholders Association set to agree with ISS, plus name Mr Crabb at the top of its list of ASX chairmen who should stand down……..
Paladin failed to sell a stake in its Langer Heinrich mine in the September quarter, and Mr Crabb said sale negotiations were still under way, making it a bad time to overhaul the board…..
The ASA disagreed, with chairman Ian Curry saying that Paladin had not once delivered a dividend to shareholders since it started trading in 1994, yet had imposed billions of dollars worth of losses. : http://www.smh.com.au/business/paladin-chief-calls-for-investor-calm-20131103-2wusp.html#ixzz2jiZEkGKl
Hear Christine Milne on the carbon tax, and Abbott’s challenge for a double dissolution
AUDIO: Listen to the story (AM) Christine Milne says the Coalition will not call a double-dissolution election to scrap carbon tax ABC News, By Naomi Woodley 3 Nov 2013, Greens leader Christine Milne says Prime Minister Tony Abbott does not have the courage to call a double-dissolution election in order to scrap the carbon tax before next July……..
Ms Milne has confirmed that her party will not support the Government’s repeal legislation, even with Labor’s proposed amendments.
Labor’s stance and the Greens’ ongoing resistance means, in all likelihood, the Government will have to wait until the new Senate sits next July to pass the repeal bill, or risk going to a double-dissolution election before then.
However, the prospect of a fresh election does not bother Ms Milne. “I don’t think [Tony Abbott] would have the courage to go to a double-dissolution. There are plenty of governments who’ve had the trigger and not gone to a double-dissolution and I think Tony Abbott would not have the courage to do it frankly,” she said…… http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-02/milne-abbott-carbon-tax-double-dissolution/5065684
“Labor knows as well as I do that we have an emissions trading scheme already legislated. It is the law in Australia; it’s operating with a fixed price and will go to a flexible price.
“What people who care about climate change want to hear is that there is a serious effort in the Federal Parliament to maintain the only scheme we have which is bringing down emissions.
“And that’s especially in the week when the scientists are telling us that we have to do much more than we’re already doing.”
Labor’s stance and the Greens’ ongoing resistance means, in all likelihood, the Government will have to wait until the new Senate sits next July to pass the repeal bill, or risk going to a double-dissolution election before then.
However, the prospect of a fresh election does not bother Ms Milne.
“I don’t think [Tony Abbott] would have the courage to go to a double-dissolution. There are plenty of governments who’ve had the trigger and not gone to a double-dissolution and I think Tony Abbott would not have the courage to do it frankly,” she said…… http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-02/milne-abbott-carbon-tax-double-dissolution/5065684
With solar power, energy efficiency, battery storage – you can be energy independent
How To Gain Energy Independence http://www.energymatters.com.au/energy-efficiency/energy-independence.php 4 Nov 13 Are you interested in having more control over the energy you use? Would you like to be less dependent upon traditional electricity generators, distributors or retailers? Energy Matters can help you.There are several steps along the path toward full energy independence.
Go solar
The simplest and most effective way to gain some energy independence is toinstall solar PV. You will generate your own power and export the excess to the grid; for which you will receive a credit. Apart from simple maintenance every three years, there is nothing to check or worry about – simply enjoy your reduced power bills.
The other great thing about installing solar panels is you don’t necessarily need to pay anything up front. Energy Matters offers a zero deposit payment plan and repayments for a large system can be less than a cup of coffee a day!
Run your appliances when the sun shines Continue reading
1 This month
17 October, Free Public Talk on Nuclear Issues in South Australia
David Noonan will speak on public interest concerns over the new Roxby Downs Indenture Act 2026 on BHP copper-uranium mining and ore processing in SA, and on how AUKUS may face SA with a High-Level nuclear waste agenda.
Dr Jim Green will discuss international developments in the field of nuclear power including ‘small modular reactors’ and Generation 4 ‘advanced’ nuclear reactor concepts.
Help Aunty Sue Protect Her Land and Sacred Sites From Destructive Rocket Testing.
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Australians deserve the truth
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)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
