UK trade deal: Morrison begins COP26 season by causing a major international mess — RenewEconomy
Australia’s eternal quest to protect its fossil fuel industry has caused an incredible and embarrassing international climate policy incident for the hosts of COP26. The post UK trade deal: Morrison begins COP26 season by causing a major international mess appeared first on RenewEconomy.
UK trade deal: Morrison begins COP26 season by causing a major international mess — RenewEconomy
Huge wind, solar and battery project proposed for central Queensland — RenewEconomy
RES and Energy Estate propose a 900MW wind, solar and battery project, part of a plan for 2GW of renewables to support major industrial loads. The post Huge wind, solar and battery project proposed for central Queensland appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Huge wind, solar and battery project proposed for central Queensland — RenewEconomy
95 per cent of Australia’s coal must remain in ground to meet global climate targets — RenewEconomy
Virtually all of Australia’s coal reserves must go unburnt, and global fossil fuel use must peak ‘over next decade’, new research finds. The post 95 per cent of Australia’s coal must remain in ground to meet global climate targets appeared first on RenewEconomy.
95 per cent of Australia’s coal must remain in ground to meet global climate targets — RenewEconomy
Great Solar Business Podcast: A US perspective on Australian solar — RenewEconomy
Benoy Thanjan, CEO and founder of Reneu Energy and host of the Solar Mavericks Podcast, spells out the similarities and the stark differences in how Australia and the US are adopting solar. The post Great Solar Business Podcast: A US perspective on Australian solar appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Great Solar Business Podcast: A US perspective on Australian solar — RenewEconomy
‘They Should Be In Jail’: How The Guardian and New York Times ‘Set Up’ Julian Assange
‘They Should Be In Jail’: How The Guardian and New York Times ‘Set Up’ Julian Assange https://sputniknews.com/20190812/assange-set-up-davis-guardian-new-york-times-1076533649.html?fbclid=IwAR3TASTVrvLJZqXmcYK_7xQ79FzCd0BMeClw9B2uD549_bUDatl3dU9v2gA 10.09.2019) Award-winning journalist Mark Davis has exposed the extent to which The Guardian and New York Times betrayed Julian Assange in 2010, and have played a pivotal and consciously dishonest role in smearing him ever since.
Speaking at an event in Sydney, Australia 8th August, Davis recalled how he’d closely followed Assange’s activities in the first half of that year in order to make a series of programmes on the WikiLeaks founder’s life for Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service – he ended up with so much material he was able to compile a documentary, ‘Inside WikiLeaks’.
In particular, Davis was granted intimate insight into the release of the Afghan War Logs – 90,000 US military incident and intelligence reports compiled January 2004 – December 2009. Provided to WikiLeaks by Chelsea Manning, the files offered damning and previously hidden evidence of war crimes perpetrated by Allied forces in the country, including a number of extrajudicial killings.
Publication was ostensibly to be a collaborative effort in which WikiLeaks and a number of mainstream media outlets, most prominently The Guardian and New York Times, would work in concert curating the files and preparing them for publication – The Guardian went to the extent of establishing a dedicated operations room, dubbed “the bunker”, in order to facilitate the project.
Davis spent some time there, and feels his “eye-witness observations” serve to dynamite two “enduring slurs” against Assange’s character – namely, that he had a “cavalier” attitude towards the lives of individuals named in the documents his organisation released, and his lack of journalistic professionalism in comparison to the mainstream reporters with whom he collaborated. In fact, he suggests the reality is quite the reverse.
All the statements made by journalists he worked with in the books and articles they’ve written and TV shows they’ve appeared on about their integrity versus Julian’s lack thereof, I can say are complete lies. I’m witness to it. Nick Davies, Julian’s main contact at The Guardian, has repeatedly made the claim Julian had a cavalier attitude to human life – that’s simply not true. If there was any cavalier attitude, it was among Guardian journalists. They had disdain for the impact of this material, a type of ‘gallows humour’ as to what would happen those named in the documents if they were released,” Davis said.
He explained that at no point in the bunker did he see Guardian journalists “express any concern whatsoever” about putting people’s lives at risk, although Assange did do so on several occasions. Moreover, the issue of exposing the identities of thousands of people – an inevitable and obvious consequence of publishing tens of thousands of sensitive documents – was “never taken seriously” by the reporters involved, he alleges.
Chillingly though, Davis claimed he did once witness a discussion between Davies and fellow reporter David Leigh – when Assange wasn’t present – about whether the name of a particular person should be published. Davies was steadfastly opposed, albeit purely out of fear of governmental reprisal, rather than anxieties over the individual in question’s safety.
“But we’re not publishing it,” Leigh allegedly responded – proof, Davis suggested, Assange hadn’t been chosen as The Guardian’s partner, but in fact a sacrificial lamb
“This was highly alarming to me, and I raised it with Julian. He’s a genius but has a certain naivety about him – he thought highly of these guys, felt they were part of a collective effort and all in it together, rather than him being the source and them being the journalists. He didn’t quite believe they’d push him out onto the plank, then say ‘it’s not us, we’re just reporters’. It’s shameful,” Davis said.
Leigh – who allegedly “fawned all over” Assange in the bunker – would go on to coauthor 2011’s WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy with the notorious Luke Harding. Underlining Guardian journalists’ negligent approach to operational security, in that book the pair decided – contrary to Assange’s explicit warnings – to use the confidential encryption password for the entire, uncensored ‘Cablegate’ archive as a chapter heading, which resulted in the dumping of hundreds of thousands of State Department cables on the web without the selective redactions Assange and other WikiLeaks staffers had prepared for them over a period of eight months.
Walls Closing In
Davis went on to recall that as the War Logs’ mutually-agreed publication deadline loomed, both the Times and Guardian grew increasingly anxious about being associated with the material. His film, shot just prior to the release, documents this transformation in real-time – in one highly illuminating segment, Assange informs Gavin MacFayden, then-director of the University of London’s Centre for Investigative Journalism, the New York Times has requested WikiLeaks ‘scoop’ them by publishing analysis of the Afghan War Logs first.
The ‘naivety’ Davis referenced is palpably on display – “they want to report on our reporting, so they can claim they’re not involved!” Assange splutters bemusedly, in evident disbelief a newspaper would be actively resistant to publishing a seismic exclusive. As Davis attested, the footage makes for thoroughly “chilling” viewing in the present day, given Assange is “now in jail as a result of that subterfuge”.
Simultaneously, Assange himself was also growing increasingly anxious, in his case about the identities of informants and other individuals featured in the logs being revealed – no effort had been made by Guardian journalists to remove a single one, and despite repeated requests he wasn’t provided with staff or technical support to redact them. As a result, the WikiLeaks chief took up the “moral responsibility” for the files – his requests for publication to be delayed in order to give him enough time to adequately “cleanse” the documents were ignored, so he was compelled to “literally work all night” to redact around 10,000 names, Davis said.
In a perverse irony, the documentarian also exposed how despite Assange ultimately acquiescing to publishing the Logs Sunday 25th July 2010 in order to allow The Guardian and Times to ‘report’ on the story the next day, the plan was disrupted by technical issues with the WikiLeaks website.
As Assange struggled to get the content online, Davis said he was inundated with “panicked, hysterical calls” from The Times and Guardian, which grew more hysterical as the day wore on – the two outlets were literally on the verge of ‘stopping the presses’, as the front-page splashes on the Afghan War Logs were entirely predicated on the notion WikiLeaks had published the documents the day prior.
It would take several days for WikiLeaks to publish the War Logs – The Guardian and the Times nevertheless ran their scheduled stories on 26th July 2010, reporting on the release of the logs, despite the fact they hadn’t actually appeared on the WikiLeaks website.
Julian was their fall guy. They printed a lie. These two high priests of journalistic integrity very happily colluded, reporting on something that hadn’t happened. The entire searchable Afghan War Logs interface was the sole creation of The Guardian, they promoted it on their website and in the paper, but then they turned round and said ‘we didn’t publish this, Julian did’. They set him up from the start. They should be in jail too,” Davis concluded. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zok8yMxXEwk AT TOP https://sputniknews.com/20190812/assange-set-up-davis-guardian-new-york-times-1076533649.html?fbclid=IwAR3TASTVrvLJZqXmcYK_7xQ79FzCd0BMeClw9B2uD549_bUDatl3dU9v2gA
TEPCO plan to discharge water relies on winning local trust — Fukushima 311 Watchdogs
Storage tanks holding treated contaminated water at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant complex on April 12 September 7, 2021 More than four months have passed since the government gave the green light to plans for Tokyo Electric Power Co. to release treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant into […]
TEPCO plan to discharge water relies on winning local trust — Fukushima 311 Watchdogs
Legacies of Fukushima. — Fukushima 311 Watchdogs
Introduction Kyle Cleveland Abstract: This special collection of papers reflects the work of contributing authors to the newly released book Legacies of Fukushima: 3.11 in Context (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021). The edited volume addresses the Fukushima nuclear crisis in Japan, taking a multi-dimensional, cross-disciplinary approach to understanding this epic disaster. The book is an […]
Legacies of Fukushima. — Fukushima 311 Watchdogs
Media Coverage of Fukushima, Ten Years Later — Fukushima 311 Watchdogs
Martin Fackler Abstract: When taking up the unlearned lessons of Fukushima, one of the biggest may have been the need for more robust oversight of the nuclear industry. In Japan, the failure of the major national news media to scrutinize the industry and hold it accountable was particularly glaring. Despite their own claims to serve […]
Media Coverage of Fukushima, Ten Years Later — Fukushima 311 Watchdogs
Commemoration and Meaning: The Case of Fukushima — Fukushima 311 Watchdogs
Robert Jay Lifton and Scott Gabriel Knowles Abstract: Disaster commemoration serves as a moment to remember victims and honor survivors. In the case of 3.11, commemoration works differently. As a slow disaster, with radiation exposure and evacuation at the center of the story, 3.11 is not yet over. This places special importance on commemoration as […]
Commemoration and Meaning: The Case of Fukushima — Fukushima 311 Watchdogs
September 8 Energy News — geoharvey
Science and Technology: ¶ “Floating Solar Plus Wave Energy Smackdown For Fossil Fuels” • A new EU clean power project pairs floating solar with offshore wind turbines. If all goes according to plan, the waters of the EU will be peppered with wave conversion devices as well as floating solar panels. These technologies can co-use […]
September 8 Energy News — geoharvey
The week in nuclear news -Australia and beyond
While Afghanistan, and Covid-19 continue to be the main focus of news, climate change is getting a new kind of attention. I find it a worrying kind. When Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News, News Corps etc, were busily spouting climate change denialism, at least you knew what they were up to. Now, I fear that the world is going to be subjected to propaganda that is much more subtle. Just as Big Media and Big Business now ”support” action on climate change, I think that they will be spruiking technological fixes, ”clean coal” ”carbon capture and storage, ( perhaps even Big Renewables). On the coat-tails of this Big Fix movement rides the nuclear lobby. Nuclear is so far banned from participating in the COP26 Climate Summit in November. I wouldn’t be surprised if it wriggles its way in. World leaders like Biden, Johnson, Putin – all depend for their jobs, on the backing of big corporations. So – COP26 is already under threat.
On the positive side, quiet and thoughtful voices speak up for a more holistic approach to climate action, and a measured study on the world’s energy needs.
Covid-19 – Coronavirus worldwide, despite nearly 65,000 deaths and nearly 4.3 million cases in the past week, is leveling off with 8% declines for each category, with every continent dropping except Europe in fatalities.
NUCLEAR. While not much is actually happening, the activity is – under the radar – the ever-increasing push to convince the world that nuclear is ”clean and green and the way to go.”
Some bits of good news – India Today Group launches Good News Today, India’s first and only positive news channel. ”Good news” – as usual – very much individualistic stuff. I guess that the overall small drop in coronavirus cases is a small plus.
AUSTRALIA.
Australia’s business leaders want stronger climate policy, but nuclear lobby stooge Senator Matt Canavan wants Australia to boycott COP 26. Landmark FOI ruling could shed new light on Energy Minister Taylor’s big energy market ploy. THEN – Morrison government moves to strengthen secrecy around energy ministers meetings.
The ANZUS treaty does not make Australia safer. Rather, it fuels a fear of perpetual military threat . Macedon Ranges joins 36 local councils to call on Australian government to sign and ratify the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Scrutiny on possible fraud in the process of the government bribery grants for South Australian communities to accept a nuclear waste dump. Napandee nuclear waste site is in fact on farming land, and all too close to the town of Kimba. Agricultural land deserves protection from radioactive pollution. Radioactive waste dump plan lacks genuine community consent.
Wollemi Mine? Experts label John Barilaro’s plan for new coal “corrupt”, unviable.
New Australian law allows security agencies to spy on, and manipulate your data – mainstream media ignores this.
Murdoch’s News Corpse hasn’t seen the light on climate – they’re just updating their tactics.
INTERNATIONAL.
A New Online Youth Platform Promotes Nuclear Disarmament. After the Afghanistan war, the time for change is now. Oblivion and 9 Other Best Dystopian Films About Nuclear War.
How much energy do we need to achieve a decent life for all? Does technology really matter more than the natural landscape?
Greta Thunberg, critical of governments, may not attend COP26. COP26 – the need to scrutinise hidden climate agendas.
Formidable radiation dangers in travel to Mars. Radiation could restrict crewed Mars missions to less than four years . Cosmic radiation will probably prevent growing crops on Mars, Virgin Galactic ‘ignored red warning light’ in Branson’s race against Bezos to be first billionaire to space.
New Nuclear: What’s At Stake For Wildlife? – Webinar October 7.
International Uranium Film Festival free online screenings September 13 – 19.
Australia’s public health already being hit by climate change, professionals say — RenewEconomy
Vast majority of Australian health professionals say climate change is a serious problem, and better information needed on links between climate and health. The post Australia’s public health already being hit by climate change, professionals say appeared first on RenewEconomy.
Australia’s public health already being hit by climate change, professionals say — RenewEconomy
Does technology really matter more than the natural landscape?
After we published an article on Beyond Nuclear International about the habitat and ecosystem destruction that would be wrought by the construction of new nuclear power plants on the British coastline, a more serious challenges such as sea-level rise and radioactive contamination.
I understand his sense of urgency. Yet, these don’t seem like either-ors to me.
And I do think that “liking landscapes” is desperately important and their enjoyment a growing deprivation. If we have
never been outside, walked an ancient wood, felt awed by the delicate silvery curl of lichen on a branch, heard the eerie, commanding call of a hawk or the whispered rustlings of a small mammal scurrying through undergrowth to safe cover, why would we strive to save any of it? Who will be left to care, to “like landscapes” and all that fills them? So he
may be right that it sounds like a trivial obsession. But it ought to matter.
….
Surely the importance of landscapes and all who live in them must be at least in part why we fight to end the use of nuclear power plants? And also because they will contaminate our world forever; because sea-level rise will subsume them at a terrible price for all of us. And because building, operating and decommissioning them involves making and leaving a pervasive and persistent mess the like of which we have not equalled anywhere else.
At the same time, even if we abandon the energy vices of nuclear power and fossil fuels — an urgent necessity — we recognize that we have not solved our destructive ways. Even renewable energy comes with extractive impacts and environmental justice violations. While we struggle to remediate these, we are all too aware that we have left it far too late. We were Once-lers from the beginning, our greed trumping conservation and efficient use of energy. We didn’t listen to the Lorax or hear the Peregrine’s warning call. Instead, we are in a race against time and our own folly. We are in the time of “UNLESS”.
Beyond Nuclear 5th Sept 2021
September 6 Energy News — geoharvey
Opinion: ¶ “New York City Was Never Built To Withstand A Deluge Like The One Ida Delivered – It Showed” • When the remnants of Hurricane Ida dumped more than 7 inches of rain on parts of New York City, officials and meteorologists seemed stunned by the devastating flooding that ensued. But Scientists have been […]
September 6 Energy News — geoharvey
Radioactive waste dump plan puts the Eyre Peninsula’s reputation at risk, lacks genuine community consent
Stock Journal, Terry Schmucker, Cootra 2nd September 2021 The radioactive waste site at Napandee does not have genuine community support. Farmers and farmland within as little as 20 kilometres from the radioactive waste dump at Napandee were not included in the official community vote.
Voting was centred on the Kimba local government area, which splits the community near the waste dump by the local council boundary. The vote also excluded Native Title holders because their traditional land extends beyond the council area and they live outside the district.Temporarily storing intermediate level waste at the headwaters of the Eyre Peninsula will seriously impact on the reputation of our prime food production from our agriculture and fisheries. https://www.facebook.com/groups/344452605899556
1 This month.
PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/235274195556
19 May – Webinar- Webinar: No Nuclear Weapons in Australia
Start: 2026-05-19 18:00:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
End: 2026-05-19 19:30:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
20 May – Webinar – The dangerous world of AUKUS, US, military occupation and suppression of dissent
National Webinar, 20th May, 2026, 6.30pm AEST. Confronting laws restricting/suppressing protest speech and action
Speakers: Former Sen. Rex Patrick, Lawyer Nick Hanna ,Arthur Rorris ,Jorgen Doyle, Sen David Shoebbridge,
Facilitator Kelley Tranter.
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 