Victorian Liberal Party opposes wind farms
Wind farm policy is one of the few clear-cut differences between the major parties, and shapes as a significant issue in some regional seats at the November election.
“……….Under a policy released last month, Mr Baillieu announced that turbines would be banned along most of the coast, several mountain ranges, in or near national and state parks and designated regional population growth corridors and within two kilometres of any home unless a contract was signed with the owner. Continue reading
Wind turbines not harmful to health
No evidence that wind turbines make people sick Herald Sun: AAP * July 02, 2010 THERE is no evidence that wind turbines can make people who live nearby sick, Australia’s peak health body has concluded following a scientific review. Continue reading
Cane Toads a metaphor for uranium nuclear Australia?
Warmer Is Better: Invasive Cane Toads Set to Thrive Under Global Warming ScienceDaily (July 1, 2010) — As global warming threatens many animal species with extinction, the already destructive cane toad is set to flourish with increasing temperature, say Australian scientists. Continue reading
Visual guide to Zero Carbon Australia
The Oil Drum: Australia/New Zealand | Zero Carbon Australia by Phil Hart on July 2, 2010 The Oil Drum: “…..key graphics and information from the synopsis report by Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE). Note also the launch of the full report in Melbourne on 14th July.
Energy efficiency, gas and renewables, could replace coal power
The grimy valley struggles on, Reportage Enviro, 2 July 2010 Jenny Jägerhorn “………………….The brown-coal-fired generation plants in the valley account for 85 per cent of Victoria’s greenhouse contributions. Hazelwood power station produces up to 16 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, which is almost 15 percent of Victoria’s annual greenhouse gas emissions, and 3 percent of Australia’s total carbon emissions. Continue reading
Uranium mining exempted from Resources tax, Ferguson fixes it.
Tax deal lifts cloud over miners, Sydney Morning Herald, 2 july 2010, Australia’s biggest miners face paying more tax, but not nearly as much as feared, after winning big concessions from the federal government….
Most importantly, the new tax will not affect BHP Billiton’s $23 billion plan to expand the massive Olympic Dam mine, the world’s biggest uranium deposit ….
Having signed off on the resource rent deal, only one major uncertainty remains for the miners. Will this new tax be approved by Australia’s Senate following an election expected in the next few months? Continue reading
Call to Australians to dump Ferguson’s nuclear waste dump plan
“The Government must stop pushing the Muckaty dump plan and establish an independent and public review of nuclear waste management options based on best science, transparent process and community inclusion and consent, as it committed to do in 2007.”
ACF is seeking community support and donations to run newspaper and billboard advertising in Melbourne, asking for him and the Government to ‘Dump the Dump’.Concerned Australians can find out more and donate at www.dumpthedump.org.au
AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATION FOUNDATION 2 July 2010 The Australian Conservation Foundation has launched a major new campaign to end Resources Minister Martin Ferguson’s plan for a nuclear waste dump at Muckaty, 120 kilometres north of Tennant Creek. Continue reading
Greens offer Gillard to vote in a carbon tax
Greens make Gillard a climate offer,Tradingroom.com.au, By Cathy Alexander June 29 2010, Pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Julia Gillard to reveal what she will do on climate change, with the Australian Greens making her an offer. Continue reading
South Australian govt ordered to pay legal costs of anti uranium protestors
Anti-uranium protesters win legal costs from SA Government , ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 30 June 2010, A court has ordered the South Australian Government to pay the legal bills of nine people who were assaulted and unlawfully detained during an anti-uranium protest. Continue reading
Young voters will judge Gillard on Climate Change action
The new Prime Minister has an opportunity to win voters with a fresh approach to climate change. Last year, 97.5 per cent of the 37,000 young people who voted in Youth Decide, a national youth referendum organised by the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, supported stronger cuts in emissions than what was then offered by the ALP…
…At the next election, for the first time, more than one in five voters will be of Generation Y. Young people’s future, and Julia Gillard’s future, will depend on her ability to implement effective climate change solutions.
Gen Y to Julia: Take a bold stance for our climate, Sydney Morning Herald, from Australian Youth Climate Coalition, JOEL DIGNAM, June 28, 2010, Julia Gillard can be more than Australia’s first female Prime Minister: she can be our first prime minister to take the necessary steps to tackle carbon pollution.
Now Julia Gillard is in a perfect space to take prompt action to position the ALP as the only major party with a serious climate policy. Continue reading
Australia must act on Climate Change, but Nuclear is Not the Answer
Australian climate could be a “harbinger of change” to the rest of the world. What scientists say we have ahead of us if global warming is not prevented, such as Severe droughts and Fires, are already rife in Australia as climate change warms their already hot environment……
……All eyes will be on Australia in the coming years. It may well show a bleak future for the rest of us, unless we act now to prevent further global warming. Global Warming In Australia: A Climate Changing | Global Changes
Renewable energy would be a vote winner for Gillard
Green power an easy win for Australia-scientists , Australia needs CO2 price but other steps should come first* More support for wind, solar key to climate policy puzzle By David Fogarty, , June 29 (Reuters) – Australia’s new leader should ramp up renewable energy use and enshrine tougher energy efficiency standards to fight global warming, leading climate scientists said on Tuesday, describing them as easy policy wins…. Continue reading
BHP, Rio Tinto, aim for rampant ripoff of Australia’s resources
Christina Macpherson 29 June 2010, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto etc paid lip service to Australia’s new Prime Minister Julia Gillard, in temporarily closing their multi-million dollar advertising campaign against the Australian Government’s proposed super profit resources tax.
They might now be back in force – because it’s no holds barred in the corporate mining world.
Do Australians realise that many responsible national bodies, and some international ones, such as the International Monetary Fund, see this resources tax as necessary and fair for Australians now and in the future?
It’s not an idea that’s unique to Australia. Similar taxes are now in existence in South Africa, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Chile, – Venezuela and Mongolia have gone further. Germany is introducing a uranium fuel tax. Perhaps the days of mining corporations’ rampant ripoff of national resources are coming to an end
No nuclear waste dump for uranium baron South Australia
with past scientific assessment declaring Woomera in South Australia as the best option, Premier Mike Rann was quickly on the defensive, saying a nuclear waste dump would jeopardise his state’s clean, green reputation.
“We took the Howard government to the High Court to stop the nation’s nuclear waste dump being set up in this state.
Arguments flare again over nuke waste dump, David Nason , The Australian , June 29, 2010 JULIA Gillard’s rise to Prime Minister has sparked a new debate over where to locate a nuclear waste dump. Continue reading
Australia’s hope for action on Climate Change
The Australian Labor Party used to be inspired by Ben Chifley’s 1949 speech about “THE LIGHT ON THE HILL”.
That light dimmed as decades went by, and things in Australia have been pretty dark – especially for the environment, over recent decades.
Now, perhaps, there’s a glimmer again. Prime Minister Julia Gillard says that she is not intending to promote those ALP power brokers, (whose goal is self-advancement, and bugger the environment – my words, not Gillard’s).
Julia Gillard will fight for a carbon tax. That’s a start, as all thorough students of global warming come up with a carbon tax as the only practical way to start to address Australia’s problem of its immense per capita greenhouse gas output.
1 This month
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
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