Antinuclear

Australian news, and some related international items

Martin Ferguson undermining climate change policy

Ferguson-ur.Flag_AustraliaMinisters accused of blocking energy greening
Sydney Morning Herald Marian Wilkinson, Environment Editor July 27, 2009

THE state and federal energy ministers, led by Labor’s Martin Ferguson, are being accused of undermining the Rudd Government’s climate change policies in light of a report which finds the national electricity market they oversee is discouraging energy efficiency and new renewable energy.

“Energy ministers are rewarding polluting energy and blocking efficiency and clean alternatives”, said Jane Castle of the NSW Total Environment Centre which commissioned one of the leading energy consultancy firms, McLennan Magasanik Associates, to report on the role of the National Electricity Market in climate change……………………

The report comes after Mr Ferguson launched an attack on environmentalists for failing to support the expansion of Australia’s liquid natural gas projects and uranium mining, saying they did not understand, “where our electricity comes from, who pays for it and what the future of the global energy landscape looks like”.

But Ms Castle accused Mr Ferguson of thwarting the Rudd government’s climate change policies. “He heads the Ministerial Council on Energy which is actively obstructing the development of energy solutions which would bolster the economy, create jobs and protect us from rising carbon costs,” she said. “His overblown statements are intended to simply disguise his defence of Australia’s biggest polluters.”

The consultants’ findings were backed by one of Australia’s leading renewable energy companies, Pacific Hydro. Its spokesman, Andrew Richards, said the energy ministers needed to intervene to get the National Electricity Market to “transition from the old way of doing things”. As a first principle, he said, the electricity market needed to include a commitment to climate change policies.

Martin Ferguson’s climate change policy | Marian Wilkinson | Environment and ALP

July 27, 2009 Posted by | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming, politics, uranium | , , , , | 1 Comment

Drowning island pins hopes on clean energy – CNN.com

antinuke-international (for more internatiomal news, go to http://www.nuclear-news.net)


(CNN) 21 July 09 — Tuvalu, the fourth smallest nation on the planet, has announced it aims to be totally powered by renewable energy sources by 2020.

Located between Hawaii and Australia, the tiny Pacific nation is one of the world’s climate change hotspots and many believe it is already seeing the negative affects of rising sea levels.

The highest elevation on the island is just 4.5 meters (14.8 feet), and king tides have become increasingly damaging over the past 10 years, threatening the homes and livelihoods of its 12,000 inhabitants.

The government of Tuvalu is working with the e8, a consortium of 10 energy firms from the G8 nations that was set up after the 1992 Rio Earth Summit as a non-profit organization. The Tuvalu government estimates that it will take around $20 million in investment to reach the goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2020.

The first stage of the project has seen the roof of the country’s largest football stadium covered in solar panels, which supplies 5 percent of the electricity needed by the nation’s capital, Funafuti…………………………

“We thank those who are helping Tuvalu reduce its carbon footprint as it will strengthen our voice in upcoming international negotiations. And we look forward to the day when our nation offers an example to all — powered entirely by natural resources such as the sun and the wind,” said Kausea Natano, Tuvalu’s minister for public utilities and industries.

Drowning island pins hopes on clean energy – CNN.com

July 22, 2009 Posted by | climate change - global warming | , , , , | Leave a comment

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