12 posts tagged “climate change”
It's been a shocking week and it's only Wednesday.
Monday night got things off to an exciting start with the 4 Corners program giving the Climate Change skeptics a full run. After all Malcolm's efforts to try and hide these characters the ABC has given them the opportunity to increase the size of the hole in the hull and they went for it boots and all.
Then something snapped in Joe Hockey who is supposed to be a future leader of the Libs. For some strange reason he has decided to play the God card, presumably because he thinks it will better his chances in Leadership ballots. Logic fail. Kevin 07 beat Howard in spite of his religious beliefs not because of them.
Aussies are always supicious of "God Bothering" from pollies. Yes, you can declare your hand if the matter is raised by others but to start the topic yourself is a very dangerous tactic. When you have another political challenger in your Party representing Cardinal Pell pushing a different God then things can get ugly mighty fast.
To add insult to injury, young Joe has also come out with the extraordinary claim that he doesn't lie. Perhaps he has already forgotten his part in promoting Work Choices but the victims of it haven't. It shouldn't be too long now before the Interviewers start reading back on his unhappy time as the Minister and start quizzing his pronouncements. Perhaps he should have added the caveat "from now on" but even that would be a struggle. His announcement that "People smuggling is in decline" though not an outright lie is certainly a dishonest presentation of the facts.
All this on top of Howard sticking his head up to remind the Voters of children being imprisoned with their asylum seeking parents.
The week can only improve from here.
How's this for an elegant put down of the current plan by the Victorian government to base our future on "Clean Coal" technology.
It has been submitted to a few papers, by Noel, to see if it gets a run.
I'll also be writing a piece myself over the cheapest option for our aging coal plants in the next day or two.
Nice work Noel. Blogging should be your next career advancement. No Editors to get past!!
_Business Opportunity_!
Following the successful promotion of the "Clean Coal" technology study to the Victorian Government, "Oxymorons Inc" is now seeking interested parties to join with us in Phase 2 of the project.
This vertically integrated Phase 2 will be titled "Dry Water".
Our basic business model is to capture and dehydrate the huge water surpluses in the nation's northern river systems, using (of course) solar energy.
We will then refine and package the product in cardboard boxes which can readily be transported by air, rail or road (at minor cost) to Victoria’s brown coal plants It is then just a simple matter of adding tap water to reconstitute and apply the resource.
As a further revenue stream, surplus ‘Dry Water” packages could be sold to the State’s . drought-affected areas.
Applicants with some technical capacities could be useful, but essential skills required will include the abilities to write successful Government grant applications, and to lobby vigorously the progress of same.
N.L.Matthews
Politics is an ugly business at the Senate level. It all comes down to the numbers and occasionally the simple head count makes strange bed fellows.
The continuing stalling tactics from the Forces of Darkness to not address emissions trading continues to hold us back from making the changes we will have to make to help save The Great Barrier Reef.
This has led to folk like Nick Xenophon on the same side of the argument as the Climate Change Deniers, the Nationals, and the Climate Change Confused, the Liberals. No long ago we even had the Greens siding with the deniers in a bid to make changes to the legislation even though both want it moved in opposite directions.
Now here lies the problem for those who want to advance our Economy into the strange new world where the polluter pays. Delaying a start does not guarantee any improvement under the current structure of the Australian Senate. Quite the opposite in fact. Because the Government needs every other "Independent" outside the coalition camp it only takes one Senator to delay or crush any changes to the law.
Currently we have a real problem with Senator Fielding who clearly has very little idea of where he stands except for wanting to get his photo taken. Recently he even went as far as to travel to the US to enjoy the attentions of Climate Change skeptics and came back with data that was at least 2 years old and already dealt with. Apparently reading Aussie science is a bit beyond him.
It reminds me of Little Johnnie Howard. Be it the Queen or George Dubya, a little attention from "higher authorities" had him falling all over himself to curry favour. I think the same goes with Fielding. Scientists are never going to go fawning over a pollie where as Big Business is used to fluffing up pollies for their own advantage. That puts him in the same category as the Nationals. They get a lot of funding from the Mining industry so they are in lock step with their benefactors.
If Nick Xenophon thinks he can win through on Emissions Trading in the current structure then I think he is dreaming. His moral standards are not all that common in the House and the real weaklings are for sale to the highest bidder.
The good ship Lost Cause appears to have met with some technical hitches of late and it makes me wonder how long it is going to take the new crew to get a grip on their not so new roles.
First and foremost the crew seems to be unaware they are
still stuck on the rocks that John and Peter drove them onto before the last
Election. This is a little puzzling because it’s pretty clear even to the
Liberal party that things are not going swimmingly well. The problem seems to be below deck and they haven't searched that far yet.
The problem comes from a number of areas not the least of which is being caused by wanting their old job back without getting their policies under control. The idea that they should be focussing on being a strong Opposition doesn’t seem to have occurred just yet, so, to continue the metaphor, they are trying to relaunch the good ship Lost Cause while it still has structural damage.
The “Fake email” affair is fair of example of just how far off the mark the party is. Desperate to have something to attack the Government over, they rushed off without checking the data (assuming they didn’t help create it) and the whole fiasco blew up in their faces.
Here are a couple of tips to help the hapless Malcolm get
his mind around the job. Lets call it Opposition 101.
1. Don’t run the attack of something like secret emails yourself. That is what gooses like Ironbar Tuckey are for. You let the story break with a known dill and see if it will fly. That way if the story goes “pear shaped” you are not left standing there with your finger prints on the evidence and public statements to answer to. If the story grows legs you still get the points but you can claim to be above such gutter tactics.
2. When the horse has died in the traces, put the whip away. Like living in a successful marriage, if you have fallen into a hole. Stop digging. Make the apology and accept the fact that it makes you look human. It’s actually a plus with the Voters though who knows how the Party will view it.
3. Don’t attack the strongest member on the other side. This one is simply common sense.
4. Stop trying to discredit Kevin 07 on character issues. Current public perception is young Kevin is boringly straight while the Opposition is projecting themselves as desperate folk unprofessional enough to run any hint of a problem without the skills to check it out. This last episode looks like more of the same.
5.
Get yourself a serious Emissions Trading Scheme.
You were voted out for ignoring Global Warming and blocking and filibustering new
legislation simply show the Public you are still without answers. Forget what the party wants. It's supposed to be about what the Voters want unless you aspire to the Iranian model.
6. Cast off those crazy Nationals. (Think of them as ballast). Trying to hide Climate Change deniers is no easy trick especially when one of them is Barnaby Joyce. You have a serious cred problem here and you cannot solve it with these folk holding back policies.
This morning I was surprised to hear Joe Hockey defend the fake email on RN Breakfast. I know he has a role to perform as the 2 IC but this one is dead. He might have something to work on with the Treasurer but it isn't the email. He was actually changing his position as he went through the interview. Clearly he had not thought the problem through and he was trying out different excuses “live to air”. Ouch. You have to have your story straight before you face the media.
The starting gambit was “the email exists so it’s proof something is happening”
Fran. “But the police have discovered it is a fake”
Hockey. “Yes but it proves it does exist”
(Not sure what he was aiming at here but it certainly does not do his party any credit that it does and they ran with it. He was probably trying to restate obvious stuff before running a smoke screen but just happened to pick the wrong item.)
Fran. “Are you claiming it’s not a fake?”
Hockey. “It proves an email exists. Doesn’t it?”
(Hmm. Sounds like he was going to try and claim its existence was proof of guilt but then it didn’t sound like such a smart idea. The inflection hinted at 2nd thoughts as did the question mark)
A little later on. Fran. “Are you going to release the details of this email?”
Hockey. “This matter is in police hands.”
(Ouch. The old subjudice argument except it doesn’t hold water in this case. The text of this “missing” email was read into Hansard by a Senator late last week. )
At the end of the interview, Hockey was asked to character reference the person alleged to have produced the fake email. Surprisingly he did so. Even though the suspect is an ex-Hockey staffer, I would have thought it time to play safe in case the poor chap has had a brain fade and generated the fake with malice aforethought. I’m not going to complain too much about him supporting the guy, that’s rather human, but it does add to the overall look of an Opposition that doesn’t think forward and is prepared to front the media without a solid plan.
Once the party gets over trying to set policy to meet their internal wishes and starts formulating policies to meet Voters requirements, then things will start to get underway again. I just can’t predict how long it is going to take them to “get it together”.
It looks like we may have an opportunity for the Nationals to make a stand for a “fair go” for farmers in Tasmania after it was revealed that Gunns are getting heavily subsidised water while farmers cop the full price.
The comparison is stark. Farmers claim they are being charged $1100 a megalitre while Gunns are suffering a cost of $24 for the same amount.
As with all good stats, the figure isn’t cut and dried. Gunns themselves claim the farmers have a surcharge of $1100 added for the building of a pipeline for the farmers while they built their own. Clearly there needs to be further examination of the figures and farmers paying bills in excess of $1 million like John Gleeson will be wondering how many times the surcharge is bring applied to their bill.
This obviously doesn’t make much sense. If the surcharge is applied per megalitre then the farmers are getting their water for free. If it’s applied once per bill then $1100 is hardly a pimple on a $1 Million plus water bill. I’ll be interested to see where this leads but one thing is predictable. The Nationals, who promote themselves as pro farmer, have consistently sided with campaign contributors against the interests of “the battlers”. They are unlikely to take up the issue.
I hope this matter is handled honestly but history is against it. Gunns has never suffered at the hands of the Tasmanian Government regardless of who is in power. If a few pollies are on the kickback program then a lot of background noise will be generated rather than addressing the problem .
I’m going to drop an email to Barnaby Joyce to see if he is going to buy in to the debate. It would be a breath of fresh air to see him coming up with something constructive instead of his usual Climate Change denial.
To see the original article from Friday’s AM program click here.
Funds collection is in full swing for running it during the Boxing Day Test. They look like even being able to cover the regional stations as well and if they make $200,000 they will attain a blanket coverage.
See it here.
Love the Howard voice over.
Last night I watched Lateline on ABC TV and towards the end of the program Professor Garnaut was interviewed about the soft targets he has set for Australia to battle Climate Change.
He was closely questioned by Tony Jones who managed to blow through the tactic of "lots of words but bugger all content" and pinned him down on the future of some of Australia's biggest tourist attractions. Basically he has written off the northern part of the Great Barrier Reef, the Kakadu Wetlands, Alpine regions, and the Murray Darling Basin.
To say I was staggered is an understatement, but this morning I was even more surprised to find no outrage on the News services. For the commercial stations this is understandable. Low attention spans and a good nights' sleep probably mean they have already forgotten it, but the ABC programs should certainly be aware of what runs on their flagship program and it can't be too hard to work out that this is going to go down like the lead balloon.
Before the Election the Libs stupidly tried to claim the country can't afford to tackle Climate Change, immediately preferring to dig coal than support the tourist industry. It killed their claims of good economic managers and was very unpopular with the Voters precisely because we love our tourist attractions and it carries a lot of jobs.
Surrendering some of our best attractions can't be allowed to pass without one hell of a fight. Regardless of how long it takes other countries to get their shit together. By getting ourselves in shape first we can maximise our efforts while it is cheaper to do so and squeeze every possible process to try and minimise the damage caused by ourselves.
Doing nothing, or very little, is just not good enough. Planning to fail is a defeatist approach and takes the pressure off the slackers. Let's get the pressure on and bloody well go for it.
The matter is way more important than a solitary dam in Tasmania so I expect the outcry to surpass the Franklin Dam response. If it isn't then we don't deserve this fine country we live in.
To see the astonishing claims and watch Tony Jones's excellent style go here. Video clip to the right of the transcript
The Avaaz group want to welcome The President Elect and are putting a huge billboard near the White House. It looks like a very interesting idea that is pushing for a fair dinkum effort on Climate Change, Human Rights, and Peace.
Check out the link, and if you think it's a good idea, add your signature to the counter.
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Dear friends,
|
Obama's win is a fresh start for US relations with the world. Let's send a global message of hope and invitation to work together to the new President - it will be displayed on a giant wall in Washington DC: |
Obama's victory brings a chance for the US to finally join with the world community to take on pressing challenges on climate change, human rights, and peace.
After years, even decades of distrust, let's seize this moment of unity, reconciliation and hope to send a message of warm congratulations and invitation to work together to the new President and the American people.
We've built a huge wall near the White House in Washington DC where the number of signatures on our message and personal messages from around the world will grow over the next several hours. We've also asked Obama to personally receive our petition from a group of Avaaz members. Let's get to 1 million signers and messages to Obama! Sign on at the link below and forward this email to others
This is a time for celebration of democracy, but already the sharks are starting to circle – oil companies, war contractors, conservative lobbyists, and the powerful neo-con clique that brought us the war in Iraq are looking for ways to dim the prospects for change. Obama has promised national unity, and these interests will ask a high price for that unity.
Let's act quickly to make sure the people of the world are heard as Obama makes crucial choices in the coming days on how to live up to his campaign promises to secure a strong global treaty on climate change, ban torture and close Guantanamo prison, withdraw carefully from Iraq, and double aid to make global poverty history. Rarely has a US President been more likely to listen to us.
We'll make the point that on most of the pressing issues faced by Obama and the American people – from the financial crisis to climate change -- we need to work together as one world to achieve change. Sign below and forward this message on:
Message to Obama
With folk looking to lessen their impact on the environment,
the subject of burial has popped up and it makes for a very interesting discussion.
In Oz, cremation is used for 90% of burials which is a total turnaround from the early 1900’s when it was very rare not to be buried “6 feet under”. When cremation was first discussed most folk were horrified by the thought of being burnt but now the idea of being eaten by worms seems to be regarded as horrific. The “worms” option is probably a misnomer in any case, with modern caskets and the actual depth of burial making it difficult for nature to take its course.
Some new thinking on the matter has given rise to several choices.
Firstly, the carbon generated by a cremation is rated at 160 kilos while the carbon generated by a straight burial, on the day, is rated at a mere 39 kilos. On the face of it, the cremation looks to have lost the battle but the key here is the “on the day” qualifier. After cremation there are generally no ongoing costs while traditional burials have maintenance issues such as mowing the lawns. Add to this argument the new idea of the grave returning to the cemetery for re-use and the calculations get very complicated.
I wonder how they came at the 160 kilo figure for a cremation? I don’t know if it is just from the body or includes the furnace process too. Perhaps you can be atomised by a solar panel on a hot day for a more carbon friendly exit?
Secondly, the idea of being buried in a shroud and not so deep down, with a tree to grow from your remains. This offers the environment the chance of re-using your body in a much quicker time frame. Aesthetically, this will probably find some favour but no one really knows if this is any better environmentally. By the very nature of the cemetery being a bush setting, they are miles out of town so every visit, not made by bicycle, carries a carbon cost. And how does the cost work out here? What happens if a bush fire sweeps through? Does the price of internment cover replacement of trees lost through an act of God?
Probably the best carbon outcome would be to have the doctors removed the bits they need for the living, then send the rest of the body home for a shallow burial down behind the shed. With a couple of fruit trees planted on top. Aside from breaking goodness knows how many by-laws, it sounds like a marginal improvement on what they did in the Good Ol’ Days and a big improvement on recent common practice.
I look forward to seeing the new options and the calculations behind them. Hopefully I don't have any snap decisions to make before it's all clarified.
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