Climate
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Lazard hails “inflection point” as wind, solar costs beat new and old fossils (Renew Economy)
Lazard hails “inflection point” as wind, solar costs beat new and old fossils. Continue reading »
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PETER SAINSBURY. IPCC’s 1.5oC report makes Paris Agreement redundant.
The report ‘Global Warming of 1.5oC’ was published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in October 2018. Although the report does not say so, the evidence it presents renders the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change redundant. It asks the wrong question, and its goals and strategies are now revealed to be completely Continue reading »
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SOPHIE VORRATH. Surge in renewables delivering cheaper power, says TAI report.
As ScoMo sets off in his big blue autographed campaign bus to Drive Down Electricity Prices in Queensland, the good news is that most of the hard work looks to have been already done for him. This article was published by Renew Economy on the 5th of November 2018. Continue reading »
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Health professionals condemn Australian Government’s contemptuous response to IPCC 1.5oC report .
In a letter to The Lancet twenty-two health professionals have condemned the Australian government’s contemptuous responses to the report ‘Global Warming of 1.5oC’ prepared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The letter includes a call for action covering the phase out of coal mining and burning, an increased CO2 emissions reduction target and Continue reading »
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RICHARD ECKERSLEY. The ghosts of past political failures haunt environmental challenges.
We will not solve climate change and other pressing global threats until we admit, and learn from, the repeated failures of past proclamations and promises. Continue reading »
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ANDREW GLIKSON. High sea level rise and the IPCC.
In a key paper titled “Scientific reticence and sea level rise” (https://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/abs/ha01210n.html) (2007) James Hansen, the renowned climate scientist, is critical of what he regards as major underestimates of the magnitude and pace of global warming, as further elaborated in the article “How the IPCC Underestimated Climate Change: Here are just eight examples of where Continue reading »
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ROSS GITTINS. World growth a toxic danger for the environment. (SMH 27.10.2018)
If the world’s population keeps growing, and the poor world’s living standards keep catching up with the rich world’s, how on earth will the environment cope with the huge increase in extraction, processing and disposal of material resources? Continue reading »
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NASSIM KHADEM. Why Australian company directors have started caring about climate change.
For the first time Australian company directors have nominated climate change as the number one issue they want the federal government to address in the long term, according to a survey of more than 1,200 company directors. Continue reading »
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JOHN KERIN. Droughts and Drought Policy
Drought policy has always been marked by the near impossibility to satisfactorily match efficiency, preparedness, risk management and resource base (environmental) management with welfare measures once large areas of the continent are declared to be in drought by State Government authorities. Continue reading »
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OLIVER YATES. Scott Morrison needs to realise Liberals are prepared to lose the election over climate change.
After Wentworth the government should know how passionate Liberal party members are about the environment. This article was published by The Guardian on the 23rd of October 2018. Continue reading »
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MARTIN HIRST. Who’s got the energy mix to win the Victorian state election?
As the Victorian election looms, energy prices are a critical issue for voters. The Liberals espouse scrapping the renewable energy target and lifting the ban on onshore gas extraction. Labor has its program for expanding wind and solar. Voters have a clear choice on energy and climate but have been presented with a false dichotomy: Continue reading »
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GEORGE MONBIOT. As the fracking protesters show, a people’s rebellion is the only way to fight climate breakdown.
Our politicians, under the influence of big business, have failed us. As they take the planet to the brink, it’s time for disruptive, nonviolent disobedience. This article was published by The Guardian on the 18th of October 2018. Continue reading »
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SOPHIE VORRATH. Coalition backing “big coal” over climate, says Sachs: “Unbelievably irresponsible”.
US economics professor Jeffrey Sachs has slammed the Australian federal government as “unbelievably irresponsible” for its inaction on climate change, and suggested that policy progress in the Coalition – alongside the current US Trump administration – has been held hostage by major fossil fuel interests. Continue reading »
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MEDIA WATCH TRANSCRIPT (Paul Barry). News Corp’s contempt for climate science revealed in its coverage of last week’s IPCC report
Hello, I’m Paul Barry, welcome to Media Watch. And last week’s dramatic report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change really sounded the alarm on the future of our planet, with scientists predicting the Great Barrier Reef could be wiped out by 2050 if we don’t act to slow down global warming.. Why does Continue reading »
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GREG JERICHO. Australia’s climate idiocracy must end – and there’s no time to waste.
The Liberal party’s biggest con was the idea that reducing emissions could be done without pain and at little cost. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KEATING. The Change from Turnbull to Morrison: What Difference has It Made?
Now that Scott Morrison has passed the fifty-day landmark as Prime Minister, this article considers what has changed since the demise of Malcolm Turnbull and what difference Scott Morrison will make in resolving the major policy challenges that Australia is facing. Continue reading »
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ALAN FINKEL. The science is clear: we have to start creating our low-carbon future today.
This week’s release of the special report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has put scientific evidence on the front page of the world’s newspapers. Continue reading »
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The road to 2oC and beyond: IPCC warnings of extreme global warming.
Scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicate that global temperature rise of 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures would constitute a threshold the planet cannot cross without suffering the worst effects of climate change. Yet according to the U.N. report, mean global land-sea temperatures have already risen above 1°C and the planet could pass Continue reading »
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SARAH ANN WHEELER, CÉLINE NAUGES. Farmers’ climate denial begins to wane as reality bites.
Australia has been described as the “front line of the battle for climate change adaptation”, and our farmers are the ones who have to lead the charge. Farmers will have to cope, among other pressures, with longer droughts, more erratic rainfall, higher temperatures, and changes to the timing of seasons. Continue reading »
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ADAM MORTON. In a canter? Climate experts say Australia will not meet emissions targets. (Guardian 11.10.2108)
Guardian Australia spoke to 12 economists and scientists – almost all reject government’s claim to be on track. Leading climate researchers have overwhelmingly rejected the federal government’s claim it is on track to cut greenhouse gas emissions as promised under the 2015 Paris agreement. Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. Ignore the planet and our grand children at our peril.
The government has thrown in its lot with climate sceptics, the loony right which includes the Murdoch media and the coal miners. We have a government with no policy on climate change at all. The responses by the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Ministers for the Environment and Energy to the latest IPCC report Continue reading »
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MARK BUTLER. There is only one energy future: firmed renewables. (AFR 10.10.2018)
Australia is in the deep throes of the most severe energy crisis in living memory. Power and gas prices have skyrocketed in recent years and are continuing to go up in spite of claims from the Liberal government that they have solved the energy crisis and prices are coming down. Continue reading »
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IAN McAULEY. Outdoor advertising – enclosing the commons
The furore over the projection of horse racing on the Sydney Opera House raises not only the issue of the treatment of Louise Herron at the hand of a radio shock jock and her lack of support from the NSW Government, but also the broader issue of appropriation of public space for commercial purposes. Continue reading »
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Coalition’s breathtakingly stupid response to IPCC climate report (RenewEconomy, 09.10.18)
It wasn’t too hard to predict what the Coalition government’s responses to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report would be – you just needed to know where they would be making them. Continue reading »
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PAUL BONGIORNO. Political climate uncomfortably hot for Scott Morrison (New Daily 9.10.2018)
The Prime Minister Scott Morrison found himself in a very awkward spot on the day the world’s most authoritative climate science body released its latest report. Continue reading »
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ROSS GARNAUT. Where Australia’s at 10 years after climate change review. (AFR 8.10.2018)
Energy costs will be lower if there is more investment in renewables capacity. Continue reading »
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CHRIS MILLS. The next BIG thing: renewable water.
When cattle and sheep are dying in vast number across Eastern Australia, how sane is it for the driest inhabited continent in the world not to capture and redirect wastewater and stormwater from our cities and towns into food and beverage production? Energy is a major component of the cost of treating and moving water. Continue reading »
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DAVID BOOTH, JOHN TURNBULL. The backflip over Sydney’s marine park is a defiance of science.
The New South Wales government’s decision to back away from establishing no-fishing zones in waters around Sydney leaves significant question marks over the plan, which is open for public consultation until September 27. Continue reading »
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JAMES FERNYHOUGH Scott Morrison is either lying about carbon emissions, or just plain ignorant (the New Daily, 02.10.18)
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Australia is on track to meet its 2030 emissions reduction target “in a canter”. But it’s not, and Mr Morrison is either being blindly optimistic or he is an outright liar. More fake news from Scott Morrison. Continue reading »
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STEPHEN LONG. Tesla battery proves a leading source of dispatchable power, AEMO says .
Scott Morrison said it would be about as useful for the electricity system as the Big Banana at Coffs Harbour or the Big Prawn at Ballina in NSW. He has a habit with fake news. Continue reading »