Posted by: sustainadelic
on 14 Aug, 2011
It seems the Greens were right to reject Kevin Rudd's emissions trading scheme and CPRS (Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme) and hold out for a better deal. According to an assessment by climate-change think tank Climate Works, based at Melbourne's Monash University, the Gillard government's current carbon tax and Clean Energy Future Plan will generate double the emissions reductions of Rudd's package.
Posted by: sustainadelic
on 01 Mar, 2010
NSW Premier Kristina Keneally made a revealing comment this week, ahead of a decision by State Planning Minister Tony Kelly on whether to approve coal-fired power stations at Bayswater in the upper Hunter and Mt Piper at Lithgow, west of Sydney.
"What we're doing with our future (power) generation at those sites is providing opportunities for the market to determine and we will be progressing those in a fuel neutral development process," she told reporters on Friday.
"We do have to add to our base load, we know that, and that's why we've taken a position of fuel neutrality," she said.
Fuel neutrality? Translation: we'll be going for the cheapest option, ie coal.
Meanwhile, a study by thinktank Beyond Zero Emissions has come up with a plan to switch Australia to 100 per cent renewable power by 2020 using existing technologies.
And the respected Scientific American magazine ran a cover story on a Stanford University study that concludes the world can source ALL its energy from renewables.
The most cost-effective time to switch to new technology is when commissioning new power stations. Opting for new coal-fired power stations would be climate madness, locking us into decades of greenhouse gas emissions. It would also risk leaving NSW with useless infrastructure if an ETS or price on carbon does ultimately price coal out of the market.
But, as the authors of the Stanford University study note, "perhaps the most significant barrier to the implementation of their plan is the competing energy industries that currently dominate political lobbying for available financial resources".
Posted by:
on 20 Dec, 2009
Hot on the heels of the failure of world leaders to reach a legally binding deal to limit greenhouse gas emissions at Copenhagen comes news that the worlds biggest coal port - in Newcastle, NSW - has been shut down for 7.5 hours by activists including a local councillor and Buddhist monk. About a dozen protesters, including an 86-year-old man, were arrested.
Posted by: sustainadelic
on 28 Aug, 2009
`Sentence first, verdict afterwards,' said the Queen in Alice in Wonderland, and I suspect Kevin Rudd might have said something not entirely contrary-wise to Environment Minister Peter Garrett about the massive Gorgon natural gas project off the coast of northwest Australia.
Posted by:
on 27 Apr, 2009
There's an excellent piece in the Sydney Morning Herald by Paddy Manning about Graham Brown, a miner who retired recently after more than two decades working in the Hunter Valley coalmines.
Posted by:
on 24 Mar, 2009
Hundreds of people blocked the coal port in Newcastle on Saturday March 21 in the fourth annual blockade of the world's biggest coal port. Protestors say that Newcastle Port Corporation cancelled all ships coming into the harbour for the day although Port Waratah Coal Services says the operations were barely affected and it was business as usual.
Posted by:
on 27 Feb, 2009
Our favourite film brothers direct an advert on the merits of clean coal. Note that this video requires flash - if you can't see it here, watch it at ThisIsReality.org.
Posted by:
on 26 Jan, 2009
Leading climate scientist James Hansen has written a personal plea to Barack Obama, saying the next four years could be humanity's last chance to avoid runaway climate change.
Posted by:
on 12 Aug, 2008
Interesting comment in the latest George Monbiot article in the Guardian...
