The response to global warming has to be at the same time political, science-based, and economically informed. Reading the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) 2020 World economic outlook: a long and difficult ascent, is instructive on this point.
Spending priorities by the federal government are increasingly questionable, if not indefensible; they raise fundamental questions about the competence and intelligence of our policymaking elites. (more…)
Plastics: littering the ocean floor, not being recycled, not easily replaced, may or may not provide oil and gas producers with a prosperous future. Populations of vertebrates have declined by 68% in 50 years.
The Australian Government is dangerously out-of-touch as climate change accelerates and a cascade of tipping points risks unstoppable global warming.
It is clear from this week’s budget that the Federal government will continue to delay the decarbonisation of our economy and appears determined to extend the life of declining fossil fuel industries. (more…)
A look at current figures to see if China going carbon-free will destroy Australia’s coal industry. COVID is bad enough but some people have had COVID and extreme weather events to deal with. Governments have an opportunity to use the COVID recovery to clean up international trade’s supply chains and emissions. How to buy sustainable fish.
This analysis identified five lobbying organisations that stood out as the ‘most obstructive, negative and influential’ in refusing to address climate change. They were the Minerals Council of Australia, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, NSW Minerals Council, the Business Council of Australia and the Australian Petroleum Producers and Exploration Association. (more…)
In Mafia folklore, when faced with an existential crisis, the mobsters would “go to the mattresses” a euphemism for dropping everything to engage in a life and death struggle with their enemies.
Developing countries need help to avoid the clutches of the fossil fuel industry. Action is needed right now to combat climate change and the UK’s NHS is up for the challenge. 64 world leaders commit to ‘Living in Harmony with Nature’ to reverse biodiversity loss but Australia and Indonesia must have lost the invitation. China out in front on renewables.
That health and illness are close associates of wealth and poverty is well known. This dictum applies to covid-19 both within and among nations.
Russia Doesn’t Threaten the United States in the Far North—But Climate Change Does.
The Coalition government’s energy plan ensures the emissions tap will continue to flow. While economic recovery following the pandemic is an important objective, to ignore the consequences of persisting with fossil fuels is incomprehensible.
In Australia, denial mounts. The recent “Gas-Led Recovery” and “Technological Roadmap” announcements of the Morrison government confirm the continued influence of the fossil fuel industry and its lobbyists.
At least the latest energy plan – the coalition’s 22nd, and counting – is not all about gas.
Many carbon budgets are based on an under-estimation of warming to date, and the path of future warming. And all such budgets either ignore, or underplay, the loss of carbon from long-term stores — such as the melting of permafrost — which are already active processes.
Despite presidents and SUV drivers doing their bit for oil, the industry is going down the drain. China steps into the global climate action vacuum. Dr Fauci calls for a new relationship with nature to reduce the likelihood of more emerging infectious diseases. WH Auden praises the USA.
Exclusive new emissions analysis shows how much more dangerous for the climate SUVs are than smaller vehicles, and how embedded they have become in our lives.
The recent announcement that the World Economic Forum will be holding a unique twin summit in January 2021 on what is termed “The Great Reset “is the best news I have read for some time.
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If Scott Morrison ever went back to his old job of promoting tourism and needed to ramp up the travel industry, he would put his money on blimps. So gas is obviously the go. A sensible middle course, obviously the best option, even if it is the wrong one.
Morrison claimed that ‘gas chose itself’ to replace the Liddell power station. No, be honest Scotty, you and your mates chose gas.
Time again for Australia’s political leaders to ignore the regular cycle of reports that highlight the failure to deal with the coming climate disaster. The pandemic might provide a “look over there” opportunity to distract citizens, but the recent climate publications warrant close attention. (more…)
One in four chance that global warming will exceed 1.5oC at least once in next five years, and floods, water scarcity and food insecurity are set to create more displaced persons. Climate change is one of seven factors increasing the likelihood of another pandemic. Killer cats!
The only rival to the arrogance of Morrison’s gas-led recovery strategy is its irresponsibility.
The federal government’s “Next Generation Energy Technologies Investment Package” is designed to lock-in fossil fuels. (more…)
With the Federal Government announcement of a gas-lead recovery (and as a potential centrepiece having the large coal-fired power station, Liddell in NSW, replaced by gas generation) Australians can now have both lower emissions and lower energy prices. High fives all round.
Toast describes the huge threat climate change poses to the world and to Australia in particular. It explains why this is so difficult to perceive. It sets out evidence that the climate scientists, not the denialists, are right.
As ice melts, bushfires, heatwaves and cyclones intensify, many grapple with the question of “what kind of hope, if any, can I hold as climate catastrophe deepens?” To answer this question, we need to not only accept the realities of worsening climate destructions, but also re-examine the nature and agency of hope in the face of existential crisis. (more…)
It took one lunch with George W. Bush in 2001 for John Howard to agree to dropping ratification of Kyoto, without a word to his ministers. We became the president’s closest friend in resisting climate change.
Per head of population Australians produce a lot of greenhouse gases but with the right support household consumption and emissions can be reduced. Unfortunately, governments are currently more enthusiastic about subsidising fossil fuels. Shipping’s emissions continue to rise. The USA’s emissions in four charts.