Tony Abbott has gone off the deep end when it comes to climate change, expressing the view that the climate has cooled in recent years. This view alone – the equivalent to believing the sun rotates around the earth or that the world is only 6000 years old – is enough to disqualify Tony Abbott [...]
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The Climate Change Citizens Assembly
Ad Astra over at The Political Sword has a very interesting post about Julia Gillard’s citizens assembly policy. It’s a long post and it is all worth reading. I’ll excerpt a fairly large part below: I suppose we should not be surprised that most journalists have sneeringly dismissed the proposal by Julia Gillard to convene [...]
100% renewable energy in Australia by 2020
The target in Australia of 20% renewable energy by 2020 is the lowest it can respectfully be. There is no reason for the target number other than “it sounds good”. We’re currently around less than 5% in Australia. A recent report by Zero Emissions Network and the University of Melbourne Energy Research Institute shows that [...]
Crikey runs with misleading coal-lobby ads
NewGenCoal is a slick marketing campaign by the coal lobby to try to convince politicians and Australians that the fossil fuel industry is serious about climate change. Unfortunately, the reverse is true, and the coal lobby has done everything in its power to stall comprehensive action on climate change. Crikey has often lambasted the Australian [...]
Rooted in fantasy land
Tim Hollo from Crikey blog Rooted is living in fantasy land: The government’s hope of clinging to any remaining climate credibility relies on pretending that it was the Greens who were intractable, not them. This fits neatly with the Labor mythology of who the Greens are, but it contrasts dramatically with the actual behaviour of [...]
Future Proof in Alphington
Future Proof, a new community project aimed at promoting the uptake of solar panels, has launched its pilot program in Alphington. We aim to prepare our communities, homes and businesses for a low-carbon future – to make them future proof – by making Melbourne and Australia leaders in renewable energy use. Future Proof aims to [...]
Climatologists vs. meteorologists
I wrote a few months ago that in the United States, TV weathermen are increasingly skeptical about climate change, while at the same time being highly trusted on the issue by the public. This is despite many TV weathermen not having a degree relating to their on-screen activities (the days of meteorologists being hired by [...]
Lessons from The (Modern) Prince, Part 1: The CPRS
As part of my Project 52 posts, I thought I’d spend a few weeks musing on the lessons of Niccolo Machiavelli not learned in our modern times. I’ve added a parenthetical “Modern” as a reference to my favourite theorist Antonio Gramsci‘s famous treatise The Modern Prince. In The Modern Prince, political parties are cast in [...]
Complaining about Jon Faine
I sent this complaint into the ABC today after hearing some outrageous commentary from Jon Faine. If you were unfortunate enough to tune in as well, I encourage you to also make a complaint. You can do so here. I tuned into 774 to hear Jon Faine “interviewing” Dr Peter Singer. I understand that Jon [...]
Hybrid and electric cars
Video maker Peter Sinclair has produced a fantastic 9 minute YouTube clip on hybrid cars and renewable energy. A feature of the video is the Chevy Volt, the new General Motors car that uses an electric battery that is re-charged from a socket, or from a petrol engine while driving. Genius. It also goes over [...]
Alan Kohler shows he doesn't know about politics
Alan Kohler, of Business Spectator fame, wrote yesterday in Crikey: Against all expectations, Tony Abbott and Greg Hunt have actually come up with a clever climate change policy, and certainly one that will change the debate in Australia. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will now have to quickly do a deal with the Greens to get [...]
Closer to dangerous tipping points: Arctic emissions increase
A new report shows that carbon emissions from the Arctic have increased dramatically: ARCTIC emissions of a powerful greenhouse gas jumped 30 per cent in recent years in a worrying hint that global warming might unlock vast stores frozen in permafrost, scientists say. The 30.6 per cent rise in emissions from the Arctic from 2003-2007, [...]
Weathermen amongst most trusted authorities on climate change; many are skeptics
Columbia Journalism Review reports a worrying fact: a significant number of US weathermen on TV believe climate change is a scam, and two thirds of Americans trust weathermen for information about climate change. Coleman’s crusade caught the eye of Kris Wilson, an Emory University journalism lecturer and a former TV news director and weatherman himself, [...]
What if it's a hoax?
From USA Today. A funny cartoon, with a serious message. Many politicians and leaders don’t understand the benefits of switching to a low carbon economy. Shifting to a low carbon economy and embracing ecologically sustainable development will bring untold benefits for humanity, and for Australians. There is no doubt about the science of climate change, [...]
Explaining cap and trade
An interesting little video from the creators of the Story of Stuff, this has an explanation of how “cap and trade” (emissions trading) works, and the major pitfalls with the system. Unfortunately, the video is one of those preachy, moralising videos that is full of criticisms but no solutions. The closest it comes is proposing [...]
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Lessons from the (Modern) Prince, Part 4: Understanding the Greens in Tasmania
- No Clean Feed campaign needs to drop their "censorship" obsession
- Alan Kohler shows he doesn't know about politics
- The Robin Hood Tax
- Seven ways for unions to use Twitter
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The Labor-Greens deal
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Blogging will recommence when the count is resolved
- Five articles I’m reading today
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Election Diary, day 35: Why I’m betting on Labor
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Good news for Tony Abbott: Off the deep end on climate change
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Jeremy: Oh, you're right that Labor hasn't been ...
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Alexander White: In the last term, almost everything that Labor tri...
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mark: Tony Abbott would like to pensioners and old austr...
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