It's not the rich, stupid!

The Self-Attribution Fallacy

George Monbiot

"On Sunday evening I witnessed a remarkable thing: a debate on the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral between Stuart Fraser, chairman of the Corporation of the City of London, another official from the Corporation, the turbulent priest Father William Taylor, John Christensen of the Tax Justice Network and the people of Occupy London. It had something of the flavour of the Putney debates of 1647. For the first time in decades – and all credit to the Corporation officials for turning up – financial power was obliged to answer directly to the people.


It felt like history being made. The undeserving rich are now in the frame, and the rest of us want our money back".

If the world is not watching certainly Melburnians were!

The City Square was awash with demonstrators, police and then on-lookers who filled the outskirts of the Square spilling onto Swanston Street. Office workers were coming out of the offices in droves to view what was happening in their City Square. And it was a disturbing scene of force and counter force...hardly very edifying for the world's most liveable city!

Protesting is an essential counterbalance to feelings of inequity and social justice and our inability to deal with such events is likely to lead to civil disobedience borne of frustration that may have consequences beyond what we would have hoped. We live on a wire and if we stretch it too tight it is likely to break!

Abbott doesn't have to answer any questions...as no-one asks them!

Climate Spectator

Pricing in Abbott's carbon extremism
Giles Parkinson

How, exactly, do you assess the impact of the Opposition threats to rescind the carbon pricing legislation? As yet another tortured step in the evolution of the carbon market? Or just a really good couple of days for whiteboard manufacturers?

With each day that passes, the conservative Coalition in Australia more and more resembles the Tea Party reactionaries in the US, promoting policies that defy the science, are economically illiterate, are based on a distant technological past, and might as well have been orchestrated by Alan Jones, the NSW radio shock jock and Coalition puppeteer – or Rush Limbaugh, his US equivalent.
Scarily though, the prospect that this strategy might actually succeed threatens to add billions of dollars to the cost of energy in the country, and to the cost of carbon abatement. Sovereign risk has never been a greater threat. Read on........

What a lot of ABC and Fairfax dribble!

Of late I have been struck by the media portrayal of Julia Gillard in particular but also its thirst for the sensational! If its not bad enough having Andrew Bolt taking over the pages of the The Age it was last night on 7.30 Alan Jones being interviewed. Needless to say I turned off just as I have turned of RN Breakfast with Kelly and Grattan pontificating on whatever seems to be a way of pricking the Government bubble with flim-flam commentary that would make Tweedle Dum and Dee look insightful! 

Today The Age's report on the Queen's welcome by the PM takes the proverbial cake...all of it! The Age reported that "William Hanson, a British etiquette and protocol expert, told radio 3AW (Sic Fairfax) that Ms Gillard should have curtsied and worn a hat as a sign of respect for the Queen. Not doing so was "churlish", he said. "She is your Prime Minister, she is representing the people but ... the Queen tops her, the Queen is the top of the tree, so as a sign of respect, whatever her opinion on the monarchy is, she should have curtsied," Mr Hanson said.

We have a price on carbon...and not a drop of blood spilt!

The Age 12 October 2011

Tony Abbott's "pledge in blood" to repeal the carbon tax legislation if the Coalition wins office has been scoffed at by Finance Minister Penny Wong. "It's a bit dramatic isn't it really, it's like something out of a Boy's Own manual," Senator Wong told ABC television. Abbott's comment was not only 'dramatic' but also desperate and should send a message to us all of his preparedness to do whatever it takes to win power. Ironically it was the the other Tony Abbott that supported Howard's pricing of carbon!

If only.....

Is Abbott starting to feel the heat!

Climate Spectator

Rob Burgess

Now that the 18 bills constituting the government's Clean Energy Futures package have entered the gladiatorial pit we call the House of Representatives, the frailty of Tony Abbott's political future is becoming more clear. 

While he stands with shield and sword ready in that sandy arena, Malcolm Turnbull sits high in the Emperor's box eating grapes and wondering, "shall I speak or shan't I?" His late scratching from the parliamentary debate yesterday was a delay in any open hostility against the man who deposed him, but it does not rule it out. 

Turnbull will, at some point, stretch out one arm, his thumb hovering in a horizontal position, before surveying the chanting crowd and turning said appendage up or down. Whether or not he speaks on the carbon package, he is not a man to be silenced outside the chamber. A Turnbull verdict could come at any time. Read more.....

Whose written the longest suicide note?

Tony Abbott accuses PM Gillard of writing the longest suicide note in introducing a price on carbon! I would have thought it was a long term insurance policy to reduce the risk of the planet dying! Abbott is surely is the one who is suicidal in his approach to climate change.

Eucy oil the go!

I used to live in Wedderbun and at weekends heading to Melbourne was a delight as we passed through Inglewood and the eucy factory that spilled out the wonderful scent! And now it might do more than just smell good!


Climate Spectator

The other eucalyptus oil
Finally, some good news. GE announced this week that it has joined a consortium including Virgin Australia to research and develop commercial biofuel for the aviation industry. The group – which also includes Renewable Oil Corporation, the Future Farm Industries CRC, and Canadian biofuels company Dynamotive Energy Systems Corporation – will focus on pyrolytic conversion of biomass from mallee eucalypt trees and plans to have a pilot production plant operating in Australia by 2012. For GE, the development of renewable biofuels is a good fit for its sustainable transport portfolio, which includes the development of fuel efficient jet engines. “Innovation and creativity will play enormous roles as part of the transition to a low carbon future," said Ben Waters, Director of ecomagination, GE Australia and New Zealand. "We already invest a huge amount in the development of more efficient and alternative energy sources in the aviation industry and beyond, and we hope to bring a huge amount of knowledge to this partnership.”

Scuttling the solar solution!

Why the Right won't eat their greens

Climate Spectator

Silex Systems CEO Michael Goldsworthy could hardly contain his frustration this week after announcing the closure of Australia’s only solar cells manufacturing facility – at a cost of 30 jobs at the company’s Homebush plant in Sydney.

The solar cells division was already struggling against the price and volume of overseas producers, and the rising Australian dollar, but Goldsworthy has no doubt that the killer blow came in the policy vacuum on the future of solar tariffs, particularly in NSW, where the industry has been brought to a standstill. It has made it impossible for his company to make forward investment decisions. All of Australia’s clean energy developers, indeed the entire energy industry, understands this problem well.

And further on....

Like Ayres, and many others, Goldsworthy says there appears to be animosity towards green technology.

“We have got better sun than any other country, but there seems to be a philosophical opposition at the moment to solar power,” he told Climate Spectator. “It is just inconceivable – we have Coalition governments being elected in NSW, Victoria, and WA leading the charge to scale back any support for renewables, And we know the federal Coalition is less disposed to renewables and the whole climate change issue.”

Who won?

Tea Party is 'fragging'!

Kathleen Parker is a journalist with the Times Union.

Fragging: "To intentionally kill or wound (one's superior officer, etc.), esp. with a hand grenade."
Take names. Remember them. The behavior of certain Republicans who call themselves tea party conservatives makes them the most destructive posse of misguided "patriots" we've seen in recent memory.

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Good-riddance-tea-party-1663584.php#ixzz1TmCNZFMy

The US suffers from deadlock politics...too!

Times Union is a Albany, New York daily and yesterday's had an article by John T. Sullivan struck a chord with me..well at least provided an insight into the US political deadlock that plagues the Congress.

One of the axiomatic principles in our two-party system used to be: First, do the right thing. Second, if you can't do the right thing, at least do no harm.

This principle appears to have been abandoned by the zealots and ideologues who have taken control of the Republican Party, and who are determined to run the ship of government aground, if they don't send it over the nearest falls. They are bound to do what is best for their short-term and long-term political goals, regardless of the consequences to the Commonweal. It wasn't always thus. Read on.....

Read all about it...in the Straits Times!

British PM praises Australia's carbon plan

 
British Prime Minister David Cameron (above) has written to Australian leader Julia Gillard in support of her planned tax on carbon to combat climate change, describing it as a 'bold step', a report said. The Sun-Herald reported that the Conservative leader had told Ms Gillard the policy would 'add momentum to those, in both the developed and developing world, who are serious about dealing with this urgent threat'. 'I was delighted to hear of the ambitious package of climate change policy measures you announced on July 10 and wanted to congratulate you on taking this bold step,' he wrote, the paper said on Sunday. Ms Gillard's plan to impose a tax on the nation's 500 biggest carbon polluters to cut down on harmful emissions has proven divisive in Australia. While Canberra says the tax will help slow global warming and save natural treasures such as the Great Barrier Reef, critics say it will make not change global emissions but hurt industry, cost jobs and increase the cost of living. -- AFP

Back to square one!

'Is Ballieu going cold on climate?' asks Andrew Herrington in Climate Spectator

In further evidence of the Baillieu Government's increasingly negative position on climate change, moves are afoot to quietly axe $106 million in funding for climate change initiatives committed in last year's Victorian Climate Change White paper.

Last week, the Premier, Ted Baillieu and Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Ryan Smith (who share responsibility for the Act) placed inconspicuous newspaper advertisements calling for comment on a new "Sustainability Fund Priority Statement" – giving just three weeks for responses, which are due on August 3.

What these advertisements failed to reveal is that the government is trying to bypass legislation that last year re-designated this fund as the "Climate Communities" fund and allocated a substantial part of it to go towards community initiatives on climate change.

New York, New York.....a city in some decay but not yet decline!

Marcus insisted! And as I was at pains to complete the last leg of my train trip into Manhattan from JFK airport and had experienced some blocks up to then only to be taken care of by a Travellers Aid volunteer who drew a very visual map; a station attendant who contributed 25 cents to my fare to get me started I took on Marcus! He was clearly on duty not officially of course but it was his way of making a living and I think he was at home, literally in the station. The problem I had was to buy a $2.25 ticket but only had a $20 note and of course the machine would not take such a note. Marcus had a solution, He bought the ticket; I bought some gum from a nearby stand and he asked for  $4.00. He lifted my case over the turnstile and was gone, no doubt seeking another client. 

Last year Wayne Wescott introduced me to Michael Sorkin and his book ‘Twenty minutes in Manhattan’ Sorkin says, “The walk from my apartment in Greenwich Village to my studio in Tribeca takes about twenty minutes, depending upon the route and whether I stop for a coffee and the Times. Invariably, though, it begins with a trip down the stairs”.

Sorkin who has lived in Manhattan for over 15 years provides a series of anecdotes, architectural and planning insights, but more importantly his own experiences of the fine grain that his city. Sorkin has done a Jane Jacobs and delved forensically into his own life’s meanderings and musings and that of those around him who although nameless provide the sense of place that is ‘home’. His writing reveals the heartbeat and the energy that is Manhattan. I would remind myself of his walks and experiences as I rambled in the heat, haze and humidity around Manhattan. Marcus and others had provided me with their story and I was only a few hours into my rambling! 

New York City or to be more precise Manhattan is a city dominated by people and skyscrapers. Sounds obvious but the dimension of both is staggering! And it is also a city where to make a buck comes in all shapes and sizes, and ingenuity and of course amount! The disparity of income and status is obvious as one traverses the City and is no doubt increasing as a result of the global financial crisis  

New York City is a city in some decay but definitely not in decline…it has energy, creativity and entrepreneurship reeking from its hustle and bustle but not the financial resources to rebuild fast enough to keep up with the increasing population and the depreciation of its infrastructure. The City has a budget deficit of $5 billion. No wonder many of its roads, buildings and bridges look like they were built in the 1900’s; and they probably were! The steel girders welded with their bolts give some indication of their vintage. The NYCC has a job keeping up with repairs; replacing the infrastructure is slow and almost tedious and certainly messy in a City with a population of over 8 million, 1.2 million live in Manhattan and there are some 30 millions visitors a year! The subway is rundown but still running despite the inadequacy of the tracks and the stations. But the trains are packed; and in fact though the stations are a hot box the air conditioning in the trains is a blessing!

I have rambled through the Village Union Square, Soho, Chelsea, Little Italy, the Meatpacking District, the abomination that is Time Square, have hoteled in Midtown which is well named and rambled up and around Central Park on 5th Ave which is well heeled; car honking in this district attracts a $350 fine. The New York City Council would do well financially to introduce that scheme in midtown for sure! I have visited galleries, diners, cafes and bars and have sweated it out on the streets and in the subway. I have found specialty food, retail, wholesale shops that inspire and titillate the taste and sight senses and been confronted by the homeless and the distressed and distraught who shout loudly at anything or anybody within sight. But New Yorkers move on not in an aggressive or dismissive way but with a shrug as if they too understand that living in New York has its pressures and pitfalls. 

This is a city that struggles to keep its head above the choking roads, the crammed footpaths and no doubt the increasing need for energy and water and to rid the city of waste plus the economic and social dimensions of making the city just and liveable. But it is a city that is grappling with those issues and maybe with the ingenuity and resilience played out on the streets and in the villages can overcome what seemingly are insurmountable problems.

It is hard to believe!

The scandal surrounding the News of the World phone hacking has now spread to engulf the Murdoch media empire and rightly so. It is hard to believe in fact incomprehensible that the culture of 'reporting'  that has been exposed in Britain has known any national or media boundary.  It is all pervasive and evasive and we in Australia need to recognise that given 70% of our media is controlled by News Limited that the culture has not been alive and well and kicking in the Murdoch stable at home.

I will watch with interest from my New York hotel the proceedings in the House of Commons today as Rupert Murdoch explains to the British people why they can now believe him given that the trust they placed in his newspapers has been exposed for what it really is...the fourth estate has been runing the place (and Cameron too)!

Last night I read the Wall Street Journal (another of the Murdoch stable). Its editorial said what no doubt is a view held by those in the upper echelons of News Corporation (and Limited).

"If Scotland Yard failed to do adequately (enforcing the law) when the hacking was first uncovered several years ago then that is more troubling than the hacking itself" Rupert Murdoch will eventually be replaced...but the cancer will remain.

Postscript: Today I came across News Corporation headquarters and a lone demonstrator. We compared notes!  Further on I came across a journo setting up outside The Wall Street Journal. We also exchanged notes! CNN  is doing extensive coverage of the  appearance of the Murdochs at the House of Commons Committee and the old 'pie in the face' trick! More to come I am sure!

We have a lot to learn!

The Financial Times on 12 July editorialised on Australia's move to price carbon and establish an Emissions Trading Scheme. 

"Australians are known for many things, but conspicuous concern for global climate change is not one of them'.  It goes on....Julia Gillard's policy is only a half measure, "but it demonstrates that Australia can have fits of enlightenment - of which one hopes for more".

It concludes with "And if it can pass in Australia, it raises hopes for other climate-indifferent countries". A leader yes but of the unenlightened no less!

Four days in Helsinki, Finland

Bus & Tram Stop

Voinko Pidä suuri kaneli pulla? or perhaps Kan jag få den stora kanelbulle? or perhaps Can I have the large cinnamon bun, please? Yes it's a tri-lingual society here in Finland. In fact all of the street  and public transport signs appear in both Finnish and Swedish such is the history of Sweden's domination of Finland! 

But the cinnamon bun is very very Finnish and with its coffee scroll like dough heavily impregnated with cinnamon and sprinkled with lumpy sugar it is a delight!  

Finland is a country that continues to struggle with its identity given it has been a part of Sweden, a part of Russia and has suffered a civil war. Today it is politically in crisis with the True Finn Party now a force to be reckoned having taken seats in the National Parliament. 


The City is one of contrasts and contradictions. In 2012 it with be the European Design Capital a title it will share with Tallin, Estonia. It remains a question rather than an answer. 

City Hall

The city is a mix of old, new and indifferent. It is a grey city although with the sun shining and the sea sparkling it is a delight to traverse...mostly! Buildings can be heavily ornate or simply shapeless. It is a green city with trees and flower beds in rows and numbers. The trams are also in abundance criss crossing the city along narrow guage lines that go up and down and roundabout; they weave in and out between apartment buildings. 

They are a delight and easy to access and with frequency. 

They beat the 'Hop On Hop Off' buses that should be banned as they clog the city and the main attractions! I think there are more maps than people and the challenge is to read the Finnish/Swedish. 

Art Deco apartment building

The city has a population of around 580,000 and a metropolitan wide population of around a million. Its underground lite is like a tuning fork - simple and precise. The buses and trams do more of the work. The waterfront is alive! It has food - fish, simple delicious and cheap. 



  
The ferries dot the water - big ones and not so big, those bound for Estonia and Stockholm and ports to the south and those that bob around the harbour area weaving between the rocky island outcrops. Remnants of past wars and could be wars seem to dominate the islands  - yes this is a country that has not been dealt kindly by neighbours. 

Garden City - Nordic Style

Museums are many but the contemporary art space does best, decidely so. This year the ARI features perspectives on African by artist within and without. Provocative, political and moving especially the video collage on Rwanda - a country racked by genocide in 1994 and as President Clinton clip says ' We sat at our desks and did nothing'. 

Apartment Building

A Tram!

 

The Esplanade

Apartment Complex

 Finland has the euro and can claim its place in Europe. 

The City is working hard to met the challenges of a world city seeking sustainability. It's social progress as with other Scandinavian countries will be tested in future years. 

Helsinki Harbour

Art Museum

Twenty-one days in Malmo, Sweden

Malmo City Mall

Malmo City Mall

Malmo City house

Turn left and and you reach a canal with its pathways for pedestrians and cyclists........turn right and you have a river of green with pathways for pedestrians and cyclists plus playgrounds, local shops and cafes. They both cater for a city packed with residents and provide an environment that they can truly boast.

Malmo is a city of around 250,000 and provides an entry and exit point for southern Sweden via a bridge over the now not so troubled waters. The history of Scandinavia and the countries of Denmark, Sweden and Finland is not a friendly one with wars and counter wars over the centuries; wars of aggression and defense, moveable boundaries and languages. Today they all get along but with a past that continues to play a role in their futures.


Malmo has an underground or rather a turning circle for trains to service the transport needs of the Oresund Region - Denmark (namely Copenhagen) and southern Sweden (namely Malmo); three stations no more - Central, Trianglen and Hyllie are certain to become major commercial and residential hubs for those wanting to reside in Sweden. The City also has an extensive cycle network with one cycleway into and out of the city centre having had 1 million cyclists already pass its way this calender year. Buses are also in great number and run on biogas around the city and into its environs of villages.  Market gardens and farmland envelope the city.

Malmo City HalI

I have been living in an apartment in the centre of the city. The 3 storey building with 3 residencies and commercial use on the ground floor has access to a grassed courtyard area with its trees, flowers and a sun room. On all sides are apartment buildings of 4 or 5 storeys; medium density no less with their enclosed balconies (windows open for the summer sun) and internal gardens. We looked into each others living rooms and lives (maybe the Swedes are shortsighted along with other Europeans as there were no unsightly opaque screens as we need back home to secure our eyes.

Turning Torso, Western Harbour

Malmo City market

Malmo Underground

Over the road was the bus stop that serviced passengers from dawn to dusk; that is from 4am to 10pm such are the northern lights that filter down form the Arctic! No wonder the trees, flowers and foliage generally is so prolific and the bees and the birds buzz and tweet seemingly all night long! 

The city has an extensive mall network (no delivery vans to be seen when the stores open their doors).  Side walk cafes, restaurants and the usual suspect clothing stores dot the malls and streets and laneways nearby. Residential 4 and 5 story apartments backfill the commerce and provide the bread and butter trade. 

Malmo City apartments

The malls are interrupted by squares both large and small with their fountains and seagulls, buskers and  the occasional demonstration for Palestinian rights and Fairtrade. The main square is home to City Hall and is a prestigious and impressive building that seems to have little activity at least through the front entrance!


Coffee is the predominant drink of choice but ranges in quality. The coffee bean seems to have to endure either being drowned in milk or suffer a roasting technique that leaves a bitter aftertaste.  One day we will hopefully have included in any world city ranking a coffee indicator along with air and water.  However the pastries of all sorts take the cake!


Tourists abound with their maps pressed hard against their faces and there is a babbling sound of different languages coming from side walk cafes and restaurants.


Cars are seldom seen nor heard except when you venture beyond the malls and the enclosed apartment building neighbourhoods. Prams dominate the footpaths. Babies are in abundance as are an increasing number of immigrants but this maybe shortlived if the Sweden Democratic Party has its way. The Party has achieved good (sic) results at the recent national election and has also had good (sic) results at some local council elections in the south. There is a wave of anti-immigration parties now becoming ingrained in the body politic in Europe and Sweden is no exception. It will take a 'no-negotiation' policy by the major political parties to remove the cancer together with public policies that prevent the disengagement and disenfranchisement of some sections of the community that such parties rely on to garner support.


The sun is at its hottest at 4pm and this effects ones body clock and makes drinking at 5 seem like the end to a long lunch! The planned population of 350 to 400,000 will take considerable planning as the region is also a food bowl and density will be an issue. Oil security (or rather lack of oil) has driven the Government's renewable and sustainable energy (electricity and fuel) policy. It will now need to develop a food security one!


Malmo remains an attractive and liveable city with environment and economy high on the national, regional and local agenda. It will be the social bottom line that will play an increasing role in its future

One horse bolts from the Murdoch stable....more to come?

News to launch local probe

Karl Quinn and Karen Kissane July 14, 2011

The Age

RUPERT Murdoch's News Limited has announced an audit of expenditure by its Australian newspapers in a bid to ensure their journalistic practices are clean.

The move came as British Prime Minister David Cameron last night announced a public inquiry into the News of the World phone-hacking scandal that could lead to Mr Murdoch being summoned to answer questions before a judge.

The announcement came hours after the head of Mr Murdoch's Australian division announced a detailed examination of local media operations.

''We will be conducting a thorough review of all editorial expenditure over the past three years to confirm that payments to contributors and other third parties were for legitimate services,'' News Limited chairman John Hartigan said in the memo.

Financial Times 12 July 2011

Academics have their say!

Climate Spectator

After announcing on Sunday the details of its carbon pricing package – including a starting price of $23, rising 2.5 per cent annually plus inflation and moving to a market-based emissions trading scheme in 2015; the creation of a $10 billion clean energy finance corp; and compensation measures including raising the income tax-free threshold to $18,000, as well as other tax cuts and subsidies for nine out of 10 households – the Gillard government's deal is set to be put before parliament in August and is expected to pass with approval of several independents. It will also pass through the Senate, thanks to the support of the Greens.

The key but no door to open until 2013!

A Bridge to far?

Giles Parkinson - Climate Spectator

Stephen Sondheim once said that “perpetual anticipation is good for the soul but it's bad for the heart.” The clean energy industry could testify to that, although they would likely add that it’s also bad for business.

Australia’s renewable energy industry has been in a state of perpetual anticipation for some time: Long on promises of a carbon price, renewable energy targets and grants-based assistance, but short on any traction for getting things built.

There is hope that the roadblocks may finally be lifted by the troika of initiatives unveiled in the government’s Clean Energy Future – a carbon price, a new Clean Energy Finance Corporation muscled up with $10 billion in funds, and the creation of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to bring the myriad smaller programs under one roof and into the hands of an independent, and hopefully proactive and properly resources body.

The bubble has burst!

There is no doubt that back home the carbon bubble has burst and the frenetic media releases, forums and door stops, walks through shopping centres and into homes and businesses has begun.

The plethora of grants and publications now available to inform and  convince the electorate that this is the way to tackle the issue of climate change and set up Australia's economy for  a low carbon future is an indication of the backroom work that has been underway for many months.

Given the timing of the introduction of the clean energy future package (language has changed over night from carbon tax to carbon pricing by some in the media!) the polling and the debates will become election like weekly and probably daily if the media has its way.

The futures of both Gillard and Abbott and will be fought out until the election in 2013 and backbenchers will no doubt be be assessing the impact amongst their constituents. We should not be surprised if in a few months time  this is played out in caucus meetings. Whilst it would be a huge call to remove Gillard it may not be beyond the polling-politics we live in today and 24/7 media that Abbott's future pre the election is more at risk.

I can see the swings and roundabouts continuing for many months but perhaps with a more solid backing of the plan by an increasing number of by-standers. Many up until now have been sidelined by the 'wham bam ' of the Abbot style of politics and have not been able to articulate their position without the announcement of the 'plan'.

'We live in hope' as they say in the classics!

Climate Change Authority established

Bernie Fraser to chair climate body

Nine News

Mr Fraser will bring to the Climate Change Authority (CCA) decades of experience in economic policy, having been Treasury secretary from 1984 to 1989 and RBA chief from 1989 to 1996.

When the carbon pricing scheme moves from a fixed to a floating price in 2015, the government plans to put annual caps on the amount of carbon pollution that can be released into the atmosphere by firms covered by the carbon price.

The CCA will recommend medium and long-term carbon pollution targets, look at progress towards emissions cuts and advise on the impacts on the economy. It is expected to conduct public reviews and make its findings public. The CCA's first review is due to be completed by February 2014.

Tax yes...but long term investment in low carbon technologies the key!

Green light for renewables

Giles Parkinson - Climate Spectator

At a recent discussion in Sydney about the prospect of nuclear energy in this country, Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson reflected that Australia may have no choice but to go nuclear if it was unable to find a clean energy alternative.

It was a valid point. The trouble was that few in the renewable energy industry were confident that Ferguson would want to invest enough money, and early enough, to give them the best chance of developing new technologies and getting the scale of deployment needed to reduce costs.

That need to unblock investment in emerging technologies seems to be the underlying reason behind the push by the Greens and environmental groups for two new statutory bodies, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. Both bodies will be independent and will sit beyond ministerial interference. Furthermore, the Australian Energy Market Operator has been commissioned to plan for the time when the Australian grid operates with100 per cent renewable energy.

Meanderings from Malmo, Sweden - Chapter 3

And yes they count bicycles too...and there are lots of them!

 This is a counter along one of the cycle ways into and out of the City Centre. It has recorded this year to date 1 million cyclists passing this way.  The cyclist community is made up of all sorts and they don't wear helmets though there is an increasing number of children with helmets. It is also the case that cycling is mainly on dedicated cycleways so they are separated from the traffic in the inner city and in the outer parts they cycle often through forest areas and along riverways.

Windsor proud...and so he and others should be!

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/07/05/3261392.htm?section=justin 

Key independent Tony Windsor has hailed the climate agreement as "a momentous occasion", while the Opposition is warning scams of the system are "inevitable".

Details of the deal, including the initial carbon price, between the Government, Greens and independents will be released to the public on Sunday.

Mr Windsor, a member of the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee, said he will be able to look back on the agreement as "something I'll be very proud of".

"It isn't about this week, this month, this year. It's about the future and it's about the future of people who aren't even here now and I think it's important to have been part of that," Mr Windsor told reporters outside Parliament House.

Post Script: Shaun Carney in The Age writes ".....

On climate change, the country has a prime minister who promised not to introduce a carbon tax, an opposition leader who says he believes in the need to arrest climate change but appears not to, and a third-party leader who argues against his own negotiated policy choice as a way of currying favour with his supporters.

The sum total of this is that it is highly likely that even after the carbon tax package is released next Sunday, scepticism towards the policy - and the entire issue of climate change - will remain high. What's ended up being misplaced amid the anticipation of the carbon price agreement is the most important question of all: will the policies of any of the parties actually reduce emissions to the desired level in the required time?

The entire issue has become so contaminated by politics that it stands as a testament to how inadequate and dysfunctional our political system is becoming.

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/the-gradual-poisoning-of-our-democratic-system-20110705-1h0mg.html#ixzz1RGFwth3V

Meanderings from Malmo, Sweden - Chapter 2

The trains run on time and the buses run on biogass....

This is increasingly a sustainable transport city with cyclists and pedestrians filling in the gaps that trains and buses leave. And where cars are used it seems that many have been converted or have been built for ethanol or biogass fuel systems.  Sweden has no oil reserves and has set itself the enviable task or finding other sources of energy for electricity and transport fuels. It is amazing but understandable what we can do if we really have to but also what dependency plays in our capacity to change.

Facts about Sweden: The Swedish Energy Agency is an agency for national energy policy issues with a mission to promote the development of Sweden’s energy system so that it will become ‘ecologically and economically sustainable’. The Agency provides subsidies to the municipal energy and climate advisory service that can be found in every municipality and supports the regional energy offices’ work.

Energy from wind power in Sweden increased at a record pace during 2010 with 308 new wind power turbines being installed. This makes a total of 1655 turbines. Wind power accounts for approximately 2.4 per cent of the electricity use in Sweden with a large amount of the electricity generated from wind power being produced in the region of Skåne, in the south of Sweden.

 

Biomass accounts for 32% of Sweden’s energy mix and surpassed oil to become the number one source of energy. Sweden has come the furthest on the road towards fossil fuel independence of any country. 

In 2010 the Swedish Government approved a plan to have renewable energy reach 50% of the total energy consumed by the year 2020. In addition, the country aims to be totally independent of imported fossil fuels for the transportation sector by 2030.

 

Meanderings from Malmo, Sweden - Chapter 1

Midsummer is not what it seems……

Its taken me a couple of weeks to drag myself away from Melbourne, Australia and to report on what is happening over here in the northern hemisphere and especially in Malmo City, Sweden where I am staying. 

Malmo City Mall pre Midsummer

Midsummer was not what I had expected…it is mostly a family and friends’ occasion or at least that seemed evident to me as I wandered the Malmo mall on mid summer eve and mid summer day. Midsummer holidays, traditions, and celebrations in Europe are pre-Christian in origin and are particularly important in Northern Europe including Sweden.


However there was no bunting, no singing no dancing or even drinking at least publically. So it was all obviously happening somewhere as all the shops were closed and no one was around except for those whose heads were buried in a map. So as I came to realise midsummer happens behind closed doors or in secluded and unmarked parks and gardens away from the maddening tourists.

I have since discovered on my meanderings in a number of parks and gardens the remains of maypole like structures. For the uninformed Midsummer is originally a pagan holiday but in Christianity it is associated with the John the Baptist. Confusing yes but nevertheless a good excuse for a party with friends, families and neighbours!

It's about carbon stupid!

Abbott wants a debate on who can give the biggest tax breaks and ignore what the real issue is...carbon! And so he now promises to deliver tax cuts as a response to setting a price on carbon first through a tax and then the market.

Abbott promises tax, spending cuts

ABC News Online

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has promised that a Coalition government will deliver tax cuts that are not just compensation for a carbon tax. The Government says there will be tax cuts and welfare increases to help counter the increases caused by a carbon tax. But Mr Abbott has told the Liberal Federal Council a Coalition government would give a tax cut that is not linked to the carbon tax.
"Labor's tax cut won't even be robbing Peter to pay Paul," he said. "It will be taking money out of one pocket to put some of it back in the other.

Dog whistle politics!

Outrage as Lord Monckton calls Australian climate change adviser a Nazi

Lord Monckton, the outspoken British politician, has prompted outrage in Australia after labelling the government's chief climate change adviser a fascist, likening him to Hitler

Lord Monckton speaks from the lecturn at the conference in Los Angeles 

By Bonnie Malkin, Sydney - Daily Telegraph

Speaking at a conference in Los Angeles, Lord Monckton, an ardent climate change sceptic, claimed that Professor Ross Garnaut held fascist views.

During the presentation he stood in front of a projection of a swastika next to a quote from Prof Garnaut that read: "The outsider to climate science has no rational choice but to accept that, on the balance of probabilities, the mainstream science is right in pointing to high risks from unmitigated climate change."

"That's a fascist point of view," Lord Monckton told the audience. "That you merely accept authority without question. Heil Hitler, on we go."

Ed Note: It is the tactic used by Abbott! Be outlandish and then apologise...the dog whistle tactic raises its uglier head!

Get your act together!

Carbon deal still a long way off: Greens

The Age

Non-government members of the multi-party climate change committee have rejected reports the major players are close to reaching agreement on a carbon tax. "The reports that we're on the verge of being there are wrong," Australian Greens leader Bob Brown told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday. "We have very real hurdles in the negotiation process."

Both Senator Brown and Independent MP Tony Windsor said the committee might not even reach agreement. "There is no deal at the moment," Mr Windsor said, adding "a deal or no deal" was still weeks away. Senator Brown said he had a brief conversation with Prime Minister Julia Gillard earlier on Wednesday. There were still "considerable gaps" between the Greens and Labor and it was possible there would be no outcome at all, he said.

Read on....http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/carbon-deal-still-long-way-off-greens-20110622-1ge5n.html

Chief Scientist speaks out!

AUSTRALIA'S Chief Scientist, Ian Chubb, has lamented the quality of public debate on climate change, saying it ''borders on appalling'' and the level of scientific literacy among politicians is ''not high''.

In his first big speech since his appointment by the Gillard government in April, Professor Chubb rejected accusations that he was partisan because he believed that ''the science is in on climate change''.

''Well, I don't think that's partisan. I think that I can read English - as Ross Garnaut once said - and understand it. And I think that the evidence is overwhelming,'' he said at the National Press Club.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/climate-debate-appalling-20110621-1gdms.html#ixzz1Q0UWLEVn

Conversation or confrontation?

Tony Abbot has embarked on a campaign of confrontation and confusion to blunt the need for action on climate change and the most appropriate response in a market economy, a carbon price. He has by his actions and rhetoric raised the level of opposition to 'Tea Party' proportions and his call for a plebiscite is a call to deny the Government the right and responsibility to act and be judged at an election, an election fought no doubt on the impact of the carbon price and the tax incentives to be carbon sensitive.

The Conversation website is worth a read and indicates an increasing prepardness to respond to the propaganda peddled by the sceptics and deniers.

June 13, 2011

Today, The Conversation launches a two-week series from the nation’s top minds on the science behind climate change and the efforts of “sceptics” to cloud the debate.

The overwhelming scientific evidence tells us that human greenhouse gas emissions are resulting in climate changes that cannot be explained by natural causes.

Climate change is real, we are causing it, and it is happening right now.

Like it or not, humanity is facing a problem that is unparalleled in its scale and complexity. The magnitude of the problem was given a chilling focus in the most recent report of the International Energy Agency, which their chief economist characterised as the “worst news on emissions.” Limiting global warming to 2°C is now beginning to look like a nearly insurmountable challenge.

Like all great challenges, climate change has brought out the best and the worst in people.

How embarrasing is this?

Abbott pushes for plebescite of the carbon tax

- Climate Spectator

AAP
Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is planning to introduce legislation to parliament that will require the government to hold a plebiscite on its proposed carbon tax.
"Something of this nature must go to the people before it becomes law," he told ABC Radio.
The government has yet to settle on a framework for a carbon price mechanism that it wants to operate from July 2012.

But Mr Abbott said Prime Minister Julia Gillard should not try to "sneak" draft laws through a parliament that had no mandate for a carbon tax.

"This is the vote that the prime minister didn't allow us to have at the last election," he said, referring to Ms Gillard's emphatic statement that no government she led would introduce a carbon tax.

Mr Abbott said he would like the plebiscite held within 90 days of his private bill passing parliament. But that won't happen unless he wins support from the crossbench in the lower house and the Australian Greens in the Senate.