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.

A new rating tool for world cities

The power of showers! - Tyler Brule

This is a good read and a take on how we rate our cities.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/454b1108-9809-11e0-85e9-00144feab49a.html#ixzz1PhdPQApn

Sometime between writing last week’s column and settling down to tap out today’s I had a slight change of heart about the essential ingredients regarding quality of life. While cities get high marks if they have low crime rates, good public schools, smooth-running buses, trams and subways, and if they offer a healthy climate for starting up a small business, my daily holiday regime on the coast of Tuscany had me questioning whether there should be simpler measures to judge whether a city is delightfully liveable.

While my holiday wasn’t exactly urban (I was tucked away at the wonderful Locanda al Colle near Pietrasanta), it still had enough trappings of city life to get me thinking. One of the key reasons why London may never show up on the Monocle Quality of Life ranking comes down to the city’s generally poor water pressure.

Having lived in more than 10 different homes there over the past 20-plus years, I don’t think I’ve ever had a satisfying shower. From basic showerheads that offer just one spray setting to the most elaborate plumbing fixtures from Dornbracht – which are supposed to make you feel like you’re in a Jakarta-style downpour – I don’t think I’ve ever stepped on to a bath mat in London wishing I could have stayed under the refreshing stream a bit longer.

Somethings never cease to amaze me!

….finding my glasses, having the unexpected win at football, discovering my mobile phone on a park bench, being handed my wallet…the list goes on. But already this trip to Sweden and beyond has produced its first amazement. I arrived in Sydney for the international flight to Copenhagen via Bangkok and Helsinki.

The bus trip to the international terminal was the normal cattle truck ride (seems to have more resonance now!) and then waited for the call to board. The queue was long and the numbers great for this was a BA flight to London via Bangkok.

I handed over my boarding pass for screening and was rejected and politely asked to stand aside. Oh my! A wrong flight, my preferred seat had not been reserved (an aisle that is), I was on the wrong flight, the wrong time? Whatever I stood patiently if not expectantly as others passed me by. The word came back. ‘Sir you have been upgraded to business class. On the tip of my tongue was ‘Why me!’ but that faded thank goodness to thanks in an almost apologetic manner. I braced for the business class seat and proceeded down the tunnel to the plane entrance. 


‘Thank you sir! Up the stairs please on your right!’ This was more than I had expected and certainly amazed me. I found my seat/bed or rather studio apartment with a view and settled back for the next 9 hours of bliss, food and wine! 


Postscript: I arrived at Copenhagen airport to find that my suitcase was not in business or economy class ...it was lost! However after 24 hours of tracking it was found in Bangkok and is now on its way...phew!

Not impressed, Adam!

Dear Adam,

Yes I am not impressed with your support for the Coalition on refugees. I am sure that Greens voters did not vote for you to side with the Coalition that as you stated is the 'party of razorwire'. Abbot is beyond the pale so let's get real! Is support for the Coalition the best you can do to oppose the Government's position ? I trust you will not 'punish' the Government as Abbot has called on you to do!

This is not a good look for the Greens nor for those in the Melbourne electorate who supported you. I trust you will not take us for granted.

Yours sincerely,

Martin

Postscript: Spoke to Adam's office this morning and there has been a great deal of email on yesterday's Parliamentary session. Adam did move a motion opposing the Government's Malaysia solution and the Coalition unfortunately (for Adam) supported it! Following that success for Abbott he moved a motion of no-confidence that failed to get the numbers (including Adam's vote). Adam has apparently copped it on both voting counts! It's hard being a Greens!

Worth a look!

What's up with that?

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/06/12/stop-mr-climate-change/

This video was produced by students as part of the UMass Lowell course, “Climate Change: Science, Communication, and Solutions.”

After spending most of the semester learning about climate change science, technological solutions, and policy, students participated in a three-day, NASA-sponsored workshop to create one-minute film shorts about climate change.

They hope to bring needed attention to climate change in a creative and attention-grabbing way. Please note that students had no previous filmmaking experience, no actors, and no money to spend on this project!

For more information about this project and the UMass Lowell Climate Change Initiative, please visit http://www.uml.edu/centers/climate-change

Fascinating but horribly true!

A climate change wave of hate

Richard Glover - The Sydney Morning Herald

After 25 years writing this column, I've had my first experience of an internet hate campaign. So far, more than 2400 people, nearly all American, have emailed me. More emails come every time I hit the send/receive button. About 5 per cent contain threats of violence. Even stranger, quite a few threaten me with sexual violence. They say, in various forms, that they want to rape me.


The only good news: quite a few don't seem to know the precise location of Sydney. Or Sidney, as some call it. ''You are so out of touch with America, I cannot believe you are published by an American paper,'' writes one emailer, having read the story on The Sydney Morning Herald website. Quite a few tell me I should be nervous if I ever try to leave Britain.

One of my favourite cities takes to cycling!

Kaohsiung embraces cycling

Taiwan Today

 

 

A man enjoys a ride on the bike path along the Love River, one of Kaohsiung City’s landmarks. (CNA)

By  Mark Caltonhill
 
On a warm spring Sunday afternoon, Hsu Ching-jan, his wife and 8-year-old daughter make their way towards downtown Kaohsiung City to go shopping and eat snacks before heading home. All are riding newish-looking bicycles and are wearing regulation helmets and brightly colored cycle jerseys. They are just three of a great many cyclists thronging the car-free bike paths running along both sides of the Love River near the city’s harbor.

“We come here once or twice a month,” said Hsu. “Actually, it was my daughter Cindy’s idea originally. She’d heard about it from her classmates.”

This is typical of the way the pleasures of cycling spread by word of mouth. The Internet is similarly abuzz with recommendations.

“After many years of avoiding Taiwan’s second largest city [Kaohsiung], I recently went back,” Andrew Kerslake, a U.S. citizen residing in Taichung, wrote on his blog Taiwan in Cycles last fall. “The place had totally been transformed into a large friendly metropole with a small town feel.”

I don't know about you but it was another one of those week's in politics!

It's endemic...'climate change' backlash!

The Good News: Climate Change Doesn't Matter Anymore 

California, USA -- My provocative title represents the increasing awareness that we don't need to believe in climate change to do the right thing when it comes to energy. Of course, climate change is a real threat to us and our environment. But there are many highly valid reasons to become more energy efficient, conserve energy through behavior change, and transition to renewables – entirely independent of climate change concerns. 

 

I raise this point because there is an increasing backlash to the idea of climate change as a serious threat. Concern about climate change has been diminishing rapidly in the U.S. over the last few years, for a variety of reasons, including the poor economy (and the wrong perception that mitigating climate change will harm the economy), the “climate-gate” affair resulting from hacked emails from climate scientists, and a very aggressive campaign by corporate and conservative interests that just don’t want to believe that humans can impact global climate.

...they're coming.....they're coming!

Tea Party reveals: ‘Sustainable Development’ is sinister attempt to destroy American Dream 

by Sarah Goodyear

Did you know that the seemingly geeky, mild-mannered profession of urban planning is actually a breeding ground for social engineers -- part of a sinister international plot to rob you of your American Dream?

Well wake up already, people!

The East Bay Tea Party is here to tell you all about it. They have the true story behind the Sustainable Communities Strategy in the Bay Area, a planning effort that would encourage transit-oriented development and density.

And it's scary! You can tell, because in their video about a recent meeting about the plan, they use the theme from "Also Sprach Zarathustra" as this text flashes on a black background:

The ‘New World Order' is here ... and it has many names ... Agenda 21 ... Sustainable Development ... Smart Growth ... Social Justice ... Green Energy ... Carbon Free ... Livable Communities ... One Global Vision ... Designed by the United Nations ... To Strip you of Your Freedom ... Your Prosperity ... Your Privacy ... Your Property Rights ... Your Choice of Transportation ... Your Piece [sic] of Mind ... Your American Dream ... They're Planning Your Future ... Right here in the Bay Area ... 'For the Greater Good!'

It's hard to believe but it's true!

Outspoken ... Alan Jones. Photo: Bryan O'Brien

As the media watchdog prepares to investigate talkback host Alan Jones over his climate change coverage, Bob Beale says Jones's numbers just don't add up. 
 
We knew Sydney radio host Alan Jones was influential, but who would have guessed he could pull off a miracle?

Not by turning water into wine, but he has managed to transform something into nothing. That something is carbon dioxide. You know? It's the gas in the bubbles in your beer.
Jones wants us to believe that what is true for a glass of grog applies equally to our entire planet - carbon dioxide is just a harmless bit of fizz that enlivens the brew then, poof! It's gone and of no further consequence.

No wonder he has agreed to be the founding patron of Australia's newest and arguably most extreme climate-science denier organisation - the paradoxically titled Galileo Movement.
This group's leaders aren't merely sceptical about mainstream climate science - they outright deny that the world is warming (the thermometers are in the wrong place). They scoff at the idea that human activity can cause warming (carbon dioxide is just plant food); and they even reject that global warming could be harmful (relax, do nothing - it's natural).

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/you-are-just-plain-wrong-about-climate-change-mr-jones-20110601-1ffhd.html#ixzz1OCJtMWGr