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!