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