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40% or bust – call Penny & Kevin
Late on Friday afternoon, our Minister for Climate Change, Penny Wong, put out a media release stating that Australia would not be announcing it’s greenhouse reduction targets before the international meeting in Poznan. It seems that Cabinet are split on what the target should be. A decision still hasn’t been made but it will be…
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What is the true cost of coal?
What would you say is the actual cost of coal? I can tell you that you won’t find the answer on your electricity bill. Nor will you find it on the stock exchange or commodities market. Greenpeace has just released a report called The True Cost of Coal, which looks at the many ways that…
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Financial Crisis, Climate Opportunity
With the media running headlines about the “global emergency”, “threat to national security”, and need for a “war effort” you could be forgiven for thinking that the penny had finally dropped among world leaders about the seriousness of climate change. But of course it takes the threat of economic meltdown, not merely planetary meltdown, to…
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5000 visitors to the Esperanza have the power to create change
Another Saturday, another balmy, sunny open boat day in far North Queensland. This week we are in Townsville and with the 400 people who visited the ship today, the total number of people who’ve been on board since we began in Sydney 5 weeks ago climbed to over 5000. That’s over 5000 people who have…
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Queensland Plans To Export MORE Climate Change
Premier Anna Bligh chose to announce plans for the massive expansion of Queensland’s export coal industry at the same time as the Rudd government was releasing its so-called Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme earlier this week. In hindsight, it was easy to see there was no contradiction between the two, because Penny Wong’s policy more closely…
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Wong announces Carbon Polluters' Reward Scheme
Yesterday Penny Wong released the government’s not-so-Green Paper outlining their intended emissions trading scheme (ETS), or so-called Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. The ETS is the mechanism the Rudd government wants to hang its hat on as the mark of their commitment to climate change action. Although the signs so far have not been promising –…
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Garnaut, climate change and the need for 2020 vision
It is reassuring to hear a respected economist such as Professor Garnaut emphasise the importance of committing to 2020 targets and his warning that as climate change is proceeding faster than predicted, more urgent action is needed. Having been such a devoted laggard on the issue, Australia now has the opportunity to show international leadership…
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Action item no.1: Save the planet
Just today, Kevin Rudd was officially sworn in as our new Prime Minister and yet his actions in the next fortnight will have lasting ramifications for the entire planet. And I thought my first day on the job was daunting. The UN Climate Change talks have begun in Bali, setting the agenda for the next…
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Climate change challenge for new Cabinet
So Rudd has chosen his cabinet. And while us greenies will be shining our (energy efficient) spotlights on the new Minister for Climate Change and Water, Penny Wong, and Environment Minister Peter Garrett, it will be up to the whole cabinet to work together to address the most pressing issue of our time. Treasurer Wayne…