Northcote Independent

Bolt hardly lightning on climate

2009-11-18T06:12:00.013+11:00

Update, 21 November: It seems that Bolt, published in a high circulation daily metropolitan newspaper, can't even draw comment from the ill-informed readers who support him. The tally as of now is two.Update, 19 November: Seems the Herald Sun is somewhat reluctant to publish comments to which they are unable to respond. The sole comment on the story supports its feeble contention -

Rudd should swap denial for a baton

2009-11-09T02:33:00.005+11:00

Today's edition of The Age carries my letter in response to the paper's coverage of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's recent address to the Lowy Institute on climate change. It was edited a little, but captured the essential point that Rudd needs to match his rhetoric - which was quite strong against the sceptics - with stronger actions he must take to Copenhagen. The unedited letter with

Ferguson puts green light before spill inquiry

2009-11-02T19:42:00.013+11:00

Update: See Peter Ker's excellent article, Crude Awakening, in the Focus section of The Age, 3/11. Ker also reports online, here.It's hard to believe, but weeks after the Montara oil rig began leaking disastrously into the Timor Sea, the company that owns it was granted further access and exploration licences for Australian off-shore oil fields green-lighted by resources and energy minister,

ABC's muddled take on climate

2009-11-01T08:50:00.009+11:00

I'm a big fan of the ABC, but it appears to be suffering from the same disease afflicting the broader media when it comes to climate change. That disease is the inclusion of unexamined, untested positions of so-called scepticism relating to climate science, ostensibly for the sake of balance.There was a prime example of the malady in The Sunday Age last week, with Melissa Fyfe's strong article on

Run for a Safe Climate

2009-10-31T06:32:00.006+11:00

Run for a Safe Climate, a fantastic campaign by Safe Climate Australia, will see 25 runners run 6000km down the east coast of Australia, cut west along the Victorian border to Adelaide, and then finish in Melbourne on 29 November.The runners are emergency service workers who know we're facing a climate emergency and are calling for strong action to meet the challenge of catastrophic climate

International climate action brings local message to Ferguson

2009-10-25T08:18:00.009+11:00

The 350.org International Day of Climate Action has seen more than 5200 actions across 181 countries drive home the need for urgent action on climate change - in particular a rapid global reduction below 350ppm of carbon dioxide.At Darebin Parklands, in the local electorate of federal energy and resources minister, Martin Ferguson, the community sent a clear message that he is failing them on

Ferguson fuels the need for emergency climate action

2009-10-23T23:06:00.010+11:00

Dangerous climate change starkly underscores the connection between the local and the global - when emissions-intensive brown coal burns in the Latrobe Valley to produce more than 90 per cent of the State's electricity supply, it fuels global warming and disastrous impacts that are felt around the world.In the same way, a local

Climate spells 'code red' for bushfires

2009-10-13T06:15:00.007+11:00

With Bushfire Action Week upon us, it was good to see the Victorian Government announce a range of improved communication measures and finally urge early evacuation in the face of high-level bushfire risk. What they must also admit, however, is that climate inaction by Australia and other developed nations has given us more bushfires we can't defend.To reduce our long-term risk, our current

Ferguson's double-standard on renewables and coal

2009-10-11T15:20:00.006+11:00

After reading energy and resources minister Martin Ferguson's 7 October letter in response to an article about the Solar Systems collapse in The Melbourne Times, the less well informed might take home the message that solar just can't cut the commercial mustard, that it's failing to achieve milestone after milestone, and that the Australian Government is bending over backwards to help the

Climate Green Paper closes today

2009-09-30T08:41:00.004+11:00

Comments on the Victorian Climate Change Green Paper close today. There's still a chance to have your say, so make your case for stronger climate action by the Victorian Government.My submission argues that Victorian policy needs to build in stronger advocacy for an effective national approach in the lead-up to Copenhagen. It also highlights the unwillingness of State and Federal Governments to

Ferguson losing his climate PR war

2009-09-29T19:12:00.003+11:00

Maybe it's because Kevin Rudd says 'arguments grounded in fact will always win the day', but Martin Ferguson appears to be losing his climate PR war to dupe locals into believing he's some sort of climate progressive.Following a recent climate demonstration at HP Zwar Park in Preston, Martin got his nose out of joint when the protest sparked letters to The Melbourne Times. He responded with a

Carney detects faint pulse in climate patient

2009-09-24T09:28:00.003+11:00

In today's edition of The Age Shaun Carney assesses the progress of climate talks in New York, discussing movement by China, India and Japan, and the political challenges faced by US President Obama. I've started the ball rolling in the comments:I disagree that climate change is 'ultimately a domestic question', though effective solutions certainly face domestic political barriers, such as those

Rudd's false leadership flags climate failure

2009-09-22T07:36:00.004+11:00

The Age recently reported that, on Kevin Rudd's New York visit to the UN and G20 talks, Australia's PM was pushing to 'restore momentum' in climate change negotiations, lest the December climate negotiations in Copenhagen become a 'wall too high to scale'.Judging by Australia's 2020 emissions targets, I suggest that, far from breaking down the wall, Rudd is more concerned to be seen as heroically

Darebin Safe Climate Forum

2009-09-20T16:18:00.003+11:00

Last Thursday night I attended the Safe Climate Forum organised by Darebin Climate Action Now. At the forum David Spratt gave an engaging and quite compelling presentation on the impacts of climate change in the Himalayas, as well as more broadly here in Australia. The light wasn't great, but I capatured the following video of David's talk. Further video will appear here shortly.Also speaking at

Ferguson's desperate evasion on climate

2009-09-17T23:36:00.013+11:00

Back in early September, I wrote a letter to The Melbourne Times in protest at Martin Ferguson's recent opening of an environmental refurbishment at HP Zwar Park in Preston, part of his Batman electorate. Well, Ferguson has struck back with some quite misleading claims in letters to the paper and to Preston locals.His letter in this week's edition of The Melbourne Times infers that the protest at

Bury any ideas of carbon capture

2009-09-08T07:49:00.006+11:00

I haven't caught up with last night's Four Corners program on carbon capture and storage as yet, but the synopsis seems to indicate it views the problem as a lack of investment in what is, in my view, a speculative and slow technology that won't solve our emissions emergency any time soon (see update, below).With Victoria's marginally lower winter emissions receiving positive courage, I thought

Energy minister needs a new perspective

2009-09-02T19:26:00.004+11:00

Having attended the recent opening of HP Zwar Park in Preston, I wrote to The Melbourne Times about the irony of it being opened by Martin Ferguson, MP for Batman, and the anti-climate, pro-fossil-fuel-industry energy and resources minister in the Rudd federal government. Here's the unedited version of my letter:As one of the protesters at the new, greener HP Zwar Park in Preston, I could not

2010 is too late for climate debate

2009-08-30T05:33:00.005+11:00

Following my recent article for ABC Unleashed on the interim report of the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission, today's Sunday Age has run my letter responding to Michael Bachelard's excellent piece, 'Smoke and mirrors', published last week. My letter was kindly run without edits as follows:Michael Bachelard’s tough scrutiny of the Premier’s bushfire spin is most welcome as a call to face

Climate blindness at the bushfires royal commission

2009-08-18T20:14:00.002+11:00

My response to the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission interim report was published today on ABC Unleashed. In the article I argue that the interim report was a missed opportunity to consider stronger climate policy as a means of long-term bushfire prevention. Had the Royal Commission recommended that Australia's climate policies be assessed for the impact on global bushfire risk, it might

Weak climate law won't help us in Copenhagen

2009-07-14T11:28:00.005+11:00

Today's edition of The Age carries my letter responding to a report that Al Gore thinks passing Australia's weak climate law might help achieve an international climate agreement in Copenhagen in December.Gore's suggestion seems to reflect the kind of incrementalist view currently dividing environment groups in Australia. The argument is that we should support any step forward in the hope that

Brumby should 'pre-empt' on climate

2009-07-06T21:51:00.006+11:00

Victorian State Premier John Brumby got into hot water today over comments from counsel assisting the Bushfires Royal Commission that he may have pre-empted the inquiry's preliminary report, which is due to be published mid-August.As the ABC has reported (see link above), Jack Rush QC views the Premier's comments on changes to the 'stay or go' policy, plans for 'neighbourhood safer places' and '

Australia makes the climate news in Copenhagen

2009-07-04T09:26:00.003+11:00

The Danish Government has an official website and blog for December's climate negotiations in Copenhagen (COP15). Australia features in a recent post, 'US Bill has an effect Down Under'. Here's the comment I posted in response:The Australian Federal Opposition may well fold and end up voting for Australia's climate legislation when the Senate resumes in August. However, should a compromise be

Bushfire submissions badly handled

2009-07-02T15:49:00.003+11:00

When I visited the 2009 Bushfires Royal Commission submissions page today I noted some progress. After prodding the staff over the past month or so regarding the publication of submissions and related matters, I saw that my own - submitted way back on 15 May - was finally up there.Though there has been some progress - 472 submissions appear to be up as of this writing, compared with 432 yesterday

Bushfires should be remembered in Copenhagen

2009-07-01T15:50:00.007+11:00

With the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission gearing up to deliver its interim report next month, it will be interesting to see what recommendations are made regarding climate policy as a means of addressing future bushfire risk in the broadest sense.So far, the inquiry has been reticent even to utter the words 'climate change', yet the interim report is the only real opportunity for it to

Show the world Australians want serious targets

2009-06-20T10:00:00.003+11:00

The official website for December's international climate negotiations in Copenhagen has launched a novel way of promoting views on climate from around the world.Climate Thoughts allows anyone to post their thoughts and have them represented on a globe as a point of light. The globe can be spun to browse thoughts posted from anywhere on the planet, and you can share and support thoughts, as well