Month: February 2022

The first of Michael Mann’s three ‘P’s in addressing climate change is Psychology, that we know we can do something about it, that enables the second ‘Politics’ and so the third, ‘Policies. In the kitchen table conversations that the ‘Voices’ candidates have been holding, climate is the foremost issue. The Psychology is there, we need to ensure that the Politics aligns so that effective Policies can arise. You know what you have to do!https://michaelmann.net/content/best-climate-science-you’ve-never-heard

Teachers know that adolescents will test and test to find the boundaries they must work within, and if those boundaries aren’t set and held, they’ll just keep testing. Is Putin stuck in adolescence? He, and every other world leader, needed their science teachers to set the boundaries for behaviour and learning so they might have understood the existential threat that is climate change.https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/as-climate-catastrophe-nears-russia-focuses-on-futile-war,16094

Our elected representatives should be people we can respect for their intelligence, integrity and selflessness. I do not see any of these qualities in Angus ‘Fantastic’ Taylor. Unfortunately for us all, he is in strong company in the LNP cabal of privateers, chancers and snake-oil sellers.https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/26/farmers-fund-to-cover-some-of-angus-taylor-companys-costs-to-challenge-finding-land-cleared-illegally

Ian Lowe always talks sense, as he does here. While nuclear fusion is not a total red herring, and work on fusion should continue for the promise it holds, we need to concentrate on the here and now and decarbonise with what we have, not sit by and wait for what we might have at some indeterminate time in the future.https://theconversation.com/limitless-power-arriving-too-late-why-fusion-wont-help-us-decarbonise-176974

Remember how the ‘information super highway’ was going to usher in the broad sunlit uplands of a connected global village with limitless sharing of knowledge and communities of interest leading enriched lives? Alas, it seems that the sharing is based on lies, manipulation, unconstrained capitalism and conspiracy theorists while enriching is measured in dollars and largely arises through Zuckerberg’s Facebook.https://www.eenews.net/articles/climate-denial-still-flourishes-on-facebook-report/

Pigeon-holing often has superficial appeal but it can lead to overlooking sensible statements made by nutters. Pauline Hanson, not a person to attract approval on almost any topic, has some astute observations on energy and campaign financing … but it’s ok, after this observation I’m back to my default position of general scorn and derision.https://www.michaelwest.com.au/pauline-hanson-v-the-gas-giants-who-would-have-thought/

The Public Trust Doctrine is something the US enjoys and is something sorely needed in Australia. Conservationists are always forced into a defensive position when a developer eyes a jewel of the public estate on which to establish an ‘eco-edifice’ from which they can make a buck.https://www.miragenews.com/national-parks-are-for-protection-not-728822/

And in the Australian context, Farina, for rain doesn’t follow the plough and there’ll not be the run of wet years that prompted that fantasy, the one time ski resort on Mt Buffalo for there’s not enough snow now to make it viable and most likely Kakadu, as the 2 degree target on which the Paris Agreement is based will see irreversible change there.https://www.ehn.org/environmental-ghost-towns-2656721267/ghost-towns-2

Political parties world-wide based in economic rationalism are acting against their espoused philosophy in continuing support for fossil fuels. To the question ‘why’ the obvious answer is a higher priority than their ideology, their donations. It is always, with them, a case of show me the money.https://rmi.org/reality-check-the-green-inflation-myth/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=spark&utm_content=spark-b&utm_campaign=2022_02_17&utm_term=text

In wilfully ignoring, on so many fronts, community views, then politics, economics, even liberalism makes the Pentecostal PM puzzling indeed. You’d reckon at least self-preservation would be a powerful motivator. Has he simply got too many wet-behind-the-ears Young Liberals as advisors?https://inqld.com.au/opinion/2022/02/10/surrounding-himself-with-yes-men-and-true-believers-morrison-has-never-looked-so-alone/