So many of these articles today indicate how badly we’ve been held back in the renewable energy industry and the climate response over the last nine years. There is reference to our international reputation as a pariah state and our thumbing of our national nose at our ‘Pacific family’. How good was the vote on May 21, to paraphrase someone whose name isn’t worth mentioning.
Politics is based on the art of what is possible, science is based on evidence. The evidence says that we cannot continue with our fossil fuel extraction and use. So what are the possibilities for Tanya Plibersek to move from approval for projects that simply cannot go ahead to a national acceptance that they will not go ahead? There’ll be the unionists, the lobbyists and the mainstream media to take on – but take them on she must.https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-11/legal-request-labor-coal-gas/101221006
Capitalism is based in unlimited growth but applies to a world with limits, there is the inherent contradiction. Capitalism is ‘so seriously failing to provide for most people that the deplorables are getting dangerously angry’. Uninformed anger leads to support for rat-bag populists, eg Trump, Johnson and Morrison, propped up by a leading capitalist in Rupert ‘Dirty Digger No 1’ Murdoch, other media-moguls and the big donors to the enabling political parties.https://johnmenadue.com/ross-gittins-thinks-capitalism-can-save-us-heres-why-it-cant/
In biology, we know that the most successful parasites are able to continuously prey upon their hosts as they don’t kill them. It seems that fossil fuel companies are similar parasites on developed countries, with capitalism and investor state dispute settlements the vector that enables the parasite to spread. It is well past time humanity that was purged of their malign influence.https://reneweconomy.com.au/energy-charter-treaty-makes-climate-action-nearly-illegal-in-52-countries-how-can-we-leave-it/
You could be forgiven for thinking that the Troglodytes, Matteo Canavani, Angus ‘Fantastic’ Taylor and ‘He who disgraced our nation”, are still in charge. Carbon, Capture and Storage is a boondoggle, it is not the solution, it is not the solution, it is not … . Direct your attention, research dollars and policy development into renewables and the infrastructure that maximises their use.https://www.miragenews.com/nominate-areas-for-2022-offshore-greenhouse-gas-815070/
Climate change poses security issues we must consider, switching to renewables requires the removal of constraints before energy prices start to fall and, at last, the economic costs due to climate change are to be quantified. It was unthinkable that the other mob might have been voted back and it seems that we’re only scratching the surface of their ineptitude. https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/federal/treasury-to-model-economic-impact-of-climate-change-after-9-year-break-20220706-p5azgh.html
We’re at this stage now where wind-generation is a major contributor to our energy needs. How much further ahead would we be if the forces of darkness, including Joe ‘I find wind turbines utterly offensiveness’ Hockey, the Waubra Foundation, Angus ‘Fantastic’ Taylor and the proponents of wind-turbine syndrome, hadn’t tilted research and development dollars against renewables? You have to leave this stuff to those who know.https://reneweconomy.com.au/wind-generation-overtakes-brown-coal-in-june-in-month-of-new-records/
In this fruitily-expressed article, the culpability of the Murdoch press is laid bare. The role of the media in our political process is a subject ripe for investigation. We are being poorly served by the mainstream media and even the public broadcaster seems to be in the thrall of its politically-stacked Board with its captain-picked Chair.https://theshot.net.au/general-news/if-you-think-traffic-jams-are-inconvenient-wait-until-you-hear-about-the-climate-crisis/
When all other avenues are closed off, it is not surprising that frustration leads to the activism in this article. Scientists have screamed out their warnings about dangerous climate change, and we aim for no more than 2 degrees. We’re on track for more than 2 degrees and even at 2 degrees we are stuffed! Meanwhile, look what is happening now.https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/trying-to-poke-the-beast-what-s-driving-the-climate-activists-causing-traffic-chaos-in-sydney-20220629-p5axue.html
What Charles Koch has done is legal even if immoral and shows capitalism at its very worst. We have home grown billionaires who are not that much different. Murdoch rules the media world to add to his fortune while Palmer games the political system for policies to add to whatever sized fortune he has. We still have a High Court that is not politicised, even as lower jurisdictions (eg, the AAT) have been stacked with LNP hacks. Capitalists have to be tightly regulated, we see what happens when they’re not.https://theintercept.com/2022/06/30/supreme-court-epa-climate-charles-koch/