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April 2007
ALP goes dirty
Kevin Rudd has just done what what John Howard has failed to do for years - convince many environmentalists not to support Labor at the coming federal election.
By ending Labor's "No New Uranium Mines" policy he has opened up Australia to the toxic waste that mining causes and to being responsible for the un-handlable radioactive waste that will be the end product of the mines. Not forgetting of course that portion that makes its way into the hands of terrorists (inside or outside governments).
I sent the following letter to key decision makers earlier this month after seeing David Bradbury's hard fitting documentary "Hard Rain". I encourage everyone to take a look at this movie when they get a chance.
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Posted by Blog Administrator at 1:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Running a car on water.
I posted this in response in a Care2 forum to the common question from the non-scientist as to whether you can really run a car on water. Since I've been asked this question I thought I'd post it here as well.
Can a car run on water?
Its a good question, and it isn't surprising that non-scientists find it confusing.
Using cheap electricity to turn water into hydrogen and oxygen and recombining them into electricity at the place you want it (e.g. in a running car) is the basis of the so-called 'Hydrogen Economy'.
But .... its also the basis of a lot of scams by people either deluding you, or deluding themselves. Most (though not all) of the "run your car on water" projects are essentially variations of this.
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Posted by Blog Administrator at 9:24 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
IPCC report watered down, while the deniers claim censorship
Some of the biggest polluters - the US, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia (and presumably Australia) flexed a lot of muscle to water down the recent IPCC report. In particular to the crucial "summary for policy makers" which is all that most non-climate scientists are likely to read.
Kevin Grandia has done an excellent job of comparing a leaked version, with the officially released version to show just what key statements were taken out. His story is here, or read the side-by-side comparison which contains material such as ...
BEFORE: Ongoing water security problems are very likely to increase in southern and eastern Australia, and parts of eastern New Zealand.
AFTER: Freshwater availability in Central, South, East and Southeast Asia particularly in large river basins is projected to decrease due to climate change which, along with population growth and increasing demand arising from higher standards of living, could adversely affect more than a billion people by the 2050s.
Now ... I wonder who would gain from the report no longer saying that water problems are going to increase here in Australia?
Lisa Stiffler at Seattle Post Intelligencer also did a more detailed comparisom of the implications for North America.
Posted by Blog Administrator at 8:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Correspondance with Labor member Justine Elliot's staff
I recently corresponded with the staff of our local federal Labor MP about Labor's lack of a climate change policy, and my decision as a result of it to neither preference Labor nor Liberals at the recent state election.
I've attached the correspondance ...
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Posted by Blog Administrator at 7:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Brisbane's Climate Change and Energy Taskforce
I've just finished reading the excellent Final Report of Brisbane council's Climate and Energy Taskforce.
There is a longer summary on Energy Bulleting or you can get the 70-ish page report.
The report does a pretty good job of showing the wide range of impacts and a comprehensive set of recommendations. My only (minor) criticism is that it doesn't do a great job of dealing with the challenge of planning in an unknown environment. Governments typically like to study something rather than take action, and no amount of studying will reduce the uncertainty that rely on other people's actions.
Posted by Blog Administrator at 7:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)