Nourishing the environmental debate

Monthly Archives: April 2011

Enough faffing about, the climate isn’t getting any cooler

April 28, 2011 – 4:02 pm

Nicholas Aberle writes: The way in which climate change is communicated has been a constant theme in the public debate about pricing carbon emissions, but this distracts from the two key topics: the urgency of our situation, and the importance of leadership in taking comprehensive action now. The science is clear. The next 5-10 years [...]

By Crikey | Posted in climate change | Comments (296)

BP spill document dump: 30,000 FOI docs made public

April 20, 2011 – 4:42 pm

After the tragic BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year, Greenpeace submitted over 50 Freedom of Information requests to US government agencies. The results are finally spilling in, with over 30,000 emails, research documents and memos being made available in a WikiLeaks style dump online. Despite the 30,000 available, one in particular [...]

By Amber Jamieson | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

The precarious nature of endangered species

April 18, 2011 – 12:04 pm

Biodiversity is the variety of life forms on earth, including plants, animals and micro-organisms (and their genetic material) and the often finely balanced, fragile and interconnected ecosystems that they are a part of. But how do governments and science organisations help to maintain biodiversity and limit the extinction of species?

By Crikey Intern | Posted in Biodiversity | Tagged | Comments (22)

Probability and responsibility at Fukushima

April 14, 2011 – 10:10 am

In the long run, the least likely event will occur. Such is the nature of probability, and the nature of risk. The environmental movement have been talking about this for some time now. It has been the basis of much of the opposition to nuclear energy and releasing genetically engineered organisms into the environment for [...]

By John Hepburn | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (9)

Google goes green energy, but what about Oz?

April 13, 2011 – 4:25 pm

Crikey intern Laura Griffin writes: Google announced this week a $US168 million investment in a new solar energy power plant in California. The developers, BrightSource Energy plan to create a Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS) that will generate 392 gross mega watts of clean, solar energy, making it one of the world’s largest solar [...]

By Crikey | Posted in Green technology, Solar Power | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (5)

Gas giants flex muscles in carbon tax fight

April 11, 2011 – 5:09 pm

The Australian media is abuzz today with news of a campaign by the gas company giants for exemption from the carbon tax.

By Crikey Intern | Posted in Green technology, Natural gas | Tagged , , , , | Comments (19)

The climate change conference no one is talking about

April 8, 2011 – 4:57 pm

Crikey intern Laura Griffin writes: This week the United Nations are holding a climate change conference in Bangkok. The first of three UN climate change conferences this year, participants will try to improve on the (somewhat haphazard, having been rushed through in the conference’s dying moments) agreements reached in Cancún last year. The conferences’ ultimate [...]

By Crikey Intern | Posted in climate change | Tagged | Comments (0)

On her bike: why women won’t ride

April 4, 2011 – 4:29 pm

Transport planner Rachel Smith writes: Last week my colleague told me that she was selling her bike. She likes the idea of cycling and has no actual hostility towards her bicycle it’s just, as she says “our roads are too dangerous for females”. So why don’t Australian women cycle? In other cities around the world [...]

By Crikey | Posted in Cycling | Tagged , , | Comments (30)