Category: Archive

`Green Pulse’ poll reveals Turnbull is not trusted

admin /7 March, 2007

The leadership ambitions of Malcolm Turnbull had been dealt a blow by a poll that showed few voters trusted him to fix the nation’s environmental problems, while many did not even know the newly installed minister just months out from an election that would be dominated by climate change and water, reported The Australian Financial Review (26/02/2007, p.5).

Time to think: A poll by Sydney research firm Pollinate showed only 9 per cent of voters trusted the Water Resources and Environment Minister to do the “best for the environment".

Turnbull, who? The monthly poll, to be called Green Pulse, found 37 per cent of those surveyed didn’t know Mr Turnbull, a former lawyer, investment banker and head of the republican movement. The figures confirmed last week’s Newspoll, which showed Labor with a 17-point lead over the coalition when it came to environmental management.

A last-ditch attempt: In an effort to reverse the deficit Treasurer Peter Costello was expected to unveil a "green budget” in May. The Australian Financial Review reported last week this could include a multibillion-dollar environment fund which would subsidise business and consumers to adopt clean and renewable energy.

Long list of issues: Drought was the No. 1 environmental issue followed by greenhouse gases and high petrol prices, while half those surveyed said signing the Kyoto Protocol was of high importance".

Devastated system dying of thirst

admin /7 March, 2007

James Woodford March 7, 2007 THE Darling River’s flow has been halved by evaporation, government reservoirs, hillside dams on farms and huge private irrigation storages. The river is being devastated by over-extraction, The State of the Darling report for the Murray-Darling Basin Commission, has found. For a clear discussion on why the Darling River is Continue Reading →

Law suit filed to protect polar bears from oil exploration and global warming

admin /6 March, 2007

The Center for Biological Diversity, Pacific Environment and Earthjustice filed suit on Feb. 13 challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approval of oil and gas drilling in the Beaufort Sea and adjacent coastal plains. The agency violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the National Environmental Policy Act by refusing to examine how oil and Continue Reading →

New law sets Timor oil in motion

admin /5 March, 2007

Woodside is set to resume work on the Greater Sunrise gas development in the Timor Sea after the federal government yesterday introduced legislation to ratify agreements with East Timor, reported The Australian (1/3/2007, p.24). East Timor parliament approval: The Government’s move follows the ratification by the East Timor parliament earlier this month of the treaty Continue Reading →

Energy Agency argues for clean coal

admin /5 March, 2007

Some argue that the solution is nuclear, a cost-effective way of producing electricity without any CO2 emissions. But the nuclear alternative faces a major hurdle in that people remain unconvinced about long-term, safe solutions for disposal and management of nuclear waste, according to Claude Mandil, director of the International Energy Agency, in The Australian Financial Continue Reading →

UN chief warns on climate change

admin /3 March, 2007

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that climate change poses as much of a danger to the world as war.

In his first address on the issue, Mr Ban said changes in the environment were likely to become a major driver of future war and conflicts.

He urged the US – the world’s biggest producer of greenhouse gases – to take the lead in fighting global warming.

Mr Ban said he would focus on the issue in talks with leaders of the G8 group of industrialised nations in June.

The danger posed by war to all of humanity and to our planet is at least matched by the climate crisis and global warming Ban Ki-moon