Category: Archive

CNN editors pull Palestinian quotes, replace with US

admin /14 November, 2006

CNN editors replaced all Palestinian quotations with quotes from the US and Israel in its story ‘U.S. vetoes U.N. condemnation of Israel’s Gaza strikes’. The new, more prominent article begins with the exact same wording as the original, but all Palestinian remarks are gone.

The two versions have identical first and second paragraphs:

———-
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) — The United States vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution Saturday that would have condemned Israel for its military operations in Gaza.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said the resolution, which also called for Israel to immediately cease military operations in the Palestinian territory, was "biased against Israel and politically motivated."
———-

The original wire followed with:

———-
The U.S. veto angered Hamas government spokesman Ghazi Hamad, who called the veto "shameful" and "not the first time" the United States has used a veto "just to protect Israel."

The veto, Hamad said, is to "give Israel covering in order to continue its massacres and killings among our people. It is giving legitimacy to Israel to continue the aggression against our people."
———-

Rising sea levels threaten Pacific nations

admin /11 November, 2006

Pacific nations in danger of being swamped by rising sea levels say Australia has a moral obligation to help environmental refugees because it is a major greenhouse gas emitter, reported The Courier-Mail (26 October 2006 p35).

New kind of refugee?
Tuvalu – a tiny nation of nine islands – fears all of its 10,000 inhabitants could become environmental refugees. Kiribati – a nation of 33 coral atolls and 105,000 people – fears a similar fate.

Nowhere to hide:
“Our islands are very flat,” Paani Laupepa, a Tuvalu delegate to the recent Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji, said. “The whole population, the entire 10,000 people will be affected. We have a right to live in this environment and now we are being forced away," said Mr Laupepa.

Aust aid doesn’t extend to resettlement:
Tuvalu is upset that regional heavyweight Australia, a major aid donor but also one of the biggest per capita emitters of the greenhouse gases responsible for global warming, has spurned advances to help resettle its people.

Howard snubs claim:
It is also angry that Australia was unable to arrange even a short meeting between Prime Minister John Howard and his Tuvaluan counterpart Apisai Ielemia. “Howard has no commitment. We are very frustrated,” Mr Laupepa said.

Tempers rising with sea waters:
Kiribati, Tuvalu, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and parts of Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu are considered at greatest risk. A climate change report by Australia’s leading scientific research body released two weeks ago found that Micronesia had experienced an annual sea level rise of 21.4mm since 2001.

Potential land loss in Indian sub-continent, Asia too:
It said a sea level rise of 30cm to 50cm would slash Asia-Pacific economic output, inundate large areas of Bangladesh, India and Vietnam and reduce Kiribati, Fiji and the Maldives to a fraction of their present land area.

The Courier Mail, 26/10/2006, p. 35

Source: Erisk Net  

$250bn spent pa distorting energy subsidies

admin /11 November, 2006

Governments around the world spent about $250 billion a year on distorting energy subsidies, Sir Nicholas Stern, head of the United Kingdom Government Economic Service, said in his final report on the economics of climate change.

Rooting out existing inefficiencies: Stern, the former chief economist of the World Bank, was pointing out that climate change policies could help to root out existing inefficiencies.

Climate change policies can be reform lever: He said that at the company level, implementing climate policies might draw attention to money-saving opportunities. At the economy-wide level, it could be a lever for reforming inefficient energy systems and removing distorting energy subsidies.

Opportunities for growth: The report said the transition to a low-carbon economy would bring challenges for competitiveness but also opportunities for growth. Costs of mitigation of around 1 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) were small relative to the costs and risks of climate change that would be avoided.

Higher costs for some countries: However, for some countries and some sectors, the costs would be higher. There might be some impacts on the competitiveness of a small number of internationally traded products and processes.

Benefits from innovation: There would be benefits from innovation that would offset some of these costs. All economies underwent continuous structural change; the most successful economies were those with the flexibility and dynamism to embrace the change.

Low-energy markets likely to exceed $500 billion a year: The report said there were also significant new opportunities across a wide range of industries and services. Markets for low-carbon energy products were likely to be worth at least $500 billion a year by 2050, and perhaps much more.

Reference: “Stern Review on the economics of climate change final report” by Sir Nicholas Stern, head of the Government Economic Service and former World Bank chief economist. 30 October 2006. Address: HM Treasury, 1 Horse Guards Road, London. SW1A 2HQ. Phone: (from outside UK) +44 (0)20 7270 4558. Fax: 020 7270 4861.
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk

Erisk Net, 7/11/2006

Bushfire researcher says Tas ripe for massive blaze

admin /7 November, 2006

Extremely dry conditions have left Tasmania ripe for a massive blaze far bigger than the 1967 Black Tuesday firestorm, a leading fire researcher told The Mercury (31 October 2006, p.5).

50-75 year cycle: University of Tasmania research fellow Jon Marsden-Smedley said the State typically had a fire to match the 1967 firestorm every 25 to 30 years. But Tasmania’s fire history shows there was usually an even larger fire every 50 to 75 years. The last supersized fire was 73 years ago in the summer 1933-34.

Ominous weather indicators: "We have periodic very bad seasons and the type of year you get them in is these major drought years we’re in at the moment," Dr Marsden-Smedley said.

Mid-afternoon darkness: He added: "In the summer of 1933-34 Hobart went into darkness one afternoon about 3pm as there was a major fire burning to the north-west of the town. The summer of 1897-98, there was an absolutely massive fire in Tasmania that basically burnt from early December right through until the end of February."

The Mercury, 31/10/2006, p.5

Source: Erisk Net  

Old mindset to erode Aust energy export role

admin /7 November, 2006

Don’t be fooled into thinking Australia’s contribution to global climate change is trifling and it would cost us unfairly if we made a greater unilateral effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We’re as dirty as they come, wrote David Bassanese in The Australian Financial Review (4/11/2006, p.5).

Cost of coal addiction: Due to cheap coal reserves, and lazy energy pricing, our small population left a heavy ecological footprint – and our resistance to cleaner energy sources would cost us dearly if we did not soon change our ways, Bassanese said.

Poor show in efficiency gains: As noted in a 2004 paper to the Australia Institute, Australia’s total emissions of greenhouse gases exceeded those of France and Italy, and were only 20 per cent lower than those of the UK. And according to the International Energy Agency, Australia’s improvements in energy efficiency over the past three decades had been less than half those averaged elsewhere.

Australia to suffer: "Energy is simply too cheap and abundant for us to bother. Yet as the Stern report on climate change says, as an already dry continent, Australia will suffer disproportionately from global warming. Queensland will lose rainforests, experience further bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef and more tropical diseases," Bassanese said.

Flood and fire to increase: "Southern states will get drier, making farming more difficult and urban water more scarce. Cyclones and bushfires will intensify, and some prized coastal land will become submerged.

No contest for clean energy: "While the Howard government’s recent announcements to promote wind and solar power sound good, until CO2 emissions are capped and/or taxed at their true social cost, cleaner energy technologies will fail to find a market in the face of unbeatably cheap coal.

Export glory to fade: "The environment will suffer, but it will also cost us economically. As the world inevitably moves away from dirty coal, our reliance on old methods will destroy our role as a leading energy exporter."

The Australian Financial Review, 4/11/2006, p.5

Source: Erisk Net  

 

 

Brazil cuts deforestation by 30pc

admin /7 November, 2006

At a United Nations meeting on climate change in Kenya next week, Brazil is expected to propose a fund to reward developing countries that cut their rate of deforestation, reported The Economist 4/11/2006, p.64).

Proposal reliant on goodwill: This is a change of heart: till last year, Brazil had resisted the idea of taking cash in return for keeping trees intact. Brazil’s idea relies on contributors’ goodwill. The only penalty for countries that cheat would be the loss of future incentives.

"Avoided deforestation" certificates: Some think it might be better to trade certificates in "avoided deforestation" in the global carbon-credit market, through which polluters in rich countries can pay others to reduce emissions.

1ha worth $7,500 in carbon credits: The economic value of chopping down trees varies widely, the World Bank has noted in a new study. Pasture in the Amazon is worth as little as $200 a hectare. At the current price of carbon credits (which is volatile) the same area of dense rainforest would be worth around $7,500, according to Kenneth Chomitz, the report’s main author.

Lower gains from clearance: The gains from clearance are often much less than the cost to the planet of the carbon released by burning or rotting trees. Thus it may make sense for rich polluters to pay, via the market, for the forests’ upkeep.

Market impact a concern: Sceptics have said "dumping" forests on the world’s carbon market would lower the price, thus reducing the incentive for rich countries to use greener power – unless emission targets were toughened, which would tighten the market.

"Eco-services" system suggested: Other greens have said countries should be paid for providing "eco-services" – like biodiversity – and not just for avoiding destruction. But even if the effect of "cash for nondeforestation" is short-term, it is worth having: it could buy time to develop non-fossil fuels.

Brazil’s deforestation down 30pc: In any case, Brazil is already making progress. Deforestation in the year to August dropped 30 per cent to 13,000 square kilometres (5,000 square miles). Last year’s fall was similar. One (changeable) factor is a strong currency, which depresses prices for farm products. IPAM, a thinktank, also credits tougher state action against land grabbing and corruption.

The Economist, 4/11/2006, p.64

Source: Erisk Net