Archived material from historical editions of The Generator
Britain will almost certainly fail to meet its commitment to cut carbon
emissions by 20 per cent by 2010, since emissions have risen for the
past two years running. However, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has
announced plans for Britain to build a new set of nuclear power
stations within 10 years, according to The Age (22 November 2005, p.11).
To say global warming is serious is an understatement, yet the
Australian government, which along with the USA has not signed the
Kyoto agreement, has been slow to act and seems to be focused on
retaining fossil fuel as the major source of our electricity.
Nobel prize-winning economist Vernon Smith told the Centre for Energy
and Environmental Markets at the University of NSW that oil peak
predictions by the Ireland-based Association for the Study of Peak Oil
& Gas (ASPO) are “baloney”, an economic fallacy, reported The Australian Financial Review (19 November 2005, p.16).
The nation’s 30 Catholic bishops have said ratifying the Kyoto Protocol
was the least that Australia could do to continue to “support
international structures that help reduce global warming”, according to
The Sydney Morning Herald (19 November 2005, p.11).
Lake Macquarie Council in NSW has contracted Landfill Management
Services to establish a gas management system at the Awaba garbage tip
on the western shore of Australia’s biggest coastal lake.
Organisations who purchase Green Power cannot claim that
initiative as an emissions reduction under NSW Greenhouse Abatement
Scheme.