Archived material from historical editions of The Generator
Welcome to Crazy John’s Resource Sale and Love-In. See George rub Middle-Eastern oil on John’s naked skin. Hear George say, “Like me, Johnny loves to come from behind.” Everybody loves Australia. We are the biggest mine on the planet and we’re having a sale! Everything must go! Steel, nickel, copper – out they go at Continue Reading →
Hobart, Saturday, 6 October 2007 – Australian Greens Senator Christine Milne today welcomed the decision by former Liberal candidate for Lyons, Ben Quin, to quit his party over the decision to give Gunns’ pulp mill the go ahead.Senator Milne said "There are too few people in the old parties who are prepared to stand up Continue Reading →
By Ahmad Pathoni
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia, which has destroyed vast tracts of forest, will plant 79 million trees in a single day ahead of the U.N. climate change summit in Bali in December, an official said on Thursday.
The event, scheduled for November 28, is part of a global campaign to plant one billion trees launched at U.N. climate change talks in Nairobi last year, said Ahmad Fauzi Masud, spokesman for the forestry ministry.
"Everybody, residents and officials from the lowest unit of the government to the president, will take part in this movement," he said. "It will be a national record and, possibly, a world record."
According to Shan Goodwin, molasses, sold directly from the three sugar mills on the North Coast, now cost $42 for a 44-gallon drum, well up from the season’s opening price of $30, reported The Land, (27/9/2007, p.27). Molasses as stock feed: The NSW Sugar Milling Co-operative sells 90pc of its molasses to industrial users, stockfeed Continue Reading →
The biofuels boom has brought on a backlash, and the biofuels community is beginning to mount a response. This was in evidence at the second annual Business of Biofuels Conference in Gresham, Oregon last month. One of its two days was devoted to sustainability issues, particularly the interaction of food and fuel crops.
Keynoter Jim Kleinschmidt of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) mapped the landscape.
"Today there is no question, biofuels are becoming mainstream, a real part of today’s agriculture, energy and forestry agenda. But there are consequences," said the IATP Rural Communities Program director, noting food security concerns are one of the greatest consequences. "The backlash against biofuels is growing. We are now at risk of losing the public support needed for expansion of biofuels markets."
Kleinschmidt said biofuels growth is underscoring and amplifying problems created by existing agricultural policies. That opens the way for biofuels to promote sustainable agricultural policies.
"Biofuels represent an opportunity to reconfigure the agricultural system toward sustainability. . . The biofuels sector can move the agricultural sector as a whole," he noted.
A significant problem with the current system is policies that promote only a few major commodities. This was cited by speakers throughout the day, including Brent Searle of Oregon Department of Agriculture.
Wendy Frew Environment Reporter – Sydney Morning Herald NSW taxpayers are subsidising a Japanese woodchip mill on the South Coast to the tune of $3.5 million a year because the State Government is selling native timber to the mill too cheaply, industry experts say. At a time when there are fears native forest logging is Continue Reading →