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Archived material from historical editions of The Generator

  • Lawyers leap on global warming

    He points to other actions, including challenges to a windfarm in NSW and a Carlton United Beverages brewery in Sydney, as examples of the trend.

    Climate change lawsuits not only cost time and money by pushing out deadlines, but were soon likely to extend to actions seeking costs due to personal injury or economic loss, Mr Taberner said.

    Those risks could mount when firmer carbon emission caps were set by the federal Government, because firms would risk shareholder action if they failed to properly report on the gases they produce or the financial consequences of their carbon debt, he said.

    Freehills isn’t the only high street law firm focusing on the issue.

    Clayton Utz, Mallesons and others also have been bulking up their staffing on greenhouse advising.

    "The legal firms would just love a massive stoush on climate change — they would be able to get a lot of income," Minerals Council of Australia chief executive Mitch Hooke said.

    He said a better approach than becoming legal "punching bags" would be for companies to minimise their emissions, engage with their local communities and fully comply with the law.

    "I am highly sceptical of legal firms beating up the contingent liabilities of environmental externalities over and above the law," Mr Hooke said.

    Centennial Coal, for one, wants its case resolved quickly, given the costs associated with delays.

    "We have a state approval, we have a time frame in which we anticipate construction and production and we asked that (the case) be expedited on the basis there is a financial implication," said Katie Brassil, the company’s general manager of external affairs.

    Xstrata communications manager James Rickards said the company had hoped to move ahead with its Newlands Wollombi No2 project in the second half of the year.

    Because of this, he said, "we are very interested to see what this appeal has to say".

    "While it has at times delayed the process, we still remain confident the last positive ruling will enable us to begin a ramping-up of operations," he said of the court case.

    Queensland’s Land & Resources Tribunal had earlier dismissed an objection to the emissions-intensive project by the Queensland Conservation Council and recommended the mine be approved without any conditions regarding greenhouse gases.

    That decision was appealed by the environment group, with a decision following Thursday’s hearing yet to be handed down.

     

  • Queensland ships most of world’s coking coal

    Paul Lucas, Queensland Minister for Transport and Main Roads, said. He had appointed Stephen O’Donnell to undertake an independent review of the Goonyella coal supply chain. Queensland supplies almost 50 per cent of the world’s seaborne trade in coking coal and has invested strongly in improving the coal supply chain. In 2005-06, Queensland coal exports totalled 143 million tonnes, worth more than $17.8 billion. That is an increase of 55 per cent over the previous year. That figure is expected to increase again in 2006-07 to around 165 million tonnes.

    Erisk Net, 5/6/2007

  • Turnbull announces climate change publication

    Dear Neville,
     

    Thank you for your email about the community information campaign on climate change.

     

    As you would be aware, climate change is a complex issue that is of increasing concern to Australians. We have found that many people are confused about what climate change actually is and what needs to be done to minimise its impact. They are also seeking simple and easily accessible information on the actions they can take as individuals to play a part in meeting the challenges presented by climate change.

     

    To help address these issues, we have announced, on Clean Up Australia Day (4 March) that the Australian Government would fund an initiative to provide all Australian households with information explaining climate change and the simple actions they can take to become more energy efficient. It would also provide them with the means to accurately calculate their emissions and the opportunity to become a ‘carbon neutral’ household. Given that Australian households collectively produce around 20 per cent of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions, action at this level can make a significant difference.

     

    The initiative is currently in the developmental stage, with decisions still to be made about its implementation. It will provide Australians with valuable information to help them better understand climate change and how they can play a role, alongside governments and industry, in responding to it.

     

    All the best,

     

    Malcolm

  • Siberian forest fires trip more warming

    Prof Balzter said "Last century a typical forest in Siberia had about 100
    years after a fire to recover before it burned again. But new observations
    by Russian scientist Dr Vyacheslav Kharuk have shown that fire now returns
    more frequently, about every 65 years. At the same time annual temperatures
    in Siberia have risen by almost two degrees Celsius, about twice as fast as
    the global average. And since 1990 the warming of Siberia has become even
    faster than before."

    "Siberia is a hotspot in the global climate system. Because the Siberian
    ecosystems are largely temperature controlled the region is strongly
    affected by global warming," said Prof Balzter. "Large amounts of greenhouse
    gases are currently locked in the permafrost and in organic soils, and if
    released could accelerate the greenhouse effect."

    For the study, the scientists observed 18 years of satellite images of the
    region, and estimated the timing of the onset and end of the growing season,
    when the snow has melted and the plants take up carbon from the air during
    plant growth.

    >From 1982 to 1999 almost all Siberian ecosystems showed an earlier onset of
    spring, ranging from around three days per decade to six days. "Central
    Siberia has a more continental climate. The changes in the timing of spring
    and also in fire occurrence are linked to temperature changes," said Prof
    Balzter.

    Global climate patterns also contribute — notably a warming of waters in
    the Pacific off the coast of South America, called El Niño, and a pattern of
    atmospheric pressure in the Arctic called the Arctic Oscillation, linked to
    the north Atlantic. "Towards the East Siberian coast the Pacific plays a
    more important role, and the El Niño phenomenon together with low rainfall
    determines what happens to the forest".

    Under one of the climate scenarios developed by the Hadley Centre of the Met
    Office, the current forest zone in western Siberia — the largest unbroken
    tract of trees on the planet — could be so dried out by 2090 that the trees
    would die off and be replaced with steppe. As a consequence, the Arctic
    would warm so much that trees could grow at the shores of the Arctic Ocean
    in Northern Siberia, currently an arctic desert.

  • CSIRO calls for immediate adaptation plans


    “There are many adaptation options available and some have already been implemented in response to recent climate change and other stresses, such as plans to protect biodiversity, manage coastal areas and protect the Great Barrier Reef,” Mr Hennessy said.

    “Australia has responded with the Federal Government establishing a CSIRO National Research Flagship in Climate Adaptation and the Australian Centre for Climate Change Adaptation through the Australian Greenhouse Office.

    “There are many adaptation options available and some have already been implemented in response to recent climate change and other stresses, such as plans to protect biodiversity, manage coastal areas and protect the Great Barrier Reef,”

    Mr Hennessy said.

    “However there remain significant environmental, economic and social barriers to implementing adaptation plans,” he said. “Reducing greenhouse gas emissions will also be necessary to slow global warming and delay or avoid more serious impacts.”

    Key findings for Australia include:

    • As a result of reduced precipitation and increased evaporation, water security problems are projected to intensify by 2030 in southern and eastern Australia.
    • Loss of biodiversity is projected to occur by 2020 in ecologically-rich sites including the Great Barrier Reef and Queensland Wet Tropics. Other sites at risk include Kakadu wetlands, southwest Australia, sub-Antarctic islands and Alpine national parks.
    • Ongoing coastal development and population growth in areas such as Cairns and south-east Queensland are projected to exacerbate risks from sea-level rise and increases in the severity and frequency of storms and coastal flooding by 2050.
    • Risks to major infrastructure are likely to increase. By 2030, design criteria for extreme events are very likely to be exceeded more frequently. Risks include failure of floodplain protection and urban drainage/sewerage, increased storm and fire damage, and more heatwaves, causing more deaths and more blackouts.
    • Production from agriculture and forestry is projected to decline by 2030 over much of southern and eastern Australia due to increased drought and fire.

    CSIRO contributed to the IPCC report on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability with two coordinating lead authors – Kevin Hennessy and Roger Jones – and three lead authors; Mark Howden, Bryson Bates and Barrie Pittock. Four scientists were contributing authors – Kathy McInnes, Pep Canadell, Alistair Hobday and Donna Green (now with the University of NSW).

    More images can be downloaded at: Adaptation – reducing Australia’s climate impacts

  • Nationals anxious over ethanol excise

    Nationals’ leader Mark Vaile was under pressure to promise that the Coalition would force oil companies to sell petrol blended with ethanol, reported The Age (3/8/2007, p. 8).

    State governments promise action: Influential Nationals were concerned that Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd would gazump them in sugar seats along the Queensland coast by promising that a Labor government would mandate the use of renewable fuels. Two premiers, Queensland’s Peter Beattie and Morris Iemma from NSW, have already announced mandates on the use of ethanol in petrol. Vaile also faced pressure from within his party to ensure that Australian ethanol was not hit with an excise and was protected from international competition by a tariff on imports. The council would debate a motion from the NSW, South Australian and Queensland branches calling for some of these measures.

    Public wary: The dominant producer in the industry, the Manildra Group, was a major sponsor of this weekend’s federal council, and was both a vociferous lobbyist and generous donor to both sides of politics. The idea of an ethanol mandate has been opposed by Treasurer Peter Costello and other senior ministers. Consumers also remained wary of ethanol.

    The Age, 3/8/2007, p. 8