Mining ‘more important’ than farming
Mining ‘more important’ than farming
AAP © [Enlarge photo]
The NSW government has been urged to listen to the concerns of farmers after assertions from the premier and a senior minister that mining is more important to the state than farming.
NSW Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald on Friday supported Premier Nathan Rees’ statement that mining was more economically valuable than farming.
Mr Rees’ comments came after farmers demonstrated outside NSW Parliament House on Thursday to stress their concern that agricultural land was being “sacrificed” to mining.
A Moral Dilemma
Where does the responsibility for action rest —nationally or internationally, and to what extent are assistance programs appropriate?
In a real sense, all nations or regions start equally —with the same opportunities. How the opportunities are pursued —the FP and living standard seen today— is arrived at from choices and decisions made by local inhabitants. The unequal distribution of natural capacity and other resources is not a relevant factor; resource levels only impact, even then indirectly, the sustainable population level not the Footprint and living standard.
Sustainablity Initiatives
Sustainability Initiatives
Can the push for sustainability be led by government, or do all sections of the communitiy need to drive the process?
Sustainability Initiative – Earthbeat, 27 March 2004
Sustainability is an all-encompassing concept and requires an extraordinary reorientation of Australian society and how it functions. It’s not something that a national government can do on its own.
Sustainability needs to be a community led process. Part of that is to do with the nature of Australian politics; all political parties are sensitive to community views.
Sustainability is about pushing forward into the future, about new thinking. We need to look to communities and to the private sector and to our universities for the kind of innovation and leadership that sustainability demands.
City birds sing higher than country cousins, scientists find
City birds sing higher than country cousins, scientists find
Team of scientists from Aberystwyth University recorded the song of birds living in and around 20 urban areas in the UK
- The Guardian, Wednesday 3 June 2009
A great tit. The males are territorial birds and sing to defend their patch. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Birds that live in cities sing higher-pitched songs than their country-dwelling cousins in order to be heard above the urban din, according to scientists who have compared the songs of birds in different locations.
In a survey of great tits living in and around 20 urban areas in the UK, researchers also found that city birds were more likely to recognise the songs of their fellow urban dwellers than those in the country. These birds may only live a few miles away from the city-slickers but sing lower-pitched songs.
“Most man-made noise is of a fairly low frequency – the rumble of traffic, the clatter of machinery, that sort of thing,” said Rupert Marshall of Aberystwyth University, who led the survey. “So the great tits in the city sing at a higher pitch to overcome that.”
Mass bird death discovery near landfill
Mass bird death discovery near landfill
The Department of Environment and Conservation says the birds including ibis, silver gulls and ravens have been found dead within a one-kilometre radius of the Henderson landfill site, in Perth’s southern suburbs.
Rudd wooing Africa while our growers struggle
Rudd wooing Africa while our growers struggle EXCLUSIVE by Steve Lewis May 29, 2009 12:00am LOCAL farmers are being robbed by the Rudd Government so it can use the cash to “buy” a seat at the United Nations Security Council, it was claimed yesterday. While the countryside has its funding cut despite battling floods and Continue Reading →