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From The Land
Victoria and South Australia on Wednesday sweltered in a heatwave which is developing into one of the worst in 100 years.
Adelaide by midday had already exceeded its forecast 44deg.
It hit a peak of 45.7deg during the early afternoon.
SA country centres, all the way from the Mid-North across the farming areas to the South-East corner, copped equivalent heatwave temperatures.
The establishment of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) underscores Australia’s dismal record on renewable energy, the Australian Greens said today.
While many of the countries signing the IRENA Treaty in Bonn this week are making great strides towards renewably powered economies, the Australian Government and much of the Australian industry appear content for renewable energy to remain a marginal business.
The Government is jogging on the spot when it needs to take big strides.
WHEN representatives of community climate action groups from around Australia gather in Canberra for a meeting this weekend, discussion will focus on understanding how the Rudd Government got climate policy so wrong, and what can be done in 2009.
The proposed carbon pollution reduction scheme will allow Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions to increase, just as the scientific case for reducing emissions towards zero as quickly as possible becomes more compelling. While emissions permits will drop 5 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020, the Treasury modelling that underpins the scheme plans on the large-scale purchase of permits from other countries, so that Australia’s total emissions, as opposed to domestic permits, will rise.
From The Herald
THE fate of Tillegra Dam now rests in the hands of Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett after his department ordered an assessment of the project’s impact on the Hunter’s internationally recognised wetlands.
Dam opponents applauded the intervention last night, which they said would provide greater scrutiny and debate about the project’s environmental and economic impacts.
Tillegra Dam project manager Nicole Holmes said the implications of the decision would be known within the next month.
“At this point it’s not clear if there will be further work that needs to be undertaken,” she said.
“We are awaiting the outcome of discussions between the Commonwealth and the state to understand any implications.”
A protester vandalises a GM crop trial. Qualms about GM food may be a luxury Africa can ill afford. Photograph: Barry Batchelor/PA
The Science Museum in London is running an exhibition until the end of May called Future Foods. It attempts to give a balanced view of the pros and cons of genetically modified crops, which are back on the agenda in the light of fears over a major food crisis. It does a good job too.
New York streets will be closely observed by a fleet of ten electric BMW Mini-E vehicles from April, mayor Michael Bloomberg announced last week. BMW is rolling out a test run of 500 proto-types this year to build and test a network of refuelling stations and create demand for the vehicle. The deal between the car manufacturer and the city government provides a zero emission fleet for the Street Condition Observation Unit (SCOUt) program while raising the car’s profile.