The Australian Financial Review, 16/2/2006, p. 61
Source: Erisk – www.erisk.net
Author: admin
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Mandatory energy and water efficiency is hard on consumers but the alternative is worse
The Canberra Times, 17/2/2006, p. 14
Source: Erisk – www.erisk.net
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Melting of ice-caps doubles
Greenland’s glaciers are the worlds largest reserves of fresh water
and they are melting twice as fast as predicted five years ago.
Research carried out by the NASA Jet Propulsion Labroratory and the
California Institute of Technology indicate that 36 million cubic miles
of ice are now being dumped into the oceans each year. This is largely
due to an increase in air temperature of 3 degrees Celcius which
lubricates the bottom of the glaciers, making them slip faster across
the landscape.The glaciers cover 650,000 square kilometers,
almost the size of NSW. if they melted completely sea levels would rise
by 7 meters. The researchers say that the computer models predicting
the impact of climate change will have to be reprogrammed, as it is
happening much faster than predicted using five year old data.A summary of the article published in Science is available at Reuters.
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Government gags CSIRO
Ministerial concern over WWF support: They say the minister
expressed concern over the group’s comments on water reform and its
funding links to World Wildlife Fund Australia president Robert Purves.
Mr Purves, a Bungendore grazier, financial investor and philanthropist,
paid for dinner and the hire of a hotel conference room when members of
the group initially met in Sydney at the invitation of land clearing
campaigner Peter Cosier.Attempt to suppress damning biodiversity report: WWF Australia
and CSIRO jointly published the blueprints with funding from Mr Purves.
The meeting followed the leaked release of a controversial and damning
report to the federal government by Queensland ecologist Dr Paul
Sattler on the state of Australia’s biodiversity. The report, which
scientists assisting Dr Sattler claim the Department of Environment and
Heritage tried to suppress, listed land clearing as the No 1 threat to
Australia’s biodiversity and ecosystems.Bureaucrats would rather not know: “Yes, there was some pressure from the minister over Wentworth,” Dr Morton told The Canberra Times
yesterday. Dr Williams said there had been “lots of pressure and lots
of angst and agony” from government bureaucrats in at least three
departments over the Wentworth Group analysis of environmental problems
facing the nation.The Canberra Times, 14/2/2006, p. 1
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Kyoto exceeds epectations in Year 1
Tremendous growth: “The carbon market is going very well. We’ve
seen tremendous growth this year,” said Henrik Hasselknippe, senior
analyst at Point Carbon, a firm that monitored the fast-growing
business in carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution.Worth $US 40.2 billion a year by 2010: Trading in CO2 was one of
the world’s fastest-growing markets – and according to Point Carbon’s
estimates, would be worth as much as 34 billion euros ($US40.2 billion)
a year by the end of this decade.Trading was 800 million tonnes in 2005: In 2004, the global
volume of trade in CO2 was 94 million tonnes. In 2005, it rose to 800
million tonnes. In January 2006 alone, the figure was more than 262
million tonnes for spot trading among European players alone.Price up from $US9 a tonne to $US31 a tonne in past year: A year
ago, a tonne of CO2 sold for 7-8 euros ($US8-9) on the spot market.
Last Friday, a tonne was changing hands at more than 26 euros ($US31) –
a huge profit for anyone who had the foresight to buy futures before
the Kyoto Protocol took effect.Reference: Digest of latest news reported on website of Climate
Change Secretariat of United Nations Framework on Climate Change
Control (UNFCCC). 15 February 2006. Address: PO Box 260 124, D-53153
Bonn. Germany. Phone: : (49-228) 815-1005, Fax: (49-228) 815-1999.
Email: press@unfccc.int
http://www.unfccc.int -
Biodiversity credits lead nega-economy
New growth sector: In Australia to launch the Green Building
Council of Australia’s latest rating tool, which offers a means of
measuring the ecological impact of existing buildings, Gottfried’s
advice to the property world is to get in early. In the US, he says,
the green building market is growing at 30 per cent a year, “and that’s
in a stagnant industry”.Nevada leading way: Star projects such as the massive $6 billion
MGM Grand Casino in Nevada, built over five city blocks, are having a
huge impact. Inspired by the $100 million of tax credits available in
that State for going green, the project aims for a maximum green
rating. “They’re hiring every green building consultant they can find
… All my colleagues are setting up LEEDS (the US green rating system)
consulting offices in Nevada. It’s huge.”Aust lagging: Gottfried said he did not see the Australian
Government involved in anything and this was his fourth visit here.
“The new model here is open co-operation: public-private. Our
government is at the table with private industry and the NGOs
(non-government organisations). I’m all about making money. It’s
capitalism 101. But now it’s about greening capitalism.”“Nega” economy is coming: He argued that the billionaire of the
future would be someone who moved towards a zero footprint, or ‘nega’
foot print,” – that is, having no or minimal impact on the earth. “It
will be a nega footprint economy – that is, anything you buy, sell or
do will make money if you decrease its eco footprint, and anything that
adds to the footprint will cost money.” Already, “you can get very
wealthy selling carbon credits”.The Australian Financial Review, 16/2/2006, p. 61