INTERNATIONAL DAY OF CLIMATE ACTION
24 10 2009Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: 350.org, Climate Change, Global Warming, Greenhouse Gas
Categories : Australia, Carbon, Environment, World
Australia: eastern states’ emissions down 4 per cent this winter
7 09 2009
Greenhouse gas emissions from energy use fell by more than three million tonnes or 4 per cent across Australia’s eastern states this winter compared with the previous winter, according to a new report released today by The Climate Group. This is the equivalent of taking almost 3 million cars off the road over winter.
Total emissions for the season were 74.69 million tonnes. Emissions were down across all states included in the report with South Australia recording the largest relative fall in winter emissions of more than 8 per cent compared with 2008.
The Climate Group’s Greenhouse Indicator Winter Report tracks the main sources of greenhouse emissions (those produced by coal, natural gas and petroleum) in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Coal, Emissions, Greenhouse Gas, Natural Gas, NSW, Oil, QLD, Renewables, Report, SA, VIC
Categories : Australia, Carbon, Environment
Study links drought with rising emissions
17 08 2009- DROUGHT experts have for the first time proven a link between rising levels of greenhouse gases and a decline in rainfall.
A three-year collaboration between the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO has confirmed that the drought is not just a natural dry stretch but a shift related to climate change.
Scientists working on the $7 million South Eastern Australian Climate Initiative said the rain had dropped away because the subtropical ridge – a band of high pressure systems that sits over the country’s south – had strengthened over the past 13 years. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Climate Change, CSIRO, Drought, Greenhouse Gas, Science
Categories : Australia, Carbon, Environment
BHP Billiton caught in US climate change scandal
13 08 2009
BHP BILLITON and two other leading US energy companies operating in Australia have been caught up in a lobbying scandal that was aimed at defeating the landmark US climate change bill but is now under investigation by a congressional committee.
The scandal involves 12 forged letters sent to members of Congress urging them to vote against the US climate change bill. The bill, which was passed by the US House of Representatives in June, is designed to cut America’s greenhouse gas pollution and promote clean energy.
The forged letters were purportedly sent by grassroots groups in coalmining districts to three Democratic members. But a Washington lobby firm working on behalf of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity admitted that an employee forged the letters and faxed them. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: BHP, Business, Coal, Greenhouse Gas, Legislation, Politics, Scandal, USA
Categories : Australia, Carbon, Environment, World
NZ announces emissions targets
11 08 2009- The New Zealand Government has announced targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions – but environmentalists believe they do not go far enough.
Dr Nick Smith - NZ Climate Change & Environment Minister
New Zealand’s emissions make up less than 0.5 per cent of mankind’s overall greenhouse gas pollution.
But the country is in a tricky position because half of its greenhouse gases come from the highly-profitable agricultural sector.
The Government now says it will cut emissions by between 10 and 20 per cent of 1990 levels.
But Barry Coates from Oxfam believes it is a cop-out.
“The losers here are the people from the developing world who stand to suffer from climate change, including our Pacific neighbours,” he said.
New Zealand will set a final target after it takes part in negotiations at the climate change conference in Copenhagen later this year.
Read NZ Gov: Press Release
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Tags: Emissions, Greenhouse Gas, New Zealand, News, Politics
Categories : Carbon, Environment
Catholic carbon audit with Gore’s blessing
19 07 2009- Climate change believers in the church are seeking earthly salvation
Self-described climate change sceptic: Cardinal George Pell (AAP: Paul Miller)
GOD puts down a mighty carbon footprint in Australia, but the Catholic Church is doing its best to lighten His tread.
With the support of the former US vice-president Al Gore, the church is starting a carbon audit of thousands of churches and parish buildings, about 1500 schools and more than 300 hospitals and aged-care facilities.
It estimates its many activities release up to 1.5 million tonnes of heat-trapping greenhouse gases a year, about the same as all Federal Government agencies put together, excluding the Defence Forces.
“We think it’s a great opportunity to bring the ecological world and the Catholic world together,” said Jacqui Remond, director of Catholic Earthcare, the national sustainability division of the church. After a successful pilot in Sydney, the church will use an internet reporting and monitoring system to measure the energy and water use and carbon emissions of its buildings. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Al Gore, Catholic Church, Climate Change, Greenhouse Gas
Categories : Australia, Carbon, Environment
G8 Snail
12 07 2009
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Tags: Cartoons, Emissions, G8, Greenhouse Gas
Categories : Carbon, Environment, World
Russia: G8 emissions target unacceptable
9 07 2009- Россия: G8 целевые показатели сокращения выбросов неприемлемо
- A target set by the G8 for developed countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 is unacceptable for Russia, President Dmitry Medvedev’s top economic aide said on Wednesday.
“For us the 80 per cent figure is unacceptable and likely unattainable,” Arkady Dvorkovich told reporters.
“We won’t sacrifice economic growth for the sake of emission reduction,” he added.
Dvorkovich declined however to unveil Russia’s precise targets, saying that releasing them would be premature.
“The calculations are being done. There are different scenarios,” he said, adding they ranged from 20 per cent to 60 per cent by 2050.
“We still have the time to agree our positions before Copenhagen,” Dvorkovich said, referring to December’s climate conference in the Danish capital. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: Climate Change, Economy, Emissions, G8, Greenhouse Gas, Politics, Russia
Categories : Carbon, Environment, World
Los Angeles will end use of coal-fired power
4 07 2009
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Los Angeles will eliminate the use of electricity made from coal by 2020, replacing it with power from cleaner renewable energy sources, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said.
Consumers of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the largest city-owned utility in the United States with 1.45 million electricity customers, will see higher power bills in the fight against climate change, he added in his inaugural speech for his second four-year term as mayor on Wednesday.
California does not have any coal-fired power plants, a leading contributor to greenhouse gas pollution, but the LADWP now gets 40 percent of its electricity from coal plants outside the state. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: 2020, Climate Change, Coal, Government, Greenhouse Gas, Natural Gas, Nuclear, Politics, Renewables, USA
Categories : Carbon, Environment, World
ACF busts the big polluters’ climate myths
3 07 2009
The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) will be busting the big polluters’ myths about climate change and the economy this weekend, taking out full page advertising space in some of the country’s largest newspapers.
ACF will place ads in The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, the Courier Mail and The Canberra Times tomorrow, Saturday 4 July.
“Leading scientists and economists agree that strong and immediate action on climate change will create jobs for Australians and help secure our economic prosperity,” said ACF executive director Don Henry. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tags: ACF, Climate Change, Green Energy, Greenhouse Gas, Legislation, Politics, Press Release
Categories : Australia, Carbon, Environment
