WELL, Ralphs Bay has been temporarily rejected by the RPDC partly on the grounds that future maintenance costs are an unknown given that the Tasmanian forecasts are for the impacts of sea level rises include inundation and increased coastal erosion under the now outdated predictions of the IPCC.
And what do we hear from the TCCI, confidence in investment in Tasmanian shaken by this decision. It would seem as though according to the TCCI any industrial proposal should get a rubber stamp ‘APPROVED’ regardless of its implications or consequences.
So what is the effect of burning forests in a power plant, something the TCCI has not rejected as dangerous to the climate. Recent research has shown that the carbon accounting on biofuels has a flaw which needs to be fixed to prevent carbon emitting distortions.
Clearing forests for fuel has consequences. In this study the payback time on the carbon released from clearing a forest is 75 years unless its growing on peatland when it becomes 600 years
Its time for the TCCI to adopt a strategy for Tasmania that is climate positive to build on the advantages we currently have, green power, carbon dense forest stores actively sinking carbon, winds and waves.
And for Senator Steve Fielding an explanation of the supposed cooling trend. The trend isn’t supported by the data Steve making your position a sure fire way to put families last.
Power scheme storages have almost returned to the heady days of half empty with the total at just under 54% empty. This is usually the high point in thr filling cycle with a gradual run down until May when refilling commences.
With fires burning in Rockhampton residents of the NSW North Coast are concerned. Since the floods 3 months ago rainfall has deserted them and the bush is now tinder dry. Rainfall outlook for the next 3 months has them in the 100 to 300mmm bracket.
A little evidence that all is not normal even in a world where climate variation is accepted as a norm.
Analysis of Arctic lake sediments show this warming is not following the patterns of the past 200,000 years.
Simple measures have greenhouse impact
Readers have probably taken them all but there are your friends, or those that were until you started to bang on about the climate, and your neighbors.
Clubs have formed to take action by working co-operatively to make changes like making houses draught proof or making a town solar.
Farmers may well be happier with the Rudd government set to exclude agriculture from emissions trading and instead deal with the matter by regulation. That will still have resistance. Government should learn from the successful Landcare program and involve farmers in change through positive affirmation in their own communities.
Enjoy your scallops Tasmanians, acid oceans will become global and shellfish appear to be one of the early victims.
Carbon too cheap to stimulate ‘clean coal’ carbon capture and storage. Carbon price of $60 per tonne CO2 needed.
How much is a stable livable climate worth?.
Not much according to the Liberal party
How much Turnbull and others must regret Howard intransigence on climate stability and carbon now. Action could have been weak but captured the Australian voters imagination.
Now the party is found divided and without a strong leader to knock heads together for unities sake.
The dissidents Liberals talk of another scheme instead of an ETS, without taking into account the evidence of the time limits in this matter, the need for a global agreement on action or the need for business to have a system that they can use to trade emissions globally.
I cannot be bothered arguing the idiocy of denying that climate stability is rapidly slipping away and Australians will not be bothered with a party that supports their beaches eroding away, their bush and farmland burning and their farmlands dying off under a long slow drying.
To argue that Rudd’s popularity will disappear under a hail of do nothing its all right propaganda from ignorant rednecks and pointyheads, when they cannot put a cogent alternative policy together, will be the political suicide the Liberals so fear.
Popularity at the margins of community opinion may look good, it may even feel good, but in the end coming back in off the limb requires the sacrifice of those who took an organization there if not the organization. Just ask Pauline.
Whilst some think that sea level rise is like heating, just mud, below the mud tells another story.
Canute like the rich of Byron Bay will fight to save their investments.
And in an attempt to replicate the Gods excellent planning by the Chinese government has brought snow to Beijing in an attempt to refill the water storages, only the plan left out the antifreeze for aircraft and 150 of them were grounded at the national capitals airport. Just a little addition to the craziness of the climate changing policies of governments.
The goals of the 350 Campaign and government policy do not coincide so it was a surprise to see the Royal Tasmanian Botanic Gardens join in the 350 Campaign although they are the more likely to understand the impacts of a hotter world on plant communities, the basis of all life than most other organs of the State
Besides a 100 % reduction in emissions, 40ppmv of CO2 has to be removed from the atmosphere to reach the 350 goal and ensure stability for the climate upon which we depend. The most effective mechanism for that under the control of the Tasmanian Government, forests, faces further degradation under the current policy, reducing that parts capacity to sink and store carbon.
Forestry Tasmania advised, and Bartlett swallowed whole, the idea that their current practices sink and store carbon. The common opinion among scientists studying Carbon storage in forests id that these practices are not the most effective in maximizing the processes of sinking and storing Carbon.
The government’s recent innovation paper lists forestry as an important driver for the Tasmanian economy and at the same time recognizes that management has managed to exhaust the supply of Category 1 and 3 sawlogs, making a transition to plantation product and smaller regrowth sawlogs essential for the survival of the sawn timber industry.
Perhaps Latham’s $800M was reborn in Canberra during Bartlett’s recent visit, as the proposed pulpmill is more like a dead albatross for this government. If it ever gets going and consumes Tasmania’s natural forests and woodchip exports continue Tasmania will not be playing the part needed to restore the climate to a semblance of stability.
Its time to abandon the large scale industrial assault on the world’s carbon densest forests and to turn them into carbon sinks and stores to offset emissions whilst Australia transits to a zero carbon economy.
Rudd’s CPRS proposes that Australian polluters be able to pay to conserve tropical forests whilst the degradation of our own continues. Prima-facie madness is further supported by allowing the export of the wealth creating potential of ensuring that some offset investments occur in Australia, as every other country with or considering an emissions trading scheme has done.
All Rudd’s scheme will ensure is capital and thus job outflows leaving a hole in the ground as a memorial to the short term incompetence of the world of the global market.
The fossil fuel industries are willing to pay whilst they run down their old capital but more importantly the investment in climate security far outweighs the short term monetization of this important mechanism.
The climate difficulties faced by all mainland states now, with drought, dust storms and fires, will pale into the memory as good times if we continue on the path the coal, oil and forest industries wish, free permits, low emission reduction targets and business as usual.
The innovation strategy flags the importance of hydro industrialization to Tasmanian’s development and the attraction of the bulk power users but posits that now the power can be onsold for a higher value and so those bulk power users should pay a competitive price.
So my question, that will never be answered, is how much do the bulk power users contribute to paying down the hydro debt, is it capital plus interest, interest only or naught, the debt being carried by smaller businesses and residential consumers?.
And in the innovation strategy what is the ROI on the taxpayer portion of any of the proposals. For example a second Bass Strait cable when we cannot pay for the first one.
Paying off the debt would allow for an expansion of renewables. Time for the Tasmanian government to put up some prices for the big end of town; bulk power, forest products, non renewable minerals instead of hitting pensioners and the low income with a water and sewage tax.
