Climate Change Denial: Heads in the Sand

I have started to read Climate Change Denial: Heads in the Sand by Haydn Washington and John Cook (2011). So far, I am truly enjoying this book, but I wanted to share a part of the forward to this book by Naomi Oreskes.

"Most of us are aware that scientists say climate change is under way, but even if we accept it as true we act as if it had no implications. We deny, what it means, and continue business as usual. 

....will that is needed.....not the will to keep calm and carry on in the face of tragedy. It is the will to change the way we live in order to avoid an even greater tragedy; a tragedy that will affect not just Queensland, or even all of Australia, but the whole world, including the plants and animals with whom we share this rock upon which we live. 

It is about the way of life that does not reckon the true cost of living, an economics that does not take into account environmental damage and loss.

Climate change is the ultimate accounting; it is the bill for a century of unprecedented prosperity, generated by the energy stored in fossil files. By and large, this prosperity has been a goof thing. More people live longer and healthier lives than before the industrial revolution. The problem, however, is that those people did not pay for the full cost of that prosperity. And the remainder of the bill has now come due. 

What we need now is the will: the will to face the facts, the will to accept their implications and the will to do something about it."

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South East Queensland Food Network

There is a new push in south-east Queensland to promote local opportunities to producers and connect them to their local markets. The Queensland Business Review published an article this week entitled: Farmers Take Control of Local Supply Chain, which can be found at http://www.qbr.com.au/news/articleid/77703.aspx.

From my review of this article it looks as though producers, tourism organisations and local Councils have established the South East Queensland Food Network as an attempt to promote local produce to people visiting areas and to develop alternate supply chains.

I'm not sure what the outcome will be, but it sparked my interest as there certainly will be opportunities to find out more about your local producers (including who they are and what they produce) and potentially establish direct links to them or alternatively promote their use through your local supermarkets.

It is always great to find out more information about food that is available in your local area and where you can purchase it from.


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Resilience

Oh my goodness, I just came across an article on Tree Hugger about resilience and I love it. It is just what I was trying to discuss with my mother (in a round-about type of way) this morning.

Basically the article states that the environment is "up shit creek" and there is little we can do to change this path. However, if we build a future that is resilient, there might be hope for the survival of the human species.

My favourite quote from the article, although a little twisted, is "Environmentalism hasn't failed. It just didn't win yet. But blaming environmentalists for not turning things around is a little like bashing the foster parent for not eradicating child abuse".

The article is fabulous. Have a look at this resilience article by Sami Grover  at http://www.treehugger.com/culture/save-us-ourselves-resilience-key-making-sustainability-mainstream.html.

I think 'resilience' is going to be the new buzz word and hopefully will be adopted into the mainstream as  'sustainability' has over the last decade. Pin It

Greenwash article....big brands "using" the environment

I just read an interesting marketing article defending "greenwash". Have a look and see what you think. See whether you think we should be offended by the idea of big brands using the environment to encourage you to buy their products or not.


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Guide to ethical supermarket shopping

I picked up this guide today from a local shop for $6. It is devised by the Ethical Consumer Group Inc (www.ethical.org.au). They advertise the guide as a way to have an impact "with every dollar you spend".

The guide is larger than you are probably likely to carry around if you're just going to be popping into your store to get a litre of milk, but if you're doing your regular shopping and you're carrying a handbag it certainly wouldn't be a struggle to fit it in. You could then use it as a easy reference guide to compare products and make some informed choices whilst in the store. I think they also have a iPhone App.

All products listed in the guide have their production location listed (ie Australia or overseas), as well as providing a rating of the product based on things such as "areas of environmental and social impact, treatment of animals and accountable business practice." The guide also lists all the products in relevant categories, provides their names and their parent company's name.

I'll let you know if I find it useful once I try it out whilst shopping. Pin It

Clean energy future?

The Australian Senate yesterday passed the package of Clean Energy legislation to allow Australia move into a new phase of its history! This legislation is aimed at driving the production of non-renewable energy down and increase the amount of renewables or clean energy available to Australia in the future. The legislation will also attempt to cut emissions that Australia would have otherwise generated by 2020. And the biggest and most publicised component, is that there will be a price on carbon from the 1 July 2012. This will commence at $23 a tonne for the top 500 polluters in Australia.

I was recently interested to know that Brisbane City Council is one of these top 500, but from the information that I recently heard from their Mayor, they are well on their way to looking at alternative sources of energy and ways to improve their activities and how to reduce their "bill" as you might say.

What an environmental step forward our country made yesterday and I am pleased that the government stood up to big business. Pin It

Occupy Wall Street

The idea behind Occupy Wall Street is to bring the 99% of the population together to protest against greed and consumption of the wealthiest people in the US (those that make up only 1% of the population). There are also going to be supportive protests here in Australia: Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane today. 

Some people are questioning whether it is relevant here because the American/Canadian movement commenced out of the impacts they felt as a result of the Global Financial Crisis. I personally think it is still relevant here in Australia, as most people here would probably be interested in supporting their fellow global citizens and also saying 'no' to the way the world seems to progressing. That is, the dominance of corporations and wealthy people and their influence over government process. 

I think there is definitely a ground-swell or movement where people are expressing that they are sick of this influence and would like the government once again to be an elected representative of the people rather than large corporations, wealthy people or their political party. 

I think this is a great conversation starter and allows you to introduce new ideas to people and also meet people of like-minded experience.

A "blog" that expresses the opinions and views of some of the 99% (American focus) can be found at: http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/. Maybe you could subscribe and add your story. Cool community spirit!

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Carbon tax impact on Queensland Economy

The Queensland Treasury has recently released a report that outlines the expected future impact on the Queensland economy as a result of the introduction of the carbon tax. The introduction of this report states the overall short to medium term impact the carbon tax will be minimal to minor on the overall Queensland economy.

The figures stated in the report indicate the Queensland gross state product is estimated to be only 0.4% lower by 2019-2020 and 3.5% lower by 2049-2050 after the introduction of the carbon tax. The report goes on to say that the Queensland economy is still expected to be strong, with an annual real growth of 3.5% by 2019-2020.

The important take home message from this analysis is that the information in the report is based on a Business as Usual model and doesn't calculate or estimate the potential impact on the economy if markets, industry and the government modify and adapt to a post-carbon tax environment. If the modification scenario does eventuate, the economy could move towards a growth situation based on new industries and products and move its reliance away from situations that rely heavily on carbon polluting inputs.

The full report can be found on the Queensland Treasury website at: http://www.treasury.qld.gov.au/knowledge/docs/carbon-price-impact-assessment/carbon-price-impacts-queensland.pdf.

Note: The above analysis is based on a particular set of assumptions and an analysis is done with alternate sets of assumptions there will obviously be different conclusions drawn. So it is important to understand the premise upon which an analysis is done before a comparison is done between reports and conclusions. Pin It

Did you know NZ has an emissions trading system?

Today I found out that New Zealand established an emissions trading scheme last year (July 2010). This is fantastic news as it shows a first world economy still functioning successfully after the implementation such a system. The NZ scheme incorporates agriculture, industry, energy, liquid fossil fuels, fishing, synthetic gases, forestry, waste and horticulture sectors of their economy and aims to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by putting a price on these emissions. Currently the price for each NZ unit is NZ$25. However, the NZ government only requires one unit be surrendered for every two tonnes of carbon emitted during the transition period, thus effectively pricing each unit at $12.50.

I have heard the level of impact that this system has had on the NZ economy has been almost unrecognisable. There does however, need to be recognition that there have been serious challenges to their economy as a result of the natural disasters that have occurred in their country over the past 12 months. Thus, the level impact that this new trading scheme has had has been potentially dwarfed by these other situations. Nevertheless, it is positive news that such a trading scheme, of similar nature to the proposed carbon tax here in Australia, has been successfully implemented without flattening their economy or causing significant hardships for families and households. Hopefully, this provides some comfort to regular Australians. Further, the NZ system includes fuel (petrol/diesel) in their system, which has been explicitly excluded from the Australian situation, thus further buffering Australian households during our transition period.    

Further information about the NZ government's perspective on their emissions trading scheme can be found on their Ministry for the Environment's website.

It is important to note that I looked, not just the positive, but also the negatives that could be associated with the NZ emission trading scheme. I didn't manage to find any significant negative impacts vocalised by reputable sources from a brief review (20 mins) of a couple of Internet search engines. This may be because the scheme is only new and investigations into it haven't been complete. But I definitely thought I would at least find scores of groups/people that were opposed to the scheme prior to its introduction saying 'I told you so', but almost none of this. Hopefully this situation will be the same here in Australia after the introduction of the carbon tax.   Pin It

Carbon tax

In recent months the Australian Federal Government (the Labor party) has announced they will pursue the introduction of a carbon tax. For those that know nothing about this, this announcement will introduce a price (a tax) for each tonne of carbon pollution emitted. The idea behind this is that such pollution becomes an economic dis-incentive and hopefully those polluting will consider reducing their emissions because it hurts their back pocket (so to speak). The level that the carbon tax is set at will determine how much of a dis-incentive such pollution turns out to be (the higher the price the greater the incentive not to pollute).

Such taxes target large organisations but there will also be some impact on the average household as in this modern day we all have carbon emissions. However, given the government will be raising money through the introduction of such a tax such impacts on households hopefully can be evened out with the government promising to assist families through the transition and provide some buffers. Thus again, expressing the idea that the introduction is about reducing the incentive for big polluters/big business rather than impacting upon your average family.

The idea of a carbon tax shouldn't be a scary thing for the average Australian. Yes, there will be economic implications, but big business is smart. Obviously, if they can continue doing what they have always done it is the path of least resistance but if forced they will come up with alternatives and solutions to work around this issue and remain profitable. They always do. The large companies that are going to impacted upon potentially significantly are also usually highly diverse businesses.  Their economic strategies will allow them to pursue alternative business models and business streams that previously may not have been heavily invested in and hopefully are better for the environment (with such incentives) and those that are most heavily taxed because they are significant contributors to carbon pollution will be reduced.

The world can't persist on its current path forever. The world will shut down without such drastic steps (both environment and economies). You have probably all heard the statement "there will be no economy, if there is no environment". This is certainly true and the government is starting to appreciate this. The introduction of the carbon tax is truly about providing our country with a future, one that we all want to be a part of. Subsidies for cleaner energy solutions, incentives for big businesses to involve and buffering families will hopefully all be part of the broader picture and assist us all through this transition period. Pin It

Blood, Sweat & TShirts

Watched the above show on ABC last night. It was about a group of fashion loving early 20-somethings from England going to India to see where their clothes are made and in what conditions. It certainly didn't open my eyes in regards to conditions, although I'm sure being in an actual sweatshop in India would be a completely different experience to watching and reading about them.

The thing that got me was the discussions about no matter what the conditions were the people employed in these conditions were just happy to be paid. I'm not sure whether I am just being ignorant but surely providing some of these less than ideal sweat shops with additional income as a result of increased prices in the shops would ensure better working conditions and maintain their employment status? I don't know - is this just being idealistic and not realistic?

I am so ignorant on so many of these social issues. I have my own perspectives, which I consider somewhat enlightened but I think that I am still looking at these issues with a pre-existing idea of what should be done, which isn't always what the people that you're trying to help want. Best intentions, but again need to learn more about this issue. Pin It

Tyre pressure & the environment

Did you know that having the right car tyre pressure can make your car more fuel efficient?

Therefore if you have the right tyre pressure you will be doing something 'good' for the environment in our 'car-dependent' society. Even if you aren't thinking about the environment it has got to make sense because it means that you will be buying less fuel and spending less money! Apparently it also extends the life of your tyres again leading to better environmental outcomes (less landfill with old tyres) and more money in the hip pocket.

The nitty-gritty:

• apparently tyre pressure isn't standard and you will need to check your car's specifications....I think these are generally located on the frame of your door or the engine bay;
• check them when they are cold or near cold;
• check it regularly, as it changes over time (RACQ website suggests weekly).

I know this doesn't sound like doing something grand to save the environment, but I am currently looking for little things I can do to make my current footprint a little smaller and a little greener. Maybe once I have conquered these little things, bigger and better will be easy! Pin It