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Copenhagen may be postponed while US devises climate response
The incoming administration of the US will not have sufficient time to get backing for a coherent position at the Copenhagen conference on Climate Change next year and will postpone the landmark agreement for a year, according to director of the International Emissions Trading Association, Edwin Aalders.
Speaking at a conference in Sydney on November 18, Mr Aalders said that the US delegation to the conference in Bali last year found itself making promises to the international community that did not have the backing of the White House or Congress. Mr Aadlers predicts that the Danish Government will deal with the problem by simply postponing the conference.
Energy body calls for an energy revolution
The International Energy Agency released its annual energy outlook for the world on Saturday November 22 calling for a revolution in energy production. The report blames the combined effects of peak oil, climate chaos and geopolitical instability for fluctuations in energy prices that threaten developed economies. In London, to launch the World Energy Outlook 2008, Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency said: “We have to immediately increase the deployment of low-carbon energy.” The traditionally conservative agency chose the word “revolution” to highlight the magnitude of changes required.
US coal plants will have to pay for emissions
The Environmental Protection Agency in the US has made an internal ruling that coal miners will have to account for the carbon dioxide emitted by their product. Coal companies have claimed an exemption from proposed carbon accounting and taxation schemes because of their importance to the economy. Until now, the Environmental Protection Authority has defended the coal companies’ position. Because of the new ruling, other jurisdictions can bring charges against coal companies for breaching the Environmental Protection Act.
Asian pollution masks global warming
An enormous cloud of pollution stretching from Tibet to the Philippines is killing thousands of Asians each year, destroying crops and damaging buildings, but it is saving the world from the worst effects of global warming. Speaking in Beijing on November 15, Achim Steiner, head of the United Nations Environment Programme, said that the world would already be two degrees warmer without the cloud. He said that the 3km thick cloud has complex effects including a shorter and more intense monsoon season.
Fertilisers accelerating dust-bowl effect
The CSIRO has warned farmers that fertilisers may have more impact than animals in destroying perennial grasses and exposing bare soil to the elements during drought. Research scientist, Sue McIntyre, said that native species disappear quickly when farmers apply phosphates and nitrogen to encourage high yielding grasses. In dry years those introduced grasses are overgrazed and die quickly leading quickly to soil erosion.
Canberra leads Rudd on anti-SLAPP suits
The Government of the Australian Capital Territory has passed Australia’s first legislation designed to allow ordinary citizens to speak out without fear of litigation. Legal proceedings, known as SLAPP suits for Strategic Limitation Against Public Participation, are initiated by large companies to exhaust the time and financial resources of grass roots organisations that oppose them. In 2004 forestry company Gunns initiated 20 SLAPP suits against citizens who opposed their pulp mill.
The case was thrown out of court on a number of occasions, but cost many hundreds of thousands of dollars. The ACT legislation was drafted by the Greens, amended by the ALP and passed by all three major parties, to make SLAPP suits illegal.
www.ebono.org
