A collection of sobering take home points from a consortium of climate scientists and economists from around the world — the Global Carbon Project — and their findings for 2010, published today in the journal Nature Climate Change.
Carbon emissions
Crikey Says: A nasty set of numbers
Why companies that worm their way into a carbon tax are winners
The concept of irony just doesn’t do justice to the twists, turns, deceit and rank hypocrisy that has accompanied the long, slow road to the introduction of a price on carbon in Australia, writes Dr Richard Denniss, executive director of Canberra-based think tank The Australia Institute.
Fear and greed … the real energy challenge
It’s curious to see how left-wing and right-wing politics have fallen on either side of the clean tech divide, particularly in the US and Australia, writes Giles Parkinson.
Come in Spinner: Come in Spinner: common and uncommon sense — who’d believe the latter?
Millions of Australians have been listening to, and reading, the predictions of political pundits, economic forecasters, broking firm analysts, experts and others about what might happen in politics and the world.
Look beyond a carbon price and examine whether your cuts will count
The way in which the CPRS set both a cap above which emissions could not rise and a floor below which emissions could not fall was widely debated, if not widely understood, during 2009 and 2010. But those lessons need to be learnt again, writes Dr Richard Denniss.
Global warming above 2° so far mitigated by accidental geo-engineering
According to NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Science climate reports, global warming is already committed to a rise above two degrees, writes Dr Andrew Glikson, Earth and paleoclimate science, Australian National University
How do you halve emissions by 2025? Look to the UK…
The United Kingdom is set to become a world leader on clean energy and climate policy, after announcing an ambitious plan to halve carbon emissions by 2025, reports Amber Jamieson.
Queensland: the carbon kings
New greenhouse data shows that even with the GFC and some one-off factors holding down emissions, Australia will miss its 5% carbon reduction target by 2020.
Crikey Says: The climate change disconnect
There’s a bizarre disconnection between the climate change debate in Australia and reality, with Australia’s emissions continuing to grow.
A hot pink climate no laughing matter
Do climate scientists have a sense of humour, asks author David Spratt?
Cleaner energy: the global power shift
Our politicians have been labouring under beliefs born under a credo of Western pre-eminence, and cheap oil and cheap debt, that has helped fashion our policies towards climate change, writes Giles Parkinson of Climate Spectator.
climate change Parkinson: Garnaut’s inconvenient truths
The first three instalments of Professor Ross Garnaut’s update to his Climate Change Review have been a welcome boost to the government’s ability to press its case for a carbon price, writes Giles Parkinson, of Climate Spectator.
Time for Aussie pride in carbon reduction
As day three of the UN climate talks in Cancun, Mexico kicks off, Anna Rose takes a stroll through a community garden in Syria, looking at local initiatives for global problems. Yet Australia lags behind with the false “the world isn’t acting, Australia shouldn’t lead” climate change line.
FOI lifts veil on our ignorance of international pollution action
A lead veil is shielding commentators from the extent of international action on pollution and climate change, writes John Connor, CEO The Climate Institute.
Combet: opposition to a carbon price will force up electricity prices
Greg Combet, the federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, today delivered the keynote address to Carbon Expo Australasia 2010 in Melbourne.
In smoggy Tianjin, ‘structural imbalance’ is the hot topic
Day two of UN climate talks in heavily-polluted Tianjin fittingly started with a side event on coal use in China. Burning coal and the “structural imbalance” of energy use is the hot topic, writes Owen Pascoe, who is at the talks for the Australian Conservation Foundation.
Carbon-free reporting? Not when it’s about old king coal’s new palace
Readers of media reports on the Queensland government’s go-ahead late last week for the Caval Ridge coal mine in Queensland could be forgiven for thinking that the BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) project will be carbon free, writes Bob Burton, a Hobart-based freelance journalist.
Political snippets: Richard Farmer’s chunky bits: Gillard singing Swannie’s praises
Losing the economic debate but keeping Wayne. Treasurer Wayne Swan can be forgiven for thinking that there is no justice in politics. Here he is, the man who acted so promptly and correctly to keep Australia free from the ravages of the international financial crisis, finding himself in the position where the mob are judging […]
Mandatory CO2 emissions — will Gillard do enough?
The government’s take on mandatory emissions is far from perfect. In fact it verges on feeble, writes Alan Davies.
The battle for a greener California — what can Australia learn?
The war between high-emitting industries and low and zero-emitting sectors over climate change policies has been largely waged by proxy. Now, in the US, they are preparing for pitched battle, writes Climate Spectator’s Giles Parkinson.
How air-conditioning changed the world
Air-conditioning is one powerful invention. Its use feeds its future use, thanks to the emissions it produces. And air-conditioning is to blame for the rise of conservative politics in the US. Seriously.
How to drive green
Living without a car is not always a viable option, but there are still ways of driving and being green. Like, turn off your car rather than leaving it idle when you drop the DVDs off.
Travel is too cheap
Airlines should charge for every kilo of luggage we take with us, including carry-on, says Darrell Wade, CEO of Intrepid Travel. Why? Because less luggage, less fuel.
Bureaucracy: the real pollutant
Our government is a mess of red tape and regulations. If we applied a cap and trade scheme to bureaucracy, perhaps we could actually get policies put into action, says Oliver Marc Hartwich.
Why trains are superior to planes
Thanks to the Eyjafjallajökull shambles, other travellers are starting to learn what Ed Gillespie has known for years: travelling overland is not just good for your eco-geek credentials. It’s also a lovely way to recapture the romance of travel.
