Every home in the UK must be fitted with a “smart meter” by 2020 to reduce energy use and pave the way for a low-carbon “smart grid”, under plans unveiled by the government.
Global warming 
Burning the fat: obesity and global warming
A new study plays out a grim scene: a world of overweight populations draining the earth’s resources and forcing up global temperatures.
Rudd to delay ETS by a year
The government are likely to announce later today that the ETS will be delayed until 2011, according to ABC reports.
Drastic reduction in fossil fuels needed to curb global warming
Two new studies say current plans to curb global warming aren’t enough; we need to cut burning of fossil fuels down to almost zero.
Is something rotten on the NY Times op-ed page?
Bjorn Lomborg — Danish statistician and self-styled “Skeptical Environmentalist” — found his way onto the New York Times op-ed page over the weekend.
Review: Ian Plimer’s Heaven and Earth
Barry Brooks critiques Ian Plimer’s book Heaven and Earth.
Climate refugees to rise by 50% by 2015
A new Oxfam report says a 50% increase in people affected by climate-related humanitarian disasters by 2015 could overwhelm emergency response and humanitarian aid systems.
Bad news from Copenhagen: climate beyond worst case
Urgent action is needed now to decarbonise societies.
NASA: spotless sun cannot reverse climate change
So much for any hopes of a mini ice age or global warming reprieve courtesy of a natural cycle, writes Ben Sandilands.
Democracy and science vs Big Coal: the final round?
Coal industry front groups are again telling Kevin Rudd to do nothing on climate change, in defiance of public opinion, writes Dan Cass.
Vic bushfires and Qld floods offer glimpse into future
It has long been predicted that global warming will manifest itself through a series of extreme weather events,
Cold comfort from sun spots and the El-Nino cycles
For those of you who may be uncertain about the role of the sun in global warming, allow me to explain, writes Andrew Glikson.
Ethanol: Not really all that green
The production and distribution of ethanol as an alternative motor vehicle fuel source will increase greenhouse gas emissions over conventional fuels, writes Bernard Keane.
Rudd’s no reformer, he’s an economic conservative to the core
There’s a pattern emerging in Kevin Rudd’s approach to economic policy, and it’s not a healthy one, writes Bernard Keane.
Keane: We’re all missing the point
As I leafed through the vast folder looking for information, I became aware that a number of journalists around me had skipped straight to Chapter 17, where household assistance measures were discussed. Bernard Keane reports from the lock up.
Macintosh: This looks more like a 650 ppm plan
What has been overlooked in this analysis is that the proposed abatement targets for Australia are more consistent with a 650 ppm outcome than a 550 ppm one, writes Andrew Macintosh.
Possum: A lesson in political pragmatism
imagine the derailing that would have been done if no domestic target passed the Senate at all, as that is the political reality of proposing 25%+ cuts, writes Possum Comitatus.
Denniss: By 2020 no Australian polluter will live in poverty
only reason to introduce an emissions trading scheme is if you accept the scientific evidence that, unless we drastically reduce emissions, dangerous climate change will occur in our lifetimes. It therefore beggars belief that, if you accept the scientific case for action, you would completely ignore the scientific evidence about how much action to take, writes Dr Richard Denniss.
Commentary wrap: The pundits react to Rudd’s ETS
Australian and international commentators weigh-in on Rudd’s emission target announcement.
Our biggest polluters have won
The surrender is virtually complete. Our biggest polluters have won, and the rest of us will be paying for it under a joke of an emissions trading scheme that encompasses a significant transfer of wealth to our largest polluters, writes Bernard Keane.
Hamilton: White paper runs up white flag
The scientists are not extremists and nor are the environmentalists. In fact, they are both restrained. Publicly, the scientists display the usual professional caution, although privately they are panicking, writes Clive Hamilton.
ETS target whittled away by interest groups
I noted when the Government’s Green Paper emerged that it proposed a scheme that was only two-thirds effective anyway, and would be watered down further under pressure from rentseekers and corporate sooks and whingers. Sadly, that appears to be exactly what has happened, writes Bernard Keane.
Rooted: Australian silence at UN climate change talks
You have to wonder why the Australian Government paid for 30 people to go on this Christmas junket if they weren’t going to discuss the issues on the agenda, writes John Hepburn.
