Instagram model raises $700,000 for Australia fires with nude photos before account deleted

In four days, 20-year old Kaylen Ward estimates she has raised more than $700,000 for the victims of Australia’s bushfire crisis – by sending nude photographs of herself to anyone who donates more than $10 to one of her chosen charities and sends her the receipt.

Instagram mode Kaylen Ward, AKA the Naked
Philanthropist, sends nude photographs of herself
to anyone who donates more than $10 to one of
her chosen charities assisting the Australian bushfire crisis.

The California resident has worked as a nude model since August 2019. While vacationing in the Caribbean she says she fell into a “rabbit hole” after reading about the unprecedented fires that are raging along Australia’s eastern and southern coastlines.

“I donated $1,000 myself,” she tells Guardian Australia. “I had a substantial amount of followers, maybe 30,000 at the time, and I thought that a lot of my followers would pitch in and send in some donations for the wildfires.”

Read the story from The Guardian by Alyx Gorman - “Instagram model raises $700,000 for Australia fires with nude photos before account deleted.” 

How much will it cost to deal with climate change?

Have you noticed $10,000 missing from your savings? Back in 1996, that was the predicted cost to the average family of a government commitment to hold emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The prediction was made by what was then the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, or ABARE, using a model developed with funding from the coal industry. On current projections, we will be very close to 1990 levels next year, and yet climate policies have so far had no detectable impact on economic activity or living standards.

The Coalition is relying on modelling that has already been shown to be misleading.

Tony Abbott famously described the Labor government’s carbon “tax” (a price, in reality) as a “wrecking ball” through the Australian economy. But neither its introduction under Julia Gillard nor its removal by Abbott had any measurable effect on economic growth. Indeed, the economic outlook presented in the budget statements in those years didn’t mention carbon pricing as a factor in our overall performance.

Why did these apocalyptic predictions go so badly wrong? In the case of the ABARE modelling, it was the result of three main factors: exaggerated assumptions about the cost of reducing emissions, inappropriate choices in the modelling process, and misleading presentation of results.

Read the story from Inside Story by John Quiggan -“How much will it cost to deal with climate change?”

When These California Wildfires Go Out, New Ones Will Come

“Paradise is gone,” resident Sue Brown told the Los Angeles Times after witnessing the devastation from the Camp fire, which is now the largest fire in California history. Brown said she and her husband had planned to spend the rest of their lives in Paradise, a city of about 27,000 in the Sierra Nevada foothills about two hours north of San Francisco. But now the entire town is in ashes. The Camp fire has burned more than 110,000 acres and consumed 6,713 structures. Twenty-nine people have died. And it’s still burning. Southern California is also ablaze. In the hills around Malibu, the Woolsey fire has consumed 83,000 acres and forced more than a quarter-million people to evacuate.

A tattered American flag flies over a burned out
home at the Camp Fire, in Paradise, Calif., Nov 11, 2018.

I remember Paradise. I have driven through it while visiting family, who live just north of the town, or on my way to a cabin we used to have in the Sierra Nevada mountains. I remember Paradise because the name always struck me as so hopeful, even if the town, itself, seemed ordinary, with modest ranch houses set among scattered oak trees and pines. People have ATVs in the garage and horses on a few acres of land out back. On clear days, you can see the outline of the Sierra Nevada mountains on the horizon. This is not elite treehugger California; Butte County, which includes Paradise, was a Trump stronghold in the 2016 election.

Read the story from Rolling Stone magazine by Jeff Goodell - “When These California Wildfires Go Out, New Ones Will Come.”

31 dead, 250,000 evacuated in California fires as Governor blames climate change

California suffered a devastating weekend as wildfires raging in both the south and north of the state killed 31 and forced 250,000 to flee their homes, BBC News reported Monday. More than 200 people are still missing.

California Governor Jerry Brown unequivocally
blamed climate change for the devastation.

The Camp Fire, which destroyed the town of Paradise Thursday, tied the 1933 Griffith Park fire in Los Angeles for the deadliest fire in California history when the death toll reached 29. It is also the most destructive in terms of the number of structures burned, with a total of more than 6,700 as of Saturday, ABC 7 News reported. So far it has burned more than 109,000 acres and is almost 25 percent contained as of the most recent reporting by BBC News.

Read the story from Nation of Change by Olivia Rosane -  "31 dead, 250,000 evacuated in California fires as Governor blames climate change.”

No work done after Nationals' treasurer got $850k water-saving grant

The Nationals' federal treasurer and candidate for the Victorian seat of Shepparton, Peter Schwarz, is accused of gouging much of the $850,000 he was paid by Australia's largest drought-proofing project.

Peter Schwarz is the National Party candidate for Shepparton.CREDIT:

Mr Schwarz is also accused of then calling in favours when pressed to account for the taxpayer cash.

As Prime Minister Scott Morrison launches his drought summit, leaked government files reveal that Mr Schwarz banked the taxpayer subsidies in November 2011 and then spent years resisting efforts from water officials to get him to either return the money or use it for its intended purpose - saving water.

Read the story from The Age - “No work done after Nationals' treasurer got $850k water-saving grant.”

(Peter Schwartz was interviewed just recently by “Climate Conversations” and you can listen to the podcast here - Robert McLean)

Italy’s latest gift to electric vehicles: cute, zippy and barely a car

It’s cute, it’s zippy, it’s all-electric – and by the end of the year, the first of 8,000 Microlino ultra-compact vehicles will be unleashed onto European roads.

Cute, all-electric, zippy and yet barely a car.

And not just that – Microlino creator, Micro-Mobility, in addition to celebrating the milestone 8,000 reservations for the urban sub-micro vehicle, has also commenced assembly of the very first Microlinos at the Tazzari Zero factory in Italy.

Read the story by Bridie Schmidt from The Driven - “Italy’s latest gift to electric vehicles: cute, zippy and barely a car.”

‘Tears running down my face': farmers turn to crowdfunding for support

Over the past two weeks dairy farmer Jason Maloney raised $266,000 to save his business – then his accountants delivered bad news.

Jason Maloney has spoken out about how
much the drought is affecting his dairy farm.

The farmer launched a Gofundme crowdfunding campaign for his property at Jamberoo, NSW, asking for support from his community “with tears running down my face”.

Maloney says he reached the point where his feeding creditors had pretty much “cut me off” and raising funds to buy food for his cattle was critical.

The campaign took off quickly and more than 4000 donations have so far been secured for the business.

Read the story from today’s Age by Emma Koehn - “‘Tears running down my face': farmers turn to crowdfunding for support.”

A fire tornado': death toll in massive California blaze rises to five

A massive wildfire in northern California has killed five people, prompted evacuation orders for about 37,000 and threatened thousands of homes with destruction.

 A firefighter lights backfires during the Carr fire in Redding, California. 

Two firefighters, Jeremy Stoke and bulldozer operator Don Smith, were confirmed killed. Smith, 81, had been hired privately to help with the fight, California fire officials said. His body was found late on Thursday in Redding, the city worst hit.

Family members said three people who had been reported missing were dead. Sherry Bledsoe said her two children and her grandmother died near Redding. The dead were identified as 70-year-old Melody Bledsoe and her great-grandchildren, James Roberts, five, and Emily Roberts, four.

Read the story by Sam Levin from The Guardian - “A fire tornado': death toll in massive California blaze rises to five.”

A shore thing as prices plummet for beach boxes battered by erosion

Imagine investing more than $100,000 on an iconic Victorian beach box only for the beach to disappear from under it, washing the value of the property away like sandcastles.

Beach boxes exposed to the sea at Mount Martha North.

This is exactly what is happening to owners of about 110 boxes on Mount Martha Beach North on the Mornington Peninsula.

The colourful beach boxes once sold for $100,000 plus, but since severe erosion washed away the shore over the last decade, prices have sometimes halved, with declines worsening the further up the beach you go.

Winter tides have led to sand loss and the beach boxes have slowly been worn away by the sea.

Read Chloe Booker’s story from today’s Age - “A shore thing as prices plummet for beach boxes battered by erosion.”

(Not a word about the impending threat from sea level rise brought about by climate change - Robert McLean)

Queensland hospitals producing clean energy as well as clean linen

Queensland Health laundries will drive down their energy bills by $200,000 thanks to new solar panels.

Group Linen Services is a specialist healthcare laundry and linen hire business owned by Queensland Health with laundries based in Wide Bay, at the Prince Charles Hospital and the Princess Alexandra Hospital.

Minister for Health and Minister for Ambulance Services Steven Miles visited the large-scale laundry in Maryborough today.

“I’m pleased to announce that Planet Ark Power has been awarded the contract and will install solar panels at all GSL laundries – including here in Maryborough,” Mr Miles said.

Read the statement from Queensland’s Minister for Health and Ambulance Services, Steven Miles - “Queensland hospitals producing clean energy as well as clean linen.”

(Story alert provided by the Melbourne-based Climate and Health Alliance)

Green developers say $100,000 award will help them build a village

The group behind a series of "deep green" inner-city apartment projects – which attempt to cut profit-driven developers out of the construction process to reduce housing costs – has won a $100,000 state government award to push ahead with their latest project.

Architects Fairley Batch (left) and Rachel Nolan on the
 site of what will become Nightingale Village.

Nightingale Housing will on Thursday be given the first grant from the Andrews government's $1 million "Social Impact Investment" sustainability fund.

The not-for-profit organisation was established to share knowledge and support architects, who often invest in the projects. Profits are capped at 15 percent - far less than is normal in the Australian development sector.

Read the story in today’s Age by Clay Lucas - “Green developers say $100,000 award will help them build a village.”

Northern California firestorm ‘literally exploded,’ killing 15 and destroying hundreds of homes

High temperatures and fast winds are fueling more than a dozen wildfires across California, forcing more than 20,000 northern California residents to evacuate their homes and communities. At least 15 people have died, and more than 200 have been reported missing, after several fires spread rapidly throughout Monday.

Flames from massive wildfire in Napa, California.

The fires ignited late Sunday night and into Monday morning and have since spread over 50,000 acres across Napa and Sonoma counties, destroying at least 2,000 structures and sending at least 100 to the hospital with injuries ranging from burns to smoke inhalation. The Tubbs Fire — which is currently burning at 27,000 acres — has prompted the evacuation of at least 10 neighborhoods in the city of Santa Rosa, which has a population of 125,000. Two hospitals have also been evacuated after the fire jumped across Highway 101 between Sunday night and Monday morning.

Read the Think Progress story by Natasha Geiling - “Northern California firestorm ‘literally exploded,’ killing 15 and destroying hundreds of homes.”

(Those in denial about climate change simple refer to such events as the Californian fires as “natural events” and then end the conversation. They in fact leave the ambulance parked at the bottom of the cliff, collecting the victims, but never wondering, or asking what’s happening, why the people are falling over the cliff.

Falling back on repeated rhetoric, that argue that it is insensitive and unfair to the victims to discuss the potential cause of the fires while the difficulty is actually happening.

Although the Californian fires may be natural in some respects, they are clearly worsened our warming world and surely those of us not intimately involved with the catastrophe have every right to speculate on the cause of the fires and what should be happening to lessen the severity of such events - Robert McLean)

Wind Farm Commission received just 90 complaints in first year of operation

The federal government's Wind Farm Commission has handled 90 complaints in its first 14 months of operation, with 67 of those deemed "closed" with no further action to be taken.

Nearly half of complaints launched with the
commissioner were about wind farms that
are not yet in operation.

Almost half of the complaints received (42) were for proposed wind farms that are not yet in operation. Thirty-one complaints were closed because the complainant did not progress the matter with the commission.

Andrew Dyer, the Wind Farm Commissioner, receives an income of $205,000 a year for his part-time role and has a staff of three people to assist him in his role to resolve community complaints about the operation of wind farms.

A Senate committee last year was told that the Wind Farm Commission would cost a total of $2.05 million over the lifetime of its three-year operation.

Read Marcus Strom’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Wind Farm Commission received just 90 complaints in first year of operation.”