‘Astounded': former fire chief unloads on politicians over climate change inaction

Decorated Australian firefighter Greg Mullins says climate change is contributing to bushfires so horrendous that homes and lives cannot be protected, and the federal government will not acknowledge the link because it has failed on emissions reduction policy.

Greg Mullins says both major parties have failed
to take steps to arrest Australia's contribution to
climate change.

The extraordinary comments by Mr Mullins, a former NSW Fire and Rescue Commissioner, coincides with the Tuesday launch of the group Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action, which will lobby the major parties to drastically reduce fossil fuel use and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Read the story from The Sydney Morning Herald by Nicole Hasham - “‘Astounded': former fire chief unloads on politicians over climate change inaction.”

(Listen to Greg Mullins on the Climate Conversations podcast)

Managing Climate Risk in Agriculture

Coming up in Beechworth later this month is a conference farmers cannot afford to miss.

Managing climate risk in agriculture.

Farmers for Climate Action (FCA) will host the “Managing Climate Risk in Agriculture” conference on Thursday, October 25.

Spokesman for FCA, Corey White said, “From the back paddock to parliament, everyone’s talking about climate change. What does it mean for agriculture? What are the risks? What can farmers do? 

“Managing climate risk is now core business, with the future of farming, good food, tens of thousands of livelihoods, and whole communities at stake,” he said.

Mr White said the conference will involve producers and industry leaders.

He added that also featured would be scientific, legal, financial, health, market, and technology experts all with a message to help farmers and others better understand the climate risks, how to manage them, and within that, how agriculture can be climate smart. 

Details of the event, which is just $35 including lunch, can be found in the attached brochure. 

Climate Conversations interview Corey Watts about the October 25 conference:

Consumption does not, cannot, bring meaning or even ordinary happiness

Writing about Pope Francis 2015 Encyclical entitled, "On Care For Our Common Home”, Robert Manne said, in his latest book, “On Borrowed Time”  - 

“Consumption does not, cannot, bring meaning or even ordinary happiness. In the consumer society, the ills of isolation, depression and anxiety are growing, the ties of family and community are weakening, because of what the encyclical calls ‘the silent rupture of the bonds of integration and social cohesion’.”

The Trump administration just failed to stop a climate lawsuit brought by 21 kids

The Trump administration cannot short-circuit a federal climate change lawsuit brought by a group of 21 children and teenagers, an appellate court ruled on Wednesday, probably sending the ambitious case back to a lower court in Oregon for trial.

A U.S. coal-fired power plant.

The federal government’s request to halt the lawsuit “is entirely premature,” wrote Judge Sidney Thomas, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

“We’re looking forward to putting the federal government on trial on climate science and its dangerous fossil fuel policies,” said Julia Olson, the lead attorney for the young plaintiffs and chief counsel of Our Children’s Trust.

Read The Washington Post story by Chris Mooney - “The Trump administration just failed to stop a climate lawsuit brought by 21 kids.”