Peter Garrett urges Labor to reconnect with environmental movement, warns 'true believers are dying’

Midnight Oil frontman and environmental campaigner Peter Garrett has urged Labor to stare down the "self-interest" within its ranks and commit to ambitious plans to avoid the "catastrophe" of climate change.

Former Labor minister Peter Garrett says the party must stare
down those within its ranks not committed to acting on climate change. 

Warning that the suburbs of western Sydney and Melbourne are being "crucified on the altar of inaction" and regional and rural communities were "hostage to climate damage", the former Labor minister said the party's true believers are "dying out" and a younger generation of voters will be "more radical and less forgiving" if it fails to act.

Read the story from The Age by Rob Harris - “Peter Garrett urges Labor to reconnect with environmental movement, warns 'true believers are dying’.”

France to commit 700 million euros to International Solar Alliance

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - France will commit 700 million euros to the International Solar Alliance (ISA), President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday at the founding conference of the organization, reiterating the European country’s commitment to the alliance and clean energy.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) shakes hands with French
President Emmanuel Macron as he arrives to attend the International
 Solar Alliance Founding Conference in New Delhi, India, March 11, 2018.

ISA is an inter-governmental organization that aims to mobilize $1 trillion in funds for future solar generation, storage and technology across the world. It has 60 signatories, with 30 of those countries having ratified the agreement.

The treaty-based organization, launched by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015, aims to promote solar energy in 121 countries.

Speaking at the conference, Macron said France was more than tripling its commitment to the alliance, and its total monetary contribution to the alliance stood at one billion euros.

Read the Reuters story by Sudarshan Varadhan - “France to commit 700 million euros to International Solar Alliance.”

Why it doesn't make much sense to make AGL's 'old lady Liddell' run a marathon

If Senator Matt Canavan visits AGL's Liddell power station as scheduled next month, there's a good chance staff will show the corroded pipes and fatigued metal that serve as signs its use-by date of 2022 is closing in.

"I still don't think we should be building coal-fired power
stations," says Kate Coates, General Manager of
AGL Macquarie at Liddell Power Station. 

No doubt the erstwhile resources minister – before the recent citizenship scandal broke – will try to press the energy giant to commit extending the plant's operations another five years to 2027.

But, as a dozen or more journalists visiting the site learned on Tuesday, there are a multitude of reasons why that doesn't make a lot of sense.

Or as Kate Coates, the general manager of the AGL Macquarie unit, puts it when describing the plant's partial failure during February's heatwave: "Liddell is an old lady: we can't ask [her] to run a marathon a few days in a row without her falling over.”

Read the analysis in today’s Melbourne Age by Peter Hannam - “Why it doesn't make much sense to make AGL's 'old lady Liddell' run a marathon.”

Alan Finkel urges Turnbull to adopt clean energy target before states act

Alan Finkel has urged the Australian government to swiftly commit to the final recommendation of his energy review, warning the longer that commitment takes, the more likely states and territories are to set up conflicting emissions reduction schemes.

 Australia’s chief scientist, Alan Finkel, says he does
not care whether coal remains part of the energy mix,
 as long as emissions keep heading down. 

Speaking at the Melbourne economic forum at Victoria University on Monday, Finkel, Australia’s chief scientist, said that a failure to establish a clean energy target would create more uncertainty for investors, who would have to navigate various state policies.

The Victorian government announced two days after the review had been released that it was prepared to implement its own clean energy target if the federal government didn’t commit.

Read Calla Wahlquist’s story on The Guardian - “Alan Finkel urges Turnbull to adopt clean energy target before states act.”

Good sense cannot combat hardened philosophical beliefs

When people make statements and adopt a philosophical position it becomes almost impossible to change their mind and any attempt to do so only sees them harden their beliefs.

And that strengthened belief is not only defiant of good sense, but frequently puts important relationships at risk.

An example of that can be seen at next G20 forum in Brisbane at which Australia’s Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, first refused to even discuss climate change and now, despite international calls, will not commit Australia to any support for a climate change fund.

The Guardian tells readers that Europe and the US argue strongly that leaders should back the need for contributions to the Green Climate Fund, which helps poorer countries prepare for climate change.

That story headed: “G20: Australia resists international call supporting climate change fund” explains Australia continues to resist this last ditch effort to have it participate in the Green Climate Fund.