Victoria’s environmental watchdog 'ignores big polluters, cracks down on oBikes’

Victoria's environmental watchdog is doing nothing to rein in global warming, preferring to crack down on dumped oBikes rather than regulate carbon emissions.

Victoria's environmental watchdog has been accused of
prioritising dumped oBikes over addressing climate change.

So argues a new report by Environment Victoria, which finds the Environment Protection Authority is letting the state's biggest carbon polluters off scot-free even though it has the power to make them cut their greenhouse gas emissions.

If the EPA continues to turn a blind eye, Victoria could ultimately fail to reach its goal of emitting no carbon dioxide by 2050, the report warns.

The 2050 target is integral to Victoria's plan to play its part to limit global warming to below two degrees of pre-industrial levels and avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Read Adam Carey’s story in the Melbourne Age - “Victoria’s environmental watchdog 'ignores big polluters, cracks down on oBikes’.”

Irma and Harvey: very different storms, but both affected by climate change.

There has been no let up since Hurricane Harvey dumped record-breaking rains on the Houston area of Texas. Hurricane Irma lashed parts of the Caribbean and Cuba and is now heading onto the US mainland, having devastated the Florida Keys and the state’s west coast.

Boats are seen at a marina in Coconut Grove as Hurricane Irma arrives at south Florida.

We also have Hurricane Jose following Irma through the Caribbean, and Hurricane Katia, now downgraded after tracking through parts of eastern Mexico.

This very active season comes after a “hurricane drought” with very few major storms making landfall on the US coast over the previous decade.

So why are we seeing so many hurricanes now? Is climate change to blame?

How to make a hurricane

There are several vital ingredients needed for hurricanes to form. These include an initial disturbance in the atmosphere for the storm to form around, very warm sea surface temperatures to sustain the storm, and a lack of vertical wind shear so the storm is not torn apart during its formation.

Read the piece on The Conversation by a Climate Extremes Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne,  Andrew King - “Irma and Harvey: very different storms, but both affected by climate change.”

Talking Beneath the Wisteria about purging ourselves of plastic

The idea that “Every piece of plastic ever created still exists, somewhere,” will be discussed on Saturday Beneath the Wisteria in Shepparton Maude St Mall. 

Plastic never dies, maybe it will breakdown into almost invisible tiny pieces; so tiny it is being ingested by microscopic species and so finding its way into the food chain.

Professor of environmental psychology from Cardiff University, Wouter Portinga, recently spoke at the University of Melbourne noting that plastic was becoming so pervasive in the food chain that people might just as well cut it into pieces and serve it up on their dinner plate.

The more visible pieces of plastic dumped carelessly by people, threaten the safety and lives of many species who live with us.

A visiting Rotarian who was out walking near the Shepparton/Mooroopna causeway was distressed by the sight of a wild duck struggling to walk because of a length of plastic wrapped around one leg.

Plastic is implicated in almost every aspect of our lives today and although it may enhance our wellbeing in many ways we do need to think about how much we use and why we use it.

Plastic, how we use it and how we dispose of it will be discussed at the Saturday, March 25, gathering Beneath the Wisteria in Shepparton’s Maude St Mall.

The gathering, which is free and open to anyone keen to join the discussion, or simply listen, starts at 11:00 am and continue for about an hour. 

Some public seating is provided, but those attending are advised to bring a folding chair.

Beneath the Wisteria was set up to allow people to consider individual and community responses to climate change and so a discussion about plastic may appear to be a distraction.

Plastic is not a distraction plastic as it emerged from the oil rich 20th Century and is a symbol of the human behaviour that leads to the worsening of climate change.