Coalition’s lies, damned lies and election-winning strategies

This week highlighted a number of massive problems we have in this country.

‘Morrison revealed what he really thinks by appointing
Angus Taylor minister for emissions reduction.’

The most obvious of course is the horrendous intrusions on freedom of the press. But a close second is the revelation about how poorly we debate and treat issues of the economy and climate change.

Everything you need to know about how we rate the importance of climate change is how the latest economic national accounts and greenhouse gas emissions data were released.

Read the story from The Guardian by Greg Jericho - “Coalition’s lies, damned lies and election-winning strategies.”

Murray-Darling report shows public authorities must take climate change risk seriously

The tragic recent events on the Darling River, and the political and policy furore around them, have again highlighted the severe financial and environmental consequences of mismanaging climate risks. The Murray-Darling Royal Commission demonstrates how closely boards of public sector corporate bodies can be scrutinised for their management of these risks.

Mass fish deaths in the Darling River highlight the issue of climate risk.

Public authorities must follow private companies and factor climate risk into their board decision-making. Royal Commissioner Brett Walker has delivered a damning indictment of the Murray Darling Basin Authority’s management of climate-related risks. His report argues that the authority’s senior management and board were “negligent” and fell short of acting with “reasonable care, skill and diligence”. For its part, the authority “rejects the assertion” that it “acted improperly or unlawfully in any way”.

Read the piece from The Conversation by a Graduate Fellow from the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance at Stanford University, Arjuna Dibley - “Murray-Darling report shows public authorities must take climate change risk seriously.”

Video footage shows ‘garbage emergency’ in the Dominican Republic

New footage from the Dominican Republic has highlighted the drastic problem of plastic waste.

A garbage emergency in the Dominican Republic. 

A video released by conservation group Parley for the Oceans shows wave after wave of garbage flowing into Montesinos Beach in the capital Santo Domingo.

Countless numbers of plastic bottles, styrofoam boxes, and mangled waste parts can be seen littering the ocean following a heavy storm in the country.

Read the ClimateAction story - “Video footage shows ‘garbage emergency’ in the Dominican Republic.”

All care, no policy: Liberal party pretenders exposed

It probably should be no surprise that last night’s royal wedding became part of the political debate this week. But the criticism by government members highlighted yet again the Liberal party’s policy of pretending to care about something while simultaneously doing everything to work against it.

 ‘In January 2014, then minister for employment Eric Abetz (left)
warned unless businesses stood up to unions we risked seeing a
 wages explosion.’

Peter Dutton and Tasmanian senator Eric Abetz bought into the issue of the ABC’s coverage of the royal wedding off the back of erroneous reporting in News Corp papers suggesting the ABC had flown hosts Annabel Crabb and Jeremy Fernandez to London in business class. Abetz, who is never one to miss an opportunity to slight the ABC, echoed Dutton’s thoughts when he suggested he would “would like to see the justification for flying those two over when there is a crew permanently in London”.

It is the standard operating procedure of the Liberal party: cut funding to the ABC that in effect is designed to ensure it struggles to do a professional job, then either criticise it for not being up to scratch or, when it does something professionally, criticise it for wasting money.

Read Greg Jericho’s story from The Guardian - “All care, no policy: Liberal party pretenders exposed.”

UK carbon emissions at lowest level since 1890

Fresh analysis has highlighted the dramatic fall in carbon emissions within the UK, reaching a new low unseen in normal times for 128 years.

The UK’s carbon emissions are now the same as
when Vincent Van Gogh died, or Oscar Wilde’s The
Picture of Dorian Gray was first published.

The findings are based on figures from the UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and analysed by the Carbon Brief website.

The data shows that carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels declined by 2.6 percent in 2017, following a 5.8 percent drop in the previous year.

Read the ClimateAction story - “UK carbon emissions at lowest level since 1890.”