If you love Australia, climate change should scare the hell out of you

I love Australia.

Australia is a nation on the extremities, where climate change will
 affect and strip away what we love much sooner than will
 occur in Europe and North America.’

It’s not a thing you hear too often from progressives. Mostly this is because we don’t go in for the pathetic jingo-nationalist, quasi-militaristic “love it or leave it”-style patriotism that John Howard attempted to link with a love of country.

But I do love Australia. I get an absurd amount of irrational pride when I hear of Australians doing well.

When I read stories that Indigenous rock art might be among the oldest in the world I get excited and think, yeah suck it, caves of Cantabria!

I can still remember where I was when John Aloisi scored the winning penalty against Uruguay (jumping up in my home in Cairns and cutting my hand on the overhead fan), and like all sensible Australians I let out a deep groan whenever I hear someone start yet again an “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie” chant at the tennis.

Read the story from The Guardian by Greg Jericho - “If you love Australia, climate change should scare the hell out of you.” 

South Australia goes all out on renewables despite federal focus on coal

October 13, 2017 — The Australian federal government’s love affair with coal has reached new levels in recent years, with federal ministers bringing chunks of the mineral into parliament and donning high-visibility mining vests as pro-coal publicity stunts. Yet against this backdrop, one Australian state has managed to break global records in the renewable energy space.

Recently, South Australia’s state government has announced not one but two record-breaking renewable energy projects: the world’s largest solar thermal power plant and the world’s largest lithium ion battery installation. Together, these projects will help the state surge well ahead of its already ambitious renewable energy targets while delivering a clear challenge to its coal-obsessed federal counterpart.

Read the ENSIA story by Bianca Nogrady - “South Australia goes all out on renewables despite federal focus on coal.”