Jennifer Aniston delivers Russell Crowe’s heated bushfire indictment after Golden Globes win

He couldn’t be there to accept his Golden Globe, but Russell Crowe has used his absence to redirect some of the award ceremony spotlight onto the bleak reality facing ordinary people far from the bright lights of Hollywood.

Russell Crowe, whose property is threatened by the
 fires, prepared a statement for the Golden Globes. 

In a poignant message read out by Jennifer Aniston, the actor delivered a powerful indictment on the bushfire crisis threatening communities back home.

“Make no mistake, the tragedy unfolding in Australia is climate change based,” Aniston read from Crowe’s speech.

“We need to act based on science, move our global workforce to renewable energy, and respect our planet for the unique and amazing place it is. That way we all have a future. Thank you.”

Read the story from The New Daily -  “Jennifer Aniston delivers Russell Crowe’s heated bushfire indictment after Golden Globes win.”

Climate change could make insurance too expensive for most people – report

Insurers have warned that climate change could make cover for ordinary people unaffordable after the world’s largest reinsurance firm blamed global warming for $24bn (£18bn) of losses in the Californian wildfires.

An aerial view of a neighbourhood destroyed by
the 2018 wildfire in Paradise, California.

Ernst Rauch, Munich Re’s chief climatologist, told the Guardian that the costs could soon be widely felt, with premium rises already under discussion with clients holding asset concentrations in vulnerable parts of the state.

“If the risk from wildfires, flooding, storms or hail is increasing then the only sustainable option we have is to adjust our risk prices accordingly. In the long run it might become a social issue,” he said after Munich Re published a report into climate change’s impact on wildfires. 

“Affordability is so critical [because] some people on low and average incomes in some regions will no longer be able to buy insurance.”

Read the story from The Guardian by Arthur Neslen - “Climate change could make insurance too expensive for most people – report.”

Transport mindset change

Getting cars out of inner city areas is an objective most people would agree with — until they need to access those areas.

The car has been the great leveller of the past 100 years, it has given ordinary people the chance to travel anywhere.

We have grasped the opportunities offered by the car with both hands to the point where the once liberating symbol of freedom is now choking our cities and reducing the liveability of urban areas through noise and air pollution and increasing volumes of traffic.

Larger metropolitan areas have grappled with the problem of the ubiquitous car by imposing tolls, increasing parking fees and expanding pedestrian areas or underground parking.

Read the Editorial in today’s Shepparton News - “Transport mindset change.”