Westacott calls for growth, ignoring its impact on climate change

A discussion today on Radio National featuring the Chief Executive of the Business Council of Australia, Jennifer Westacott, reduced me to tears (metaphorically).

Chief Executive of the Business Council of Australia, Jennifer Westacott.

The 15-minute discussion was loaded with claims, from Ms Westacott naturally, that whatever problems Australia faced those difficulties could be resolved through reduced taxation for businesses and a focus on growth.

Never was it hinted at that growth as understood and promoted by Ms Westacott is exactly the root cause of a worsening climate system that will derail the aims and goals she so cherishes.

Listen to the interview on Radio National.

Left to Louisiana’s tides, a village fights for time

JEAN LAFITTE, LA. — From a Cessna flying 4,000 feet above Louisiana’s coast, what strikes you first is how much is already lost. Northward from the Gulf, slivers of barrier island give way to the open water of Barataria Bay as it billows toward an inevitable merger with Little Lake, its name now a lie. Ever-widening bayous course through what were once dense wetlands, and a cross-stitch of oil field canals stamp the marsh like Chinese characters.

Vanishing wetlands near the east bank of the Mississippi River. 

Saltwater intrusion, the result of subsidence, sea-level rise and erosion, has killed off the live oaks and bald cypress. Stands of roseau cane and native grasses have been reduced to brown pulp by feral hogs, orange-fanged nutria and a voracious aphid-like invader from Asia. A relentless succession of hurricanes and tropical storms — three last season alone — has accelerated the decay. In all, more than 2,000 square miles, an expanse larger than the state of Delaware, have disappeared since 1932.

Read The NewYork Times story - “Left to Louisiana’s tides, a village fights for time.”

What grandparents can teach us about reducing food waste

Before the era of supermarkets, seasonal shopping and health buzzwords, our grandparents reduced food waste not because they wanted to, but because they had to.

Cutting waste: Rebecca Sullivan with grandmother Pauline.

With public awareness of food sustainability on the rise, their experience remains as relevant today as it was 70 years ago.

Evacuated during the Second World War from London to a farm in rural Wiltshire, Pauline Tee grew up not taking a single meal for granted.

Ms Tee said meat in particular was a privilege and every scrap would be used.

Read the ABC News story by Dominic Cansdale and Megan Whitfield - “What grandparents can teach us about reducing food waste.”

Australia’s energy operator proposes 'fast change' scenario to cut emissions by 52 per cent by 2030

Greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector would be reduced at twice the rate proposed by the Turnbull government under a radical new plan outlined by the Australian Energy Market Operator.

Greens climate change spokesman Adam Bandt said the
 AEMO report was effectively bypassing the government.

The "fast change" model puts the public operator on a collision course with policymakers after AEMO outlined a potential cut of 52 per cent to all electricity emissions by 2030, double the rate required to meet our Paris climate change commitments.

Read Eryk Bagshaw’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Australia’s energy operator proposes 'fast change' scenario to cut emissions by 52 per cent by 2030.”