North East Link to shift 25,000 rail passengers a day to cars, says Andrews government report

Twentieth Century problems cannot be resolved in the twenty-first century with solutions as dated as the troubles.

The idea of spending huge amounts of public money to solve something that evolved in an energy-rich era more than half a century ago is simply wrong, short-sighted and panders to populism.

The world’s road network, and by implication that of Victoria, was built at the behest of the private, profit orientated motor industry, engendering a state of mind among the public that their lives would sharply improve if they owned and drove their own motor vehicle.

In the middle of last century that idea seemed to have some credence, but decades of experience now illustrate the folly of that thinking with even a cursory look at what is happening in societies around the world, and here in Victoria, illustrates that the damage done to the health of communities, and the world generally, by the privately owned motor car far outweigh the convenience they bring.

Those conscious of the troubles, and aware of the need for human movement, understand that as we increase our investment in fine-grained public transport, there need to be an equal disinvestment in the infrastructure, the road network, that supports a profit-driven private enterprise system.

Any suggestion that there be a shift from building and maintaining the State’s road network will bring a howl of complaint about the loss of jobs, a protest that, however, is hollow and without substance for most of the jobs used to build and maintain the State’s roads transfer easily to the creation of public transport and the staff need grows exponentially as does the service itself.

It’s a complex shift that will not happen quickly, but our need to end our carbon dioxide emissions and so slow global warming make such a change essential and because this didn’t happen when it should have some thirty years ago, we need to determine and understand way to do it within less than a decade.

The idea that the Victoria Government intends to spend massive sums of public money to simply do nought but drive people from public to private transport is wrong and Premier Daniel Andrews and his government cohort need to listen to their advisers and act accordingly.

Read the story by Clay Lucas in today’s Melbourne Age - “North East Link to shift 25,000 rail passengers a day to cars, says Andrews government report.”

Questionable government decision draws ire on social media

Christopher Pyne.

A new Growth Centre established by the Australian Government will drive innovation, competitiveness and productivity across the oil, gas, coal and uranium sectors.

The Oil, Gas and Energy Resources Growth Centre, to be known as National Energy Resources Australia (NERA), will promote collaboration and innovation across the energy resources sector.

Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Christopher Pyne said the Australian Government was investing $15.4 million over four years in the growth centre.

Read the story by the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Christopher Pyne - “Energy resources growth centre launched.”

(This Federal Government decision contradicts a world-wide move to renewable energy and has brought many comments on social-media ranging from stupid to confusing and mystifying and short-sighted. It is rather difficult to disagree with those observations and equally difficult to disprove them – Robert McLean).

China's infrastructure bank can fix climate change - depending!

C

an China’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) fix climate change?

Yes. If it funds infrastructure encouraging common standards, integrated markets and deeper energy network interconnection.

China’s partners in the bank need to push this, hard. If they do, the benefits to both Asia and the world will be enormous.

The EurasiaReview story - “Can China’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) fix climatechange?” – says, “To date, AIIB analysis has focused upon short-sighted, geopolitical handicapping of the power balance between China and the United States. This misses the far larger story: the AIIB’s ability to alter 21st Century history through constructive, badly-needed energy market reform.”

Klein encourages revolt - civil disobedience appears inevitable

Naomi Klein.

Civil disobedience has been discussed a few times Beneath the Wisteria and was thought something to be avoided, but now it seems inevitable.

That thought is reinforced by a story in the New Statesman by Naomi Klein headed "Naomi Klein: How science is telling us all to revolt", in which it is suggested we should engage in some sort of civil disobedience.

The insistence from many that the solution to the world’s troubles is to be found in further growth is both short-sighted and simply, wrong as unfettered growth is what has left us in this lamentable position.

Klein writes: “The fact that the business-as-usual pursuit of profits and growth is destabilising life on earth is no longer something we need to read about in scientific journals. There early signs are unfolding before our eyes.  And increasing numbers of us are responding accordingly: blockading fracking activity in Balcombe; interfering with Artic drilling preparations in Russian waters (at tremendous personal cost); taking tar sands operators to court for violating indigenous sovereignty; and countless other acts of resistance large and small”.