And the Nobel Prize for Climate Change Goes To…

Alfred Nobel.

When Swedish chemist and inventor of dynamite Alfred Nobel died in 1896, he left his considerable fortune to fund annual prizes given to individuals who had conferred “the greatest benefits” to humanity during the previous year. But his vision only included five fields deemed worthy of recognition at the time: chemistry, physics, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. Later, Sweden’s central bank also created a sixth prize in economics in his memory.

Nobel wasn’t prescient. He couldn’t have foreseen the that climate change would become the defining crisis of future generations, one that would call on the courage, insight and ingenuity of our most brilliant scientists, inventors, advocates and political leaders. Helene and Raoul Costa, a French couple now living in Seattle, want to recognize achievements in climate change — and they think Alfred Nobel would have approved.

Read the Nexus Media story by Marlene Cimons - “And the Nobel Prize for Climate Change Goes To…”

‘Sustainable palm oil' may not be so sustainable after all

Vision of an orangutan seemingly under assault from heavy machinery in Indonesia went viral on social media last week, briefly putting the issue of illegal palm oil operations back in the spotlight.

Researchers found that poverty increased while access
 to healthcare per capita decreased in villages
neighbouring certified and non-certified plantations.

The footage, originally shot in 2014, shows the animal clambering to get away while an excavator pushes the lone tree it is sheltering in to the ground.

The men who can be seen pursuing the animal were from International Animal Rescue (IAR) and the Agency for the Conservation of Natural Resources (BKSDA) and were attempting to sedate and capture the animal before relocating it.

In an attempt to stop scenes like this, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) set up the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in 2004, with industry partners and social-environmental organisations.

Read Nick Kilvert’s story from ABC News - “‘Sustainable palm oil' may not be so sustainable after all.”

Poverty of vision is holding back Australia’s energy transition

The presentation below was given at the very successful “Smart Energy Conference” 2018 in Sydney. The presentation has graphs which attempt to illustrate the story below.

Read the story by David Leitch from RenewEconomy - “Poverty of vision is holding back Australia’s energy transition.”

AGL chief determined to turn Liddell into renewables hub

The AGL chief executive, Andy Vesey, says he plans to “fully execute” his vision of transforming the Liddell coal-fired power station into a renewables hub, saying it will bring cheaper, greener and more reliable energy, while providing quality, long-term jobs for decades.

 AGL’s Andy Vesey speaks at an event in Sydney on Friday,
 where he also addressed the Liddell plant issue. 

Vesey left little doubt about his desired future for the plant during a speech on energy policy on Friday, again defying renewed pressure from the Turnbull government.

He said transforming the site into an integrated renewables hub – comprising renewable generation, batteries, gas and demand response – would be vastly preferable to extending its life for several years. 

Read the story by Christoper Knaus from The Guardian - “AGL chief determined to turn Liddell into renewables hub.”

Noam Chomsky helps us see the way ahead

Noam Chomsky said much about many things, but climate change was not of them.

Noam Chomsky.

The American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, logician and author willingly held forth on many things and among them were matters useful to climate change advocates, are his thoughts on shaping future behaviour.

Writing in his 2013 book: “On Anarchism” and answering a question from an interviewer, he made some revealing and educative comments about his vision for an anarchist society.

He wrote: “Well, I don’t feel that in order to work hard for social change you need to be able to spell out a plan for future society in any kind of detail. What I feel should drive a person to work for change is certain principles you’d like to see achieved.

“Now, you may not know in detail – I don’t think any of us do know in detail – how these principles can best be realized at this point in complex in complex systems like human societies,” he wrote.

Chomsky’s observations are encouraging for those of us urging that society change its behaviour to slow its carbon dioxide emissions but often doubters and skeptics often want absolute detail of what should be done.

The detail that is difficult to determine and spell out, according to Chomsky, is not necessary for all we need to do is talk about reducing our emissions and from that the detail will evolve.