Shorten declares climate “emergency” as top priority for Labor

Federal Labor leader Bill Shorten has referred to climate change as an “emergency,” in his final formal pitch to voters ahead of Saturday’s federal election.

Shorten see climate change as an "emergency".

“if you vote Labor we will deliver the change that the nation deserves from day one,” the Opposition Leader said in his speech at Bowman Hall in Blacktown, New South Wales, on Thursday.

“We will convene Parliament to prioritise real action on climate change… I promise that we will send a message to the world, that when it comes to climate change Australia is back in the fight!,” he said.

Read the story from RenewEconomy by Sophie Vorrath - “Shorten declares climate “emergency” as top priority for Labor.”

Carry-over credits and carbon offsets are hot topics this election – but what do they actually mean?

In this election, often dubbed the “climate election”, voters are refusing to settle for weak policies on climate change.

Organisations can use offsets as part of their emission reduction strategy.

But between the “will they/won’t they” question of whether the coalition will meet their climate targets and the costing of the ALP’s targets, there is a lot of misunderstanding, even among experts.

Unsurprisingly, even the best-informed voter is liable to struggle, particularly when generic terms like “carbon credits” are used to describe completely different things.

Read the story from The Conversation by a Senior Industry Fellow from RMIT University, Alan Pears, and a Fellow at the Melbourne Law School from the Australian-German Climate and Energy College at the University of Melbourne, Tim Baxter - “Carry-over credits and carbon offsets are hot topics this election – but what do they actually mean?”

Only the stupid think the cost of climate change is simple

You know an election campaign has run off the rails when the pollies start hurling the results of economic modelling at each other. Voters find it incomprehensible and cover their ears, and the only people who think it proves something are the pollies themselves and the journalists silly enough to imagine their incessant demands to “show us your modelling” will expose the truth.

The more you know about modelling, the less it impresses you. There’s a place for economic modelling, but it’s in a seminar room, being pulled apart by experts, not in the argy-bargy of politicians seeking election, vested interests seeking more bucks, and journos who think their customers will just love a bit more meaningless conflict.

Read the comment from The Age by Ross Gittins - “Only the stupid think the cost of climate change is simple.”

Climate change top of voters' minds in NSW election

Climate change is a key election issue for most people in NSW, polling shows, as the environment emerges as a more pressing concern for voters than hospitals, schools and public transport.

57.5 per cent of voters say they will be swayed by
climate change and environmental protection.

Exclusive Herald polling shows that 57.5 per cent of voters say they will be swayed by climate change and environmental protection when deciding who to vote for on March 23.

Read the story from The Sydney Morning Herald by Alexandra Smith - “Climate change top of voters' minds in NSW election.”

Coal power stations are old and dirty. Here are five ways to end Australia's energy war

Note to politicians: voters will back in your energy plans if they understand them and they meet the scale of the problem.

 Australia could become a legal superpower.

For decades, the major parties have tried and failed to credibly deal with climate change. Various policies became acronyms that people did not really understand. There has been the CPRS, the carbon price, an EIS, CET and most recently the Neg.

Time and again they’ve failed to capture our imagination. Clearly it’s time for a new game plan.

What has worked to progress action on climate in Australia are bold ideas that people can understand, get excited by, that answer the scale of the problem and that affect their lives.

Read the opinion piece by Nicky Ison from The Guardian - “Coal power stations are old and dirty. Here are five ways to end Australia's energy war.”

Liberal activists target Tony Abbott's seat over climate change policy

Tony Abbott’s political future could be under threat from a group of activists who have been organising environmentally conscious voters to join Liberal party branches on Sydney’s north shore – a move that could unseat the former prime minister.

 Environmentally conscious Sydneysiders are being
  urged to join the Liberal party in Tony Abbott’s seat. 

Billing themselves as “the counterweight” to the pro-coal power Monash Forum, the North Shore Environmental Stewards have held at least two recruitment functions at which attendees were urged to tap into their networks of environmentally conscious people to join the Liberal party branches in Abbott’s seat of Warringah and on the lower north shore.

The NSES has a Facebook page that says the group “supports clean energy and a healthy environment, and believes in traditional Liberal party values of environmental stewardship”.

Read the story by Anne Davies from The Guardian - “Liberal activists target Tony Abbott's seat over climate change policy.”