Climate News

Week ending 26 February 2012

PICKS OF THE WEEK

Civilisation faces 'perfect storm of ecological and social problems'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/20/climate-change-overconsumption
John Vidal, Guardian, 20 February 2012
Abuse of the environment has created an 'absolutely unprecedented' emergency, say Blue Planet prizewinners

Global fossil fuel subsidies in 5 unforgettable graphs

As the five biggest oil companies made a record-high $137 billion in profits, these five unforgettable charts on global fossil fuel subsidies, courtesy of The Guardian, need no explanation. But by way of a very brief summary:

• While government support to renewable power sources is subject to seemingly endless media and political scrutiny, the 500% larger subsidies given to oil, gas and coal rarely get much attention.
• Governments and taxpayers spent $409 billion in 2010 supporting the production and consumption of fossil fuels, three-quarters of which went to the oil industry. 

Climate News

Week ending 19 February 2012

PICKS OF THE WEEK: HEARTLAND  

Leaked docs from climate-denying think tank reveal strategy
http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/02/15/leaked-docs-from-climate-denying-think-tank-reveal-strategy/
Graham Readfearn, Crikey, 15 February 2012
Leaked financial reports and documents from a US-based think tank that denies the risks of human-caused climate change show links to an Australian academic and detail a strategy to pursue funds from corporations affected by climate policies.
AND
Dollars, documents and denial: a tangled web
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/3834220.html

Climate in the media to 12 February 2012

PICKS OF THE WEEK---------------
 
Air sampling reveals high emissions from gas field
http://www.nature.com/news/air-sampling-reveals-high-emissions-from-gas-field-1.9982
Jeff Tollefson, Nature, 7 February 2012
Methane leaks during production may offset climate benefits of natural gas.
AND
NOAA measure high CH4 emissions over gas field
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/noaa-measure-high-ch4-emissions-over-gas-field-22933

Government confirms AFP spying on coal seam gas protesters
http://www.greensmps.org.au/content/media-release/government-confirms-afp-spying-coal-seam-gas-protesters
Christine Milne, 7 February 2012
Minister Joe Ludwig, representing the Attorney General in the Senate, confirmed in Question Time today that the Australia Federal Police monitors coal seam gas protesters and that the government outsources some intelligence gathering to private consultants.

Beyond the carbon price, a Faustian bargain

by David Spratt, a Crikey cross-post

The carbon tax starts on July 1 this year, so there’s some tidying up to do around the edges -- appointments, financing, regulations -- and then a big tick next to the climate policy box on the cabinet whiteboard. Minister Greg Combet has already taken on the additional portfolios of industry and innovation.
     If only. A barely reported new study on Earth’s energy imbalance from NASA climate chief James Hansen and his research team contends that, far from answering the climate challenge, we have constructed "a Faustian bargain".

Climate in the media to 5 February 2012

PICKS OF THE WEEK---------------

Canberra’s push to be the nation’s solar capital
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/canberras-push-to-the-be-nations-solar-capital
Giles Parkinson, RenewEconomy, 30 January 2012
The ACT government has called for tenders for the first round of contracts to build up to 40MW of large scale solar facilities in the territory, with the winners of the first tender to be announced in July.

Greenpeace chief warns of ‘perfect storm’ of crises
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/03/greenpeace-chief-warns-of-perfect-storm-of-crises
Agence France-Presse, February 3, 2012
The head of environmental pressure group Greenpeace warned Friday the world faced a “perfect storm” of crises and was heading for what he termed a crisis of “epic proportions.”

So the planet stopped warming, says Rupert

This week, Rupert Murdoch's "The Australian" dutifully reported as news an opinion piece, from 16 denier–scientists, claiming that the world had stopped warming, which had originally been published in Murdoch's Wall Street Journal as No Need to Panic About Global Warming: There's no compelling scientific argument for drastic action to 'decarbonize' the world's economy.