VEN – Good News on Climate Action – Blog
Peace is a process; nonviolence is action
By Tim Hollo • July 26, 2024 from The Green Institute Nonviolence is a powerful, active, creative and generative form of resistance to violent systems. Every act of violence creates a more violent world. Nonviolence refuses to accept the self-perpetuating logic of the inevitability of violence, and demands of us that we cultivate space for…
Read MorePoll on spending priorities conducted for The Australian
Health top spending priority for Australian public NATASHA BITA 8:11pmJuly 28, 2024. The Australian Health is the top priority for Australians in terms of government spending, followed by public housing, law enforcement and education. A public spending wish-list is revealed in The Australian’s exclusive Needs of the Nation survey, which shows half of respondents think…
Read MoreHealth risks and adaptation to ‘wildfire’ smoke
As wildfires rage, what is the smoke doing to our health and bodies? Scientists are discovering just how toxic wildfire smoke is to the body – here’s what to know and how to stay safe Katharine Gammon in Los Angeles Wed 31 Jul 2024 The Guardian As dozens of wildfires rage across the US and…
Read More“This transition happens with us, not to us.” Community involvement critical to sustainable transition
‘We’ll be living with these’: The renewable-energy blitz dividing regional towns Despite having billions behind it and broad public support, Australia’s renewable energy rollout is facing headwinds in the very communities it needs on board. For the transition to succeed, they need a bigger stake in it. By James Button JULY 20, 2024 in SMH…
Read MoreThe Australian oil and gas sector understood the danger posed by fossil fuel combustion back in the ’70s
In a new book, journalist Royce Kurmelovs look at the origins of the Australian petroleum industry, investigating what these companies knew about climate change when, and how they learnt to wield influence. ROYCE KURMELOVS JUL 30, 2024 Crikey.com.au The following is an extract from Slick: Australia’s Toxic Relationship with Big Oil (UQP) by Royce Kurmelovs.…
Read MoreClimate: The differences between Harris and Trump
Graph: Carbon Brief analysis of Bistline et al 2023 and Rhodium Group 2023. Black line: Historical US greenhouse gas emissions 1990-2022, billions of tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Red line and area: Projected emissions under the “Trump” scenario where Biden’s key climate policies are eliminated. Blue line and area: Projected emissions under the “Biden” scenario with…
Read More‘Dramatic’ shift in world’s population could impact how we live our lives
There has been a “dramatic” change in predictions for the world’s population and Australia cannot afford to be complacent in guarding against the potential impacts, experts say. from SBS.com Ten years ago, experts didn’t think the world’s population would peak this century but in a “significant” turnaround, this scenario is now considered highly likely. The…
Read MoreIs it OK to profit from climate change?
Graph source: Statista 2024 The answer depends on what you think is the fastest way to cut carbon. By Mark Harris July 18, 2024 in Anthropocene Environmental progress has traditionally meant sacrifice. If you wanted to help the climate, you needed to emit less, travel less, eat less—and more than likely earn less. These days,…
Read MoreAustralia is a petrostate: Wealthy countries like Australia are guilty of burning up our future using the ‘drug-dealers defence’.
UN chief urges wealthy countries to beat fossil fuel ‘addiction’ amid expansions Secretary general said wealthiest countries are ‘signing away our future’ with more production and called for phase-out of fossil fuels Oliver Milman in New York The Guardian Fri 26 Jul 2024 The world’s wealthiest countries are “signing away our future” by leading a…
Read MoreDesigner bacteria clean wastewater and generate power—at the same time
image: Niu Y. et al. Fig. 1: Scheme of the synthetic process of the gene- and nano-engineered E. coli cell Building on similar past work, researchers created a new bacterial strain that gobbles up sewage even faster and generates a more powerful electric current. By Sarah DeWeerdt July 23, 2024 in Anthropocene magazine A genetically-…
Read MoreAustralia’s environment could be fixed and threatened species saved for just 0.3% of GDP, experts say
Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists estimates $7.3bn a year for 30 years could avoid most extinctions, repair soils and restore rivers Lisa Cox in The Guardian Wed 24 Jul 2024 Saving Australia’s threatened wildlife, repairing degraded land and restoring ailing river systems is possible and would cost just 0.3% of Australia’s GDP, according to a…
Read MoreDemand for critical minerals doubled last 5 years: huge opportunity for Australia to profit from renewable transition
Image: Critical minerals CSIRO Australia could play critical role EVs, solar minerals By Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson July 24 2024 in Canberra Times from AAP DOWNLOAD FULL REPORT Australia could stake a massive claim on the world’s booming critical minerals market, a report has found, but only if policymakers, researchers, mining firms and investors act quickly. The…
Read More“Green lawfare” is fair! = democracy in action
by Claire Konkes Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication, University of Tasmania in The Conversation In recent weeks, the Menzies Research Centre, the Liberal party-aligned think tank, has criticised the rise in “environmental lawfare”. National media outlets duly took up the mantle. With an introduction by BHP Chief Executive David Hughes and nearly all the…
Read MoreAustralians are losing faith in democracy – most of us look at politics and recoil in horror or sullenly disengage
Peter Lewis PODCAST of ESSENTIAL POLL How do we make political engagement a better experience than the emotion-fuelled punishment it has become? Tue 16 Jul 2024 in The Guardian In just over a week Australians shall break from our tribal hostilities to cheer as one under the glow of the Olympic flame as our quest…
Read MoreAnimated Aboriginal and Torres Strais Islander climate change deposition to IPCC
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ voices in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) process. The report commissioned by the federal government shows how Indigenous Knowledges can help Australia track and cope with climate change. As part of the report release, Wiradjuri artist Dr Tom Munro-Harrison created an animation to help share climate information…
Read MoreBig polluting corporations to get 3 year free-ride unless bill improved
Climate plans of Australian companies would be exempt from private litigation for three years under proposal Bill praised for targeting corporate climate responsibility but lawyers say it could allow polluters to avoid public scrutiny for longer Adam Morton Climate and environment editor Mon 15 Jul 2024 in the Guardian The climate plans of Australian companies…
Read MoreChina greenhouse emissions may have peaked!
Image: China’s emissions set to fall in 2024. Annual change in emissions from fossil fuels and cement (million tonnes of CO₂) Nick O’Malley in The Age For months, the reports came in and climate scientists and analysts pored over the data. Something unfamiliar was happening. It looked a little like good news. Perhaps even something…
Read MoreGreenwashing in political lobbying
The ‘dark arts’ tactic that could be a major threat to Australia’s climate goals For the general public, behind-the-scenes government lobbying can be opaque, but a new report suggests it’s how some companies are ‘greenwashing’. from SBS news Companies not living up to their public environmental claims will be increasingly vulnerable to legal risk, a…
Read MoreSAF ‘Sustainable’ Aviation Fuel: greenwashing.
Pigs might fly: Australian aviation’s delusional emissions future By Mark Carter Feb 19, 2024 in Pearls and Irritations Australian aviation is in the news again. Having ripped off passengers, illegally sacked workers, and impacted the health of residents under airport flight paths, the industry has now received $30m from taxpayers to manufacture “sustainable aviation fuel”…
Read MoreThese US states want to make Big Oil pay for its pollution—and they have the roadmap to do it
Climate superfund legislation is gaining traction across the USA. How do the bills fit into the broader movement to hold polluters accountable? BY EMILY SANDERS 8 MINUTE READ in Fast company As communities across the United States grapple with the rising costs to protect residents and infrastructure from the worsening impacts of climate change, some state…
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