Tuesday 19th of March 2024

the magicians of CO2 emission reduction...

magicmagic

NSW Nationals leader John Barilaro has backed new climate change targets to slash the state’s emissions in half by 2030 at the same time his federal colleagues are bitterly divided over reaching net zero by 2050.

Mr Barilaro’s support for his government to revise the state’s emissions reductions to 50 per cent of 2005 levels by the end of this decade puts the NSW Nationals at odds with its federal party.

NSW agreed to a goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 in 2016 and 18 months ago set a target of reducing emissions by 35 per cent by 2030 but has now lifted that to 50 per cent.

The move will put pressure on Prime Minister Scott Morrison ahead of next month’s UN climate change conference in Glasgow as he struggles to convince the Nationals to commit to a net zero target.

Mr Morrison says his government will take a plan towards a carbon-neutral economy to the COP26 United Nations climate summit but has not yet committed to a 2050 target.

Under the NSW plan, the state expects to attract more than $37 billion in private investment in electricity infrastructure while slashing emissions under its updated projections, which were agreed to by cabinet on Monday.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said halving emissions showed NSW was serious about setting itself up for the future while helping the world decarbonise.

“Our Net Zero Plan is expected to attract more than $37 billion in private sector investment into NSW, support more than 9000 jobs, save households about $130 on their electricity bills and help NSW become Australia’s first trillion-dollar state by 2030,” she said.

 

“This is about putting the policies in place to give industry and investors certainty, not only to protect our planet but to future-proof our prosperity and way of life.”

Environment Minister Matt Kean said NSW was one of the first jurisdictions to commit to net-zero emissions by 2050 and was on track to double the economy and halve emissions by 2030.

“We can be a renewable energy super power and as global demand for low carbon products and investments grows, the fortunes of the state are increasingly tied to the fortunes of our planet,” Mr Kean said.

Mr Barilaro, who was also integral in setting up renewable energy zones, said regional communities would reap the rewards of the new industries emerging over the coming decades.

 

Read more:

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw-nats-support-plan-to-halve-the-state-s-emissions-by-2030-20210928-p58vhp.html

 

In the cartoon, I was going to have Barilaro say "We will reduce the population of koalas by half in 2030, because they eat too many leaves of our carbon neutralising trees" or such, but this would not have been fair. So I chose the ubiquitous sheep and cows... I am worried though that I'm getting sick, as my satire is turning into sarcasm... Gross. I should actually congratulate the Lib/Nat of New South Wales for their commitment towards ZERO... Unfortunately, I can only smell liquid electioneering manure being sprayed on voters... I hope I'm wrong...

 

FREE JULIAN ASSANGE NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

green applause...

 

DTDT

FREE JULIAN ASSANGE NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

scumo's climate web of lies...

 

Our political leaders will do anything to stay in positions of power, including deceiving the voting public on urgent matters of climate change, writes Sue Arnold.

 

 

PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT issue facing this nation is not the pandemic, economic scenarios or nuclear submarines but a perilous lack of critical thinking and analysis by political parties, the mainstream media and a large majority of Australians. 

The latest media drama over whether Prime Minister Scott Morrison will succeed in bringing the National Party to the climate change table is entirely focused on political gains and losses. We've seen divisions, articles on Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce, Senator Matt Canavan and MP George Christensen, with absolutely zero focus on the extreme urgency of the situation facing our planet.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hailed Morrison as “leading the way” on climate with his spoken importance of countries “meeting and beating” their climate targets. One can only speculate on the calibre of her advisors and whether Australia’s right-wing Government has any bandwidth in U.S. politics.

It was an extraordinary statement given the overwhelming evidence that Australia is a climate change outlier under the Morrison Government, an embarrassment to nations taking steps to address a code red issue.

Listening to Joyce, now elevated to Deputy Prime Minister, cements the fact that Australia is now in the hands of politicians whose only goal is staying in power at any cost. Their focus is entirely dismissive of the catastrophic environmental impacts outlined by the U.N. report.

IA has compiled a shortlist of Joyce media statements and threatened actions on climate change.

Mid-June, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Joyce warned against a target of net zero by 2050 and joined Senator Canavan in signalling he was willing to cross the floor on the issue. Wikipedia indicates Canavan’s brother John is a mining executive.

In early September, The Guardian reported that Joyce ‘declares he won’t be “bullied” on climate science’, likening questioning on his stance ‘to a baptism where parents were required to “denounce Satan and all his works and deeds”’

Joyce further declared that he won’t be “berated” or participate in a “kangaroo court”

He also indicated that the Nationals would work to ensure urban Australia, not regional Australia, paid the price “if there’s a price to be paid”.

More recently, the SMH reported that ‘Joyce is said to be driving a hard bargain with his cabinet colleagues with one saying he was demanding “bucket loads of cash for the bush” to justify any agreement’ to zero emissions by 2050.

SMH reported earlier this month that Joyce has suggested a $5 billion extension of the Inland Rail into Queensland coal country in return for the Nationals backing a commitment on net zero emissions by 2050.

On reclaiming the National Party leadership, Joyce demanded security for regional jobs and industries. Exactly what these regional jobs and industries are is difficult to pin down. 

Who owns Australia’s agricultural lands? Who is Joyce representing when insisting he’s protecting the bush?

Climate change policy a la Joyce cannot be a series of smart remarks on mainstream media combined with wearing a gigantic, ridiculous hat on television. Does he ever look in the mirror?

Livestock makes up about 10% of Australia’s emissions, mainly due to methane from manure which has 28 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide.

fascinating gallery of Australia’s biggest private landowners reveals a dog’s breakfast of international actors, major multinational companies, Australian billionaires and millionaires owning a significant wack of agricultural lands. Plus, mega political influence.

Guardian team also attempted to establish who owns Australia, experiencing the same roadblocks and conflicting information as IA. However, facts dug up by the Guardian team are interesting.

Pastoral leases cover 44% of Australia; the data obtained showed more than 400 owners together owned about a quarter of the country.

The biggest pastoral leaseholder is Western Australian mining magnate Gina Rinehart who controls 1.2% of Australia’s landmass.

The Age said of Rinehart:

Over the years, her ardent support for Joyce has included $40,000 on National Agriculture Day in 2017 which the magnate billed as an award to the New England MP for being a “champion of our industry”. Amid fierce political criticism, Joyce returned the cash.

 

In 2013, Rinehart donated $50,000 to his election campaign and in 2011, Joyce was one of three Coalition MPs flown on Rinehart’s private jet to Hyderabad in India for a mining associate’s wedding.

 

The biggest corporate landholder is Australian Agricultural Company, its biggest shareholder the Bahamas based AA Trust controlled by British billionaire Joe Lewis.

According to Federal Government data, China is the biggest offshore holder of Australian farmland in 2019-2020 with 9.2 million hectares, followed by the UK, the Netherlands, the U.S. and Canada.

Morrison’s latest line, which no doubt he will use as “Australia’s climate plan” at Glasgow and in the forthcoming election, is “technology will change everything”. 

What technology?

Energy Minister Angus Taylor has produced a technology investment roadmap titled ‘First Low Emissions Technology Statement — 2020’.

Priority goals are identified as clean hydrogen, energy storage, low carbon materials, CO2 compression, hub transport and storage and soil carbon sequestration. A national hydrogen strategy estimates a domestic industry could generate over 8,000 jobs and $11billion a year in GDP by 2050. Clearly, no quick fix.

Currently, most hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels, specifically natural gas. 

The roadmap is devoid of environmental recommendations or considerations. There are no recommendations to end the industrial logging of forests, no discussion or recommendations on the importance of retaining biodiversity or intact ecosystems.

As any environmentally aware person will acknowledge, there’s no technology solution for replacing the ecological role of forests in converting CO2 into oxygen. Or one for overcoming drought, or creating rain. 

The Climate Council says:

‘Avoiding clearing of old growth, carbon-rich vegetation and protecting regrowth vegetation are the most effective approaches to mitigating climate change using land systems.’

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Issues Brief on climate change indicates:

Forests help stabilise the climate. They regulate ecosystems, protect biodiversity, play an integral part in the carbon cycle...

 

To maximise the climate benefits of forests, we must keep more forest landscapes intact...

 

Halting the loss and degradation of natural systems and promoting their restoration have the potential to contribute over one-third of the total climate change mitigation scientists say is required by 2030.

On a practical level, there are plenty of available solutions which do not require extensive government statements with graphs and endless mind-numbing weasel words.

Professor Annette Cowie, NSW Department of Primary Industries, says there are many ways cattle farmers can reduce their carbon footprint:

[By] planting trees, practises that build soil organic matter, feeding biochar to enhance animal health and feeding the algae that reduces methane emissions...”

 

Both Morrison and Joyce have children. Sussan Ley, Morrison’s Environment Minister, recently challenged a Federal Court ruling that she had an obligation to consider climate change impacts on future generations.

Perhaps it's time to create a portfolio of lies and media statements by our political leaders to present to Glasgow Climate Conference attendees so there is no confusion about the real Morrison Government stand on climate change.

 

Read more:

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/governments-climate-change-web-of-lies,15569

 

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