17 July 2015, The Independent, Iran nuclear deal: Oil majors have already started the scramble to tap the country’s rich resources. The race to exploit Iran’s vast and under-utilised oil and gas reserves has begun after the country struck a crucial deal to curb its nuclear programme in return for relaxing foreign sanctions on its energy and finance industries. Easing the sanctions imposed by the US, the EU and the UN in 2012 paves the way for a massive leap in Iran’s oil and gas production that will require Western production expertise. The Iranian government and the oil majors have been quietly courting each other in the run-up to the agreement, with companies such as BP, Shell, Eni, Statoil and Total all thought to be seriously considering a move into the country. Read More here
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16 July 2015, The conversation. The Australian’s campaign against wind farms continues but the research doesn’t stack up: The Australian newspaper’s campaign against wind farms continued this morning with a page one story from the paper’s environment editor Graham Lloyd. Lloyd writes about purportedly “groundbreaking” German research which, he infers, may provide a plausible basis for claims about wind turbines having direct effects on health. Lloyd writes: The results showed that humans could hear sounds of eight hertz, a whole octave lower than had been previously assumed, and that excitation of the primary auditory cortex could be detected down to this frequency. A description of the project is here. The research never mentions wind turbines, only low-frequency noise, which is produced by many sources found in both nature and from a wide variety of mechanical sources. Read More here
15 July 2015, The Monthly, Of Clowns & Treasurers, Joe Hockey and the myth of Coalition economic management. Economists often speak in Latin, and in Greek. We love to wear folk down with a few deltas and gammas before finishing them off with a bit of ceteris paribus. But one of our best tricks is to use words that sound like English but to which we attach our own very specific meaning. We use simple-sounding words like “efficiency” and “unemployment” to draw the unsuspecting into our conversation. Then we slam the door on their fingers when they admit to thinking that unemployment is measured by the number of people on the dole (it’s not) or that efficiency means reducing waste (not to economists it doesn’t). While economics provides a bunch of simple tools to help break down complicated problems, the language of economics is more frequently used to confound and confuse. Especially when it’s politicians talking about economics. The primary purpose of the econospeak that fills our airwaves, most of which is complete nonsense, is to keep ordinary Australians out of the big debates about tax, fairness, climate change and the provision of essential services. Econospeak is a great way to limit the options on our democratic menu. Would you like a small tax cut and a small cut in services or a big tax cut and a big cut in services? What? You want to spend more money in health and education? You must be mad. Just imagine how “the markets” would react to such a suggestion. The whole strategy has worked a treat for the past few decades. But even the most impenetrable language can’t keep people believing that preventing climate change or letting sick people see a doctor is unaffordable, or that the best way to help the poor is to cut taxes for the rich. A year ago, the Coalition government said we were “living beyond our means” and faced a “budget emergency” that, if not addressed, would lead us “into the eye of an economic storm”. Sound scary? Relax. Joe Hockey did. This year there is no budget emergency. Indeed, during the May budget speech Treasurer Hockey was decidedly chipper. In 12 months he shifted from doom and gloom to urging everyone to look on the bright side of life. He used his budget speech to tell Australians to “have a go” and after the recent interest rate cut he urged us to borrow up big. Read More here
15 July 2015, The Telegraph, How native Australian birds like the laughing kookaburra are in ‘drastic’ decline: Study based on 427,000 surveys by birdwatchers and researchers in Australia found serious declines in native bird sightings, possibly due to feral predator, habitat loss and climate change. Some of Australia’s best-known native birds – including the magpie and the laughing kookaburra – are in serious decline and at risk of becoming endangered in some parts of the country, according to a study of national sightings. The study, based on 427,000 surveys conducted by thousands of birdwatchers and researchers across Australia over the past 15 years, found sightings of the well-known laughing kookaburra declined by about 30 per cent in the country’s east and by 50 per cent in the south-east. Magpie numbers declined less consistently, but dropped in four of seven regions including a 31 per cent reduction on the heavily-populated east coast. The study, by Birdlife Australia, a conservation organisation, found some parrots, lorikeets and cockatoos also showed strong declines. There were also reduced numbers of sightings of the willie wagtail, the tawny frogmouth and the brown goshawk. Read more here