5 August 2016, The Conversation, One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts is in denial about the facts of climate change. The notion that climate science denial is no longer a part of Australian politics was swept away yesterday by One Nation Senator-Elect Malcolm Roberts. In his inaugural press conference, Roberts claimed that “[t]here’s not one piece of empirical evidence anywhere, anywhere, showing that humans cause, through CO₂ production, climate change”. He also promoted conspiracy theories that the CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology are corrupt accomplices in climate conspiracy driven by the United Nations. His claims conflict with many independent lines of evidence for human-caused global warming. Coincidentally, the University of Queensland is releasing a free online course this month examining the psychology and techniques of climate science denial. The very first video lecture addresses Roberts’ central claim, summarising the empirical evidence that humans are causing climate change. Read More here
Category Archives: Australian Response
4 August 2016, The Guardian, CSIRO cuts: Turnbull government orders U-turn on climate science research. Only 20 climate science positions will be lost from the CSIRO, down from an initial 96, after the Turnbull government intervened, issuing a ministerial directive to the independent agency. Guardian Australia understands 35 climate scientist will still be sacked, but there will be 15 new hires. It is also understood there is no new money for the appointments, but must come from existing CSIRO funding. The cuts were first announced by the CSIRO in February this year. The decision was made by the CSIRO, which acts independently from government, but were a result of cuts the government made to environmental research funding. Greg Hunt, who replaced Christopher Pyne as minister for science and innovation in July, said on Thursday there would be 15 new climate science jobs and $37m invested in climate science research over 10 years. First reported in Fairfax Media on Thursday, Hunt said he made the changes by issuing a ministerial directive to the CSIRO. When the CSIRO first decided to make the cuts, the plan was to cut about 100 climate scientists. After a public outcry, the numbers were quickly reduced to just 70, and by April the number had reduced to about 35 jobs. Speaking on ABC’s AM program, Hunt said the move indicated a new government with a new focus. “It’s a decision that the prime minister and myself have taken. It’s a new government and we’re laying out a direction that climate science matters,” he said. Read More here
1 August 2016, Climate Home, UN asked Australia to cover up Great Barrier Reef lobbying. The UN asked the Australian government to cover up details of lobbying that lead to all mention of Australia being scrubbed from a major report on climate threats to world heritage sites. A draft of the UNESCO report, containing details of the threats posed by climate change to the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu and the Tasmanian wilderness, was sent to Australia’s ambassador to UNESCO George Mina in February. Mina forwarded it to the Environment Department for comment. Several emails were exchanged with UNESCO officials. The report was published in May without any mention of Australian sites. The doctoring was revealed by the Guardian in May, leading to global concern and outrage over the apparent ability for a government to influence the UN body’s scientific reporting. Correspondence between Mina, staff at UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre and the Department of Environment was released to Climate Home after a Freedom of Information (FoI) request. But the documents were almost entirely blacked out at UNESCO’s behest. Deb Callister, an environment department official, told Climate Home that she had consulted with UNESCO about releasing the emails that lead to the removal of the Australian sections. “UNESCO advised that it is their practice not to disclose exchanges of letters or correspondence between the Secretariat and its Member States, and requested that this type of material not be disclosed pursuant to this FOI request,” said Callister. Read More here
28 July 2016, Renew Economy, Energy minister right on renewables and climate, wrong on gas. The new energy and resources minister Josh Frydenberg has indicated a significant shift in energy policy for the Coalition. He correctly notes that renewables alone are not to blame for recent high electricity prices in South Australia. Unlike the new federal minister for resources, Matthew Canavan, Mr Frydenberg accepts mainstream climate science and the fact that humanities actions are driving global warming. He says that we need a diversified energy mix, that the national Renewable Energy Target (RET) is ‘set in stone’ – which will stabilise the investment environment for renewables, and has ruled out further tax payer subsidies for fossil fuel generation. These moves are all to be welcomed. And while Frydenberg is a long standing supporter of nuclear power, he acknowledges that our country should not move towards domestic use of uranium unless there is ‘bipartisan support’. It is difficult to imagine the majority of Australians would ever support a domestic nuclear reactor. However, Frydenberg is profoundly out of step with the community in calling for an end to the current moratoriums on unconventional gas. In Victoria, 73 regional communities have declared themselves ‘gasfield free’. While these declarations have no legal standing, they indicate deep seated opposition to fracking and drilling by communities. Most of the declared areas are in Coalition held seats and advocacy by the federal minister for state governments to lift the ban will damage the Coalition’s credibility in its core consistency. Further, with a well managed national electricity grid and diversity of renewable sources plus enhanced use of storage technologies (including existing hydro dams) gas is not needed as back up for wind and solar. The argument that gas is a bridging and back-up fuel is out dated. We now have 21st century renewable technology which can meet our electricity needs. Read More here