Go Greener, Australia

Hello again! I’m sorry I’ve been silent for so long - I’ve been having hosting and domain trouble, but it’s all better now. I’ve taken the time to do some research into environmental issues, catch up on some reading, and have a few new ideas for the blog. But for now, here’s a quick recap of what I’ve found interesting since the last time I posted:

The Budget
The Rudd government handed down it’s first budget, and it was certainly interesting. For us greenies it was a mixed bag: more money for renewable energy, and the development of a proper emissions trading scheme, but also more money for clean coal, introduced means-testing for the solar PV rebate, and all sorts of whining over petrol prices. Some comments on it from The Greens, Gavin from The Greening of Gavin, and an interesting discussion over at Larvatus Prodeo about the solar PV rebate.

Gunns Pulp Mill
Just in the last few days there’s been some interesting developments on the Gunns pulp mill in Tasmania. The ANZ has decided not to lend Gunns the money for it; Premier Lennon has stepped down and been replaced by Bartlett, who says he won’t give public money to the water pipeline Gunns asked for; and GetUp has started a “Let’s pulp it” campaign to warn other investors off the project.

Other smaller items

• Tassie Devils and polar bears have both been placed on the endangered list.
• Tim Flannery has come out in favour of geo-engineering, saying that if things get very bad with climate change we may need to dump sulphur into the sky to keep out the sun’s rays. I’m not keen on this idea at all - it seems about as bright as releasing cane toads to get rid of pests. But if we don’t change our ways soon, we may not have a choice but to try it.
• A new brand of Australian organic wool has been released - good news for me, as I’m a knitter on the lookout for eco-friendly products.

And last, but not least… An Inconvenient Truth is going to be turned into an opera. Why? I have no idea. But why not, I suppose!

So, what’s been going on in the last week?

Online:

PM Rudd has signed an agreement with Papua New Guinea, partnering up to reduce deforestation. I found out about this via Larvatus Prodeo, an Aussie political blog. If you’re interested in that sort of thing, give LP a look. They do semi-regular posts on environmental issues in Australia, have knowledgeable commenters and links to good resources. There’s a fair bit of funny snarking involved, too.

Treehugger has put out another of their excellent How-to guides: How to Green Your Rental. I know that before I bought my own home, it was hard to figure out what I could do since things like solar panels and greywater systems were out of the question. Treehugger has 10 ideas plus plenty of resources for anyone who hasn’t gotten sucked into the mortgage trap.

Offline:

The latest issue of G Magazine is out: articles on green home renovations, cosmetics and what the world would be like without oil. I’m going to pass it on to my sisters so they can read the article on having greener kids’ birthday parties, and there’s some good competitions and interviews as well.

I also picked up the autumn issue of GreenPages magazine. GreenPages is a directory of green products and services in Australia, available in print as well. I expected the magazine to be a bit light on articles and heavy on the ads, but there were good interviews and some good recipes too. Hard-core greenies will find it a bit light, but people newer to eco-friendliness will get a lot out of it.

Online

• An interim report on the Garnaut Review (PM Rudd’s research into the cost of climate change action) has been released today, stating that we need to take action urgently on climate change or risk great damage to our country. You can read the full report or the executive summary here.
• Pictures of a Greenpeace protest in the US. They used light to project a slogan onto the Washington Monument, like a better-looking version of the Pasha protest in Newcastle last year. I really like this way of protesting - it’s attention getting, but doesn’t hurt anyone.
• 5 easy ways to remember your reuseable bag: in your bra, as a toy, as a belt, and so on… from eco-chick.com.

In print

• The February issue of The Monthly magazine has an interview with Greens Senator Christine Milne. She’s less of the dreadlocked hippy than you’d expect for a Tasmanian Greens member, and more of the Country Women’s Association type. She makes a great passionfruit slice and can talk those farmers, loggers and politicians into doing the right thing
• Just noticed that there’s a way to get an online-only subscription to The Monthly. Sounds like a good idea for people like me who love to read magazines but hate the waste of paper…
• The last issue of Quarterly Essay has a great article from Ian Lowe as it’s main essay: Reaction Time. In it, he talks about the problems of nuclear power, and it’s political history in Australia. Not every newsagent stocks it, but Borders and other bookstores do.

I was going to get into the city today to try the organic jeans at Just Jeans, but the weather is miserable. So instead I’m staying inside with a cuppa, and sorting through the green news and bits of interest that came my way this week.

Two Blog Action Day posts that I didn’t see at first:
Zen Habits discusses 5 Ways to Save the World, While Getting Fitter, Saving Money, Simplifying, and Becoming Happier - it sounds like a tall order, but the things we do to make our life more satisfying are frequently the same things that help the environment.

Unclutterer mentions the Kill-a-Watt device , something I would really like myself - I’m very curious about which appliances or electrics in our house are chewing up the most energy.

In Australian environmental politics:
The ACF has an election score-card, rating each party on it’s environmental promises in the run-up to the election.

Tim Flannery writes A Call to Action at Cosmos Magazine, showing us a path to real environmental change in Australia.

In offline news:
Check out this fortnight’s edition of The Big Issue - their feature topic is the environment, with a really good article about carbon rationing. The idea is that you set an amount of carbon-dioxide emissions for your household, and work out ways to stay within your “budget”. Carbon Rationing Action Groups have formed to help each other meet their goals, starting in the UK but with some in Melbourne already.

There’s also an article about eco-etiquette from the always-funny Fiona Scott-Norman (do you ‘let it mellow’ when visiting a friend’s home? do you have to pretend to be interested in carbon trading debates?), and an interview with Thomas Homer-Dixon, the author of The Upside of Down.

[Note: it seems like some subscribers to this blog are receiving repeats of old posts - sorry! I'm working on fixing it asap.]

Live Earth concerts are happening around the world today. The Australian one is in Sydney, featuring the John Butler Trio, Crowded House, Missy Higgins, Wolfmother and other music acts (news.com.au has the entire line-up online).

G Magazine interviewed some of the artists appearing: some told about what they were doing to make their tours greener (Missy Higgins buys green power for the venues and uses hybrid vehicles); others said that they hadn’t previously done much for the environment but saw this as an opportunity to change the way they usually worked (Rob Hirst from Midnight Oil and the Ghostwriters, Neil Finn from Crowded House).

The Sydney event has hired a green consultant, Michael Molitor, who is working with the ACF, WWF, Greenpeace, Origin Energy and Ticketek to create new environmental standards and guidelines for mass events.

The Sydney event asks people to sign a 7-point pledge, which includes:

• asking politicians to join international treaties to stop climate change;
• taking personal action to reduce their own CO2 emissions;
• calling for a moratorium on new coal plants that don’t have capture technology;
• working to get greater energy efficiency in all products;
• asking for laws and policies that support renewable energy while reducing support for fossil fuels;
• planting new trees and protecting existing forests;  and
• buying from environmentally-friendly and humane businesses.

The pledge is wider-ranging than I expected - I thought it would be more of the usual “change a light-bulb” stuff.  I’d like to know if the pledges are different in different countries, as European countries have already signed Kyoto, and I imagine the average person in Brazil has less to do to reduce their carbon emissions, but maybe more to worry about from the destruction of the Amazon rainforests.

The concerts are being shown on cable tv today, but I’m not sure if any of it will be shown on free-to-air channels.

Chris Judd, that’s who.

We saw him on the news (they were reporting on his groin-strain injury), getting into his car after a training session. And his car is a Prius. What a champion.

[And what a pity he's not playing for the Eagles today - as I write, it's the 3rd quarter of their game against St Kilda, and the scoreboard does not look good for Eagles fans.]