1. Canadian team gets 2,098 mpg in supermileage competition
The average Australian car travels about 15,000 km/yr.
This car would consume only 16.5 litres per year! Continue reading Climate clippings 146
All posts by Brian
Inequality is bad for growth
The Economist spells out the message – inequality is bad for growth. And the growth they are talking about is plain old-fashioned GDP, not newer measures of happiness or well-being. Continue reading Inequality is bad for growth
Saturday salon 11/7
1. Can Bill Shorten afford to ignore Rupert Murdoch?
Rodney Tiffen thinks he can.
- Last year, the total circulation of all Australian daily newspapers was a little over 2.1 million, fully one million lower than it was at the turn of the century.
Shorten loses some bark at the Royal Commission
The consensus seems to be that Bill Shorten has “lost some bark” during his appearance at the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption, but the damage is not serious. Continue reading Shorten loses some bark at the Royal Commission
Indigenous constitutional recognition – will we get more than symbolism?
The recent Fairfax Ipsos poll said 85% of people supported the constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as Australia’s first inhabitants. Hence on the surface a referendum planned for 2017, the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum looks like passing. However, indigenous leaders have made it clear that they regard such an outcome as merely symbolic. They want discrimination within the current Constitution dealt with. This is where the trouble begins. Continue reading Indigenous constitutional recognition – will we get more than symbolism?
Scoping long-term sea level rise
In human time-scales 100 years is long time. In geological terms in relation to sea level rise, it’s short, very short. Coming out of the last ice age seas rose a total of about 120 metres over about 11 or 12 thousand years, as this image shows: Continue reading Scoping long-term sea level rise
Climate clippings 145
1. Is it climate change?
When the first named cyclone in July appeared off the Queensland coast some asked whether this was caused by climate change. My response would be that a single event is weather. Climate is about changes in the patterns of weather over time.
Carbon Brief has a post suggesting that climate change attribution studies are asking the wrong questions. Continue reading Climate clippings 145
Same-sex marriage: a matter of equal rights
Dennis Atkins has written an opinion piece in the Courier Mail on US Supreme Court judge Justice Anthony Kennedy’s “coherent, comprehensive and cogent” majority judgement on same-sex marriage. The judge reasons and writes beautifully:
- “No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family,” he wrote. Continue reading Same-sex marriage: a matter of equal rights
Saturday salon 4/7
1. Antediluvian senator Abetz against gay marriage
- Conservative cabinet minister Eric Abetz says Australia should not legalise gay marriage because no Asian country has adopted marriage equality.
And Senator Abetz says legalising gay marriage would lead to polyamory and argues issue should be rejected out of hand because Opposition Leader Bill Shorten supports change.
Greece is in default arrears
Did the Euro die at 5.13pm on Saturday 27 June, when Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis walked out of the Eurogroup meeting of finance ministers? We still don’t know, but it is important to understand that Varoufakis didn’t ‘walk’, he was pushed. Continue reading Greece is in default arrears
Poll stuff 1/7
In the dead tree version of the Oz, the headline read Coalition high in PM’s home state. Aha! I thought, the latest Newspoll must be good for Labor, if that’s all they can find to say! Then I saw it at the head of the table – 50-50 in NSW.
In fact the two-party preferred (TPP) number favoured Labor 53-47, but they hid the number as much as possible and didn’t mention it in the text. Continue reading Poll stuff 1/7
Climate clippings 144
1. Business, investor, environment, research and social groups look for climate consensus before Paris
- Business, investor, environment, research and social groups have formed an unprecedented alliance to establish common ground on which the climate debate can be conducted, as the Abbott government finalises the position it will take to Paris climate talks later in the year.
The Australian Industry Group, the Business Council of Australia, Investor Group on Climate Change, the Australian Aluminium Council and the Energy Supply Association of Australia have joined forces with the Australian Conservation Foundation, WWF Australia, the Australian Council of Social Service and the Australian Council of Trade Unions to set down some basic markers on climate policy which they hope will allow for future political consensus on the issue.