All posts by Brian

Brian Bahnisch, a survivor from Larvatus Prodeo, founded Climate Plus as a congenial space to continue coverage of climate change and sundry other topics. As a grandfather of more than three score years and ten, Brian is concerned about the future of the planet, and still looking for the meaning of everything.

Bali 9: AFP says it was legal, we might do it again

The bottom line appears to be that what the AFP did in alerting the Indonesian police about the Bali 9 was legal, but was it moral, and were there other alternatives?

Brisbane solicitor Stephen Keim says that Lee Rush, father of Scott Rush, one of the Bali 9, had his lawyer approach the AFP because his son was going to Asia for no good reason. Rush’s lawyer was left with the impression that a passport alert had been raised and that his son would be going nowhere. Because of this he didn’t approach his son directly.

The contention is that Lee Rush was intentionally deceived. Continue reading Bali 9: AFP says it was legal, we might do it again

Climate clippings 137

1. Unburnable Carbon: Why we need to leave fossil fuels in the ground

That’s the title of a new report from the Climate Council.

    To have a 75% chance of meeting the 2°C warming limit, at least 77% of the world’s fossil fuels cannot be burned.

Nurses highest in esteem, daylight second

Nurses again rate, for the 21st year in a row, the highest in esteem amongst the professions. Fully 92% of Australians over the age of 14 rated them either high or very high when asked the following question in the Roy Morgan Image of Professions Survey 2015:

    “As I say different occupations, could you please say – from what you know or have heard – which rating best describes how you, yourself, would rate or score people in various occupations for honesty and ethical standards (Very High, High, Average, Low, Very Low)?”

Continue reading Nurses highest in esteem, daylight second

Emissions reduction auctions: Dodgy Bros or the best thing since sliced bread

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When I heard Greg Hunt spruiking the first auction under the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) last week, he sounded like a used car salesman. He has form on cherry picking statistics and imaginative accounting, so it’s best to ignore what he said and look to other sources (please note, there is other commentary in the link, including from Tim Flannery).

In the broad we need 236 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions reduction to meet a 5% target. The Government has just spent $660 million (25.9%) of the $2.55 billion fund to purchase 47 million tonnes (19.9%) of abatement. Continue reading Emissions reduction auctions: Dodgy Bros or the best thing since sliced bread