Cape Grim in Tasmania is a measuring station for atmospheric CO2 in the world. The measurement there tends to be a bit lower than at Mauna Loa and doesn’t wobble about as much. It’s baseline stands at 399.9 parts per million and is about to break through the 400 mark, as shown in this graph: Continue reading Grim news from Cape Grim
Please can we have policy rather than politics?
July 2 is going to be a long time coming if the first few days are any indication.
Today a main election news item on ABC radio was still whether Shorten would take us back to the polls rather than do a deal with the Greens.
Turnbull ran into trouble in Sydney’s west when all the press was interested in was who Fiona Scott, member for Lindsay, voted for in the Liberal Party leadership spill. Turnbull cancelled the rest of the day’s campaigning, as well he might if showing up is only going to feed the media’s obsession with irrelevance that is damaging to his campaign. Continue reading Please can we have policy rather than politics?
After Paris, how do we really tackle climate change?
A record 177 countries signed the UN Paris climate agreement in New York on 22 April. That was a record for signing any international agreement on one day.
A few short days earlier another record had been broken – for the first time on any day CO2 emissions exceeded 409 parts per million. If you want some perspective on how aggressively we are forcing the climate, take a look at this graph, albeit from 2013: Continue reading After Paris, how do we really tackle climate change?
Misfiring PM grabs the starting gun
The title is courtesy of Laurie Oakes’s column. I’ll come back to that.
The ABC is live-blogging here, and The Guardian here. The Conversation has an Election 2016 heading, and an election policy explainer. The ABC also has an election site. Continue reading Misfiring PM grabs the starting gun
Saturday salon 5/5 (late edition)
1. Midnight Oil to burn again
Midnight Oil, led by the former Hon. Peter Garrett, Minister for the Environment and Minister for Education, are returning to a high-ticket priced venue near you.
- Once again, we’ll witness the gangly mantis, this time just plain old Pete Garrett, belt out songs condemning American military imperialism, condemning the loss of Indigenous land rights and noting that beds, as well as pink batts, keep burning. Continue reading Saturday salon 5/5 (late edition)
Climate clippings 170
1. Arctic ice in trouble
It’s too early to say whether the 2012 record for Arctic summer ice loss will be beaten, but it’s shaping up so that it could. The NSIDC satellite is broken, but robertscribbler has been looking at the Japanese satellite. This is what it shows: Continue reading Climate clippings 170
What ScoMo didn’t tell us
Scott Morrison’s 2016 budget got copious praise from Peter Martin, at least in terms of the processes used.
Not so much from his Fairfax mate, Ross Gittins, who said it looked as though it was pulled together with a checklist, but did next to nothing in terms of economics or reform. It was a political document. Continue reading What ScoMo didn’t tell us
Budget open thread
Here’s a thread where you can vent about the budget, should you so desire.
Peter Martin has a handy list of what we already know, which is quite a lot.
The ABC does too.
Ross Gittins tells us what not to believe. He reckons they don’t use the appropriate accounting methods to add up the figures. He also says not to obsess so much about deficits. It is the government’s responsibility to borrow to spend on infrastructure and other good things. Continue reading Budget open thread
Labor’s climate change policy
The ALP has put a lot of thought and work into it’s climate policy. A pity, therefore, that the links to the documentation are not better organised. Here to assist readers are the main links I’ve discovered:
The main policy document: Climate Change Action Plan Policy Paper (41 pages)
An 18-page factsheet: Labor’s Climate Change Action Plan Factsheet
A site Labor’s Climate Change Action Plan, where if you follow the links you can get to the Policy Paper and the Factsheet, but in the main you are directed to short summaries of the policy under six key areas. If, however, you follow the links in a way that is not immediately obvious, you get to the more adequate versions below: Continue reading Labor’s climate change policy
Saturday salon 30/4
1. Cardinal Pell’s credibility is on the line
Cardinal Pell claimed to the royal commission that he wasn’t told about misbehaving priests. Now a number of former officers of the Melbourne Catholic Education Office have given evidence that Pell was in fact told about the somewhat unhinged priest Father Searson. Continue reading Saturday salon 30/4
Negative gearing: the election scare campaign continues
The release of the Grattan Institute report Hot property: negative gearing and capital gains tax has raised the temperature of the scare campaign for a day or so on Labor’s Positive plan to help affordable housing, aka negative gearing.
Turnbull says Labor’s policy will drive down house prices:
- “What Labor is proposing is a huge reckless shock to the market. This is not fine-tuning. This is a big sledgehammer they are taking to the property market,” Mr Turnbull said.
Grattan found otherwise. Continue reading Negative gearing: the election scare campaign continues
All square and going nowhere?
Arguably the election campaign started on Sunday with Turnbull’s formal rejection of the ALP’s negative gearing campaign. With 68 days to go the polls are all square in the House of Representatives, and, intriguingly, look set to deliver a hung Senate, with the casting vote resting with pesky crossbenchers. Incredibly, Turnbull may win, but not have enough head room to pass legislation at a joint sitting without negotiating with some of the people he wanted to get rid of.
A few people have been looking at the likely Senate outcomes and the prospects are interesting. Continue reading All square and going nowhere?