Climate Change eBulletin from the AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRATS
Climate, Land & Water
AN eBULLETIN FROM THE AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRATS
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June 2007 |
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In this Issue
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Welcome to the Climate Change e-Bulletin
The bush fires, the drought, Al Gore and the UK Stern report have all contributed to a greater awareness of climate change.
The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report by 2,500 scientists worldwide is a wake-up call, warning that the Great Barrier Reef may be dead within 20 years, mass extinction of species will occur and the continued existence of the human species is threatened.
John Howard lashed out at the scientists and the ‘full cost economists’, calling them zealots and fanatics. He defends his inaction saying obligatory cuts would damage the economy and that backing nuclear power and ‘clean coal’ is the way to go.
Is this an appropriate response? I don’t think so. Australia is a rich country, the tenth largest emitter in the world and the largest per capita emitter. Yet we are one of the most vulnerable to climate change. Acting to avoid dangerous climate change is a moral issue as much as it is economic.
Scientists say we must turn this problem around within the next ten years. This is a global challenge and every economy and country must restructure to go from carbon fat to carbon lite. Our carbon emissions must reach a state of equilibrium – reduced to the level that can be absorbed by nature.
Greater awareness will either drive a change in the attitudes of decision-makers or a change in government. A Climate Institute survey shows 80% of Australians want laws to reduce greenhouse emissions with targets for 2020 and 2050. Big business wants policy certainty now on targets and measures to price carbon.
We’ve had 11 years of climate change scepticism, handouts, voluntary measures and failures. The Mandated Renewable Energy Targets have been watered down to almost nothing, next year progress on wind and solar energy development will largely come to a halt and the much vaunted Australian Greenhouse Office is ignored. Protecting the coal industry is obviously a priority for the Prime Minister but his clean coal technology is still 15 to 20 years away. Putting all your eggs in the nuclear power basket is even more absurd – reactors take 20 or more years to build and their huge cost leaves the private sector reluctant to put them up.
We have been on the greenhouse case for 20 years. More recently the 2001 Senate inquiry into Australia’s Response to Greenhouse, which I initiated and chaired, has largely been ignored.
The Democrats say we must aggressively push energy efficiency and renewable energy. We must use fossil fuels like coal and gas strategically. And we need to support an investment environment for innovative low and zero emission technologies.
A cleaner energy future would have photovoltaics on every roof, householders rewarded for making a shift to energy efficient products, and insurance providers and banks providing discounts for efficient cars and buildings.
I hope you find our climate change ebulletin an informative read. I encourage you to forward this on to others. You may also be interested in subscribing to our other eBulletins which address some of the most important issues facing us right now.
If you do not want to receive future issues, please email climatechange.ebulletin@democrats.org.au with ‘unsubscribe me’ in the subject line.
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Lyn Allison
Leader & Senator for Victoria |
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Emissions Trading Scheme for Australia?
The government’s Emissions Trading Task Group released its report today saying an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) could be up and running by 2012. The qualification and the referral to another group for further investigation is a way for the Howard government to neutralise his lack of action on climate change as an election issue.
The report is heavy on principles, the recommendations are few and there is no advancement on the plan for a domestic ETS developed by the Australian Greenhouse Office in 1998.
But ten years are lost and that is what makes this report so deeply disappointing. The longer the delay the more greenhouse emissions accumulate in the atmosphere.
NSW implemented the world’s first ETS in 2003 and in 2004 the States and Territories commenced a multi-state ETS for implementation in 2010. Australia could be leading the international agenda on ETS. Early implementation of a domestic ETS will prepare and protect Australian industry competitiveness when an international carbon price bites hard.
The cost of introducing an ETS is as little as 40 cents per household per week and $4 per week for an ETS plus renewable and energy efficiency measures.
What an ETS should look like
| An emissions trading scheme should be up and running by 2010. It should: |
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have firm targets for abatement |
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be a market driven, cap and trade scheme |
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cover the stationary energy sector in the first instance and then broadened out to other sectors such as transport, and |
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be supported by aggressive energy efficiency, renewable energy and (have rebate) in areas of energy poverty. |
| The permit allocation and auctioning should drive innovation in low emission technology and have a penalty for non-compliance. |
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Spun out by climate change?
Are you thinking maybe we do need 25 nuclear reactors to meet our Kyoto target, that clean coal is a winner, that renewables cannot provide base load power, that Sir Nicholas Stern is a fanatic and that the Prime Minister cares deeply about the jobs of coal workers? Let us put you straight on these and other false notions on climate change.
Read the full article from our recent Senate Insider. |
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Sir Nicholas Stern meets climate sceptics
Sir Nicholas Stern, author of the report “Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change”, was in Canberra on 28 March 2007 to speak with Mr Howard, and senior government and opposition Ministers.
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said it was the most important document put before his government.
Sir Nicholas Stern’s main messages for Australians were:
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Climate change was the greatest market failure the world has ever seen as we do not pay for the costs of the damages inflicted on others and future generations. |
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| Lyn Allison, Democrats Leader, greets Sir Nicholas Stern after his recent Press Club lecture in Canberra |
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The impact of doing nothing on climate change was at least 20 times more than the cost of fixing the problem. |
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Deep cuts of greenhouse to the level of 60% to 90% by 2050 are required, however these do not have to come at the cost of economic growth and could be achieved through market mechanisms that drive innovation and high economic growth. |
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Global collaboration is needed and the ethics of countries waiting for other countries to act before acting themselves is questionable. |
John Howard’s extraordinary response to meeting Sir Nicholas Stern was to find fault in his economic modelling and badger him about nuclear power, clean coal and land clearing in Indonesia. He repeated the mantra that action on climate change would ruin the economy, citing the government’s own economic modelling by ABARE that assumes ludicrous carbon taxes of around $700 a tonne.
OPINION: The issues and solutions for Australia on climate change – Senator Lyn Allison, Senate Insider, May 2007
MEDIA RELEASE: Democrats accuse Howard - focus on climate change not your business mates - Senator Lyn Allison, 22 May 2007
MEDIA RELEASE: Risky Economics Ignores Stern Warning - Senator Lyn Allison, 29 March 2007
MEDIA RELEASE: Dangerous Climate Change Sceptics Lurk in Howard Government - Senator Lyn Allison, 26 March 2007 |
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Tracking Australia’s Kyoto target
An analysis of the government’s 2006/7 emissions data (to end February) by Hugh Saddler for the Climate Institute, shows a big increase in energy and emissions use and a likelihood that Australia’s emissions will rise to 110% of 1990 levels by 2010, massively overshooting the target.
The Government’s claim that Australia will meet its Kyoto target was shown earlier this year to be a sham. We will exceed our target of 108% of 1990 levels by 2010 by 7 million tonnes. Of more concern is that by 2020 emissions will be a massive 127% higher due to the unchecked growth in emissions from the energy sector. The Federal Department of Environment and Heritage confirmed that current policies and programs are inadequate to meet our Kyoto target.
MEDIA RELEASE: Australia Not on track on Kyoto, No Action in Sight - Senator Lyn Allison, 6 Feb 2007
QUESTION: Tracking Kyoto Target - Senator Lyn Allison, 6 Feb 2007 |
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Howard’s ideological commitment to nuclear
The Democrats are deeply concerned about the Prime Minister’s determination to bring nuclear power to this country when others are abandoning this dangerous power source.
Expanding uranium mining and exports, selling yellowcake to India and China and suggesting we should enrich uranium here and take back the waste shows how reckless and out of touch the Government has become.
The US and every other country grappling with the impossibility of safely containing high level radioactive waste would no doubt be delighted if Australia was to take this politically and environmentally dangerous material off their hands.
India is no doubt pleased that it will get access to uranium even though it is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) – until now a pre-requisite for supply and the only leverage the world has to bring weapons states under the International Atomic Energy Agency’s surveillance. The 2005 NPT conference failed to deliver progress on non proliferation or on disarmament and Australia’s actions further undermine that agreement.
The answer to greenhouse cuts is not 25 nuclear reactors around the country and the 750 tonnes of highly radioactive waste they will produce each year.
The Switkowski report found that the nuclear industry would require higher electricity prices or a significant carbon price to be effective. It said the insurance and risk would need to be under written by the government. The implication is clear that nuclear is not economic, would not be viable without government subsidy and would have to work outside the competitive energy market so zealously created in recent years.
The Australian Labor Party is likely to reverse its three mines policy. This policy was ineffectual in containing uranium mining, as the fourfold expansion of Roxby Downs shows, but we doubt they will replace it with one that makes more sense. Labor has been quiet on opposing the Howard government’s nuclear agenda, and seems to be relying on S14 A of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act which effectively makes nuclear energy and enrichment illegal …. for now.
In case you missed it, the Australian Democrats say NO to nuclear energy.
CAMPAIGN: Say No to Expanding Nuclear Industry in Australia
MEDIA RELEASE: Rudd joins Howard's nuclear boys' club - Senator Lyn Allison, 30 April 2007
MEDIA RELEASE: Howard’s Nuclear Hypocrisy - Senator Lyn Allison 30 March 2007
MEDIA RELEASE: Power to the people - put nuclear plants to the vote - Senator Lyn Allison, 28 Feb 2007
SPEECH: Second Reading of the non-proliferation legislation amendment bill 2006 [2007] - Senator Lyn Allison 30 March 2007 |
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Up close with an anti-nuclear campaigner
The Democrats met with Kevin Kamps, nuclear waste specialist from the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Washington D.C. during his recent visit to Australia which was sponsored by The Wilderness Society.
Mr Kamps believes Australia has something to learn from the difficulties of radioactive waste disposal and risks to health and the environment that the US is still trying to resolve. He also says nuclear power is expensive and has been heavily subsidised in the US - the last nuclear reactor plant built in the US cost $7billion and took 23 years to build. Apparently Wall Street and other private investors are not willing to touch nuclear power. It is only viable if government underwrites the risk of accidents and manages the waste for thousands of years.
The US has a ban on reprocessing waste from nuclear power stations so huge quantities of highly radioactive waste have built up around the country, much of it sitting, densely packed in cooling ponds for five years before being put into casks. The US Government and industry want to dump it in on Indian land in Nevada and Utah, even though Nevada doesn’t generate nuclear power and the location in the Yucca Mountain is geologically questionable. If it goes ahead, the site could not contain all the existing waste and the waste that could be accommodated would take more than 30 years to transport there.
Not only is there a huge outcry about the environmental unsuitability of these sites, all members of parliament and candidates in Nevada have vowed to oppose the dumps leaving the Bush Administration with a big political headache.
CAMPAIGN: Say No to Expanding Nuclear Industry in Australia |
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The base load red herring
We have been told repeatedly by the Government that renewable energy won’t deliver base load electricity and this is why we should stick with coal and go nuclear. This is nonsensical for a number of reasons.
- Future generation is likely to come from a wide range of dispersed sources – photovoltaics, wind farms, biomass etc.
- Alternatives can be found to using power supplied by the grid, for example solar hot water heaters can provide hot showers more efficiently than a coal fired power station 100’s of km’s away.
- Co-generation using waste heat from industrial processes is already being used and can be further utilised.
- Driving demand are increases in peak power, typically days when air-conditioners draw heavily on supply, which fortunately coincide with bright sun – solar could avoid the need for new power stations.
- Australia has some of the windiest places in the world, and the increasing sophistication in wind forecasting and turbine control has allowed some countries such as Denmark to rely on wind for 30% of their power.
- Power from wind is being converted to hydrogen for storage in California so it can generate power as needed.
- Australia has great geothermal resources that can be used to produce base load as well as peak load while remaining cost-competitive with coal.
For more details on all of these alternatives, please visit our Renewable Energy campaign.
The Democrats say we have to be serious about climate change policy to release our dependency on fossil fuels. To achieve this we must have aggressively push for energy efficiency, pave the way for renewable energy, use of fossil fuel strategically and undertake energy market reform so we can have distributed power (like photovoltaics on every roof).
But the government must provide a clear policy and unambiguous direction for industry to invest and remove the considerable barriers to sustainable energy.
The Australian Democrats are active in the parliament on creating debate around these issues.
MOTION: Polling results by ARG on community attitude to climate change solutions - Senator Lyn Allison, 27 Feb 2007
SPEECH: Promotion of Nuclear is Missed Opportunity - Senator Lyn Allison, 28 Feb 2007
SPEECH: Need for greater Energy Market Reform to Support Demand Management and Distributed Energy - Senator Lyn Allison, 28 Feb 2007 |
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Local communities doing it for themselves
Recently Senator Allison visited a remarkable community group in Daylesford. The Hepburn Renewable Energy Association (HREA) is made up of volunteers dedicated to local renewable energy.
Read the full article from our recent Senate Insider. |
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Energy efficiency - everyone a winner!
Energy efficiency is not about sitting in the dark or doing without – it is about stopping energy waste through poor design of technology, our homes and buildings, appliances and equipment.
Energy efficiency is the cheapest greenhouse abatement activity and also has positive productivity benefits to the economy. The potential for energy efficiency is enormous and it can be implemented now. Just one percent reduction in our energy waste is do-able with measures with a pay back period of less than 3 years and would reduce CO2e emissions by 28 million tonnes and remove the need for 8 coal fired power stations and result in a stronger growth in the economy.
The government cannot sustain its mantra of “action on climate change will cost the Australian economy” when there is such scope to stop energy waste.
Currently the only energy efficiency policies the Government has in place are voluntary such as requiring the top 250 companies to audit and report on energy usage. The Government has allocated only $0.9 million to progressing energy efficiency actions - this is compared to over $6 billion which is spent every year to meet the increase in energy demand. By stopping energy waste it is possible to maintain the same growth in demand for energy services but reduce the amount of energy used.
The Australian Democrats are introducing a private members bill for the introduction of a National and Market Driven Energy Efficiency target (NMDEET).
We think it is possible to demonstrate that business and householders can make money through stopping energy waste if the market barriers to energy efficiency are addressed. The Bill is due for second reading on 12 June.
CAMPAIGN: Sustainable energy
MEDIA RELEASE: Everyone a Winner with Energy Efficiency - Senator Lyn Allison, 21 March 2007
SPEECH: Second Reading of the Energy Efficiency Opportunity Amendment Bill - Senator Lyn Allison Tuesday 20 March 2007 |
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Our carbon neutral campaign
The Democrats Senators made a commitment to go carbon neutral in 2007. Progress to date has been to successfully audit and benchmark greenhouse emissions from 2006 using the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory methodology. The audit is a fundamental step because “if you can’t measure you can’t manage”. It was no surprise that air travel was the largest component of their greenhouse emissions.
Democrats Senators are taking action to reduce emissions and will offset emissions that cannot be avoided. We are moving to efficient equipment, using ‘green’ suppliers (our printer uses Greenpower, organic inks and recycled paper) turning off lights and equipment when not in use, reducing travel and switching electorates office to Greenpower.
Purchasing Greenpower is proving difficult. The Special Minister of State refused permission to switch to 100% solar or wind even though Senators will pick up the tab for the difference in the costs. We must wait, it seems until arrangements are in place for all Federal members of Parliament. So although renewable energy is a way off we are pleased to have shifted the Government and the bureaucracy into action - a key objective of the campaign.
Shopping for Greenpower also revealed that there are many products on the market and comparing these products can be confusing. Some do not meet government accreditation criteria, that is, energy must be additional to what is required under the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target. Senator Allison is taking this up with the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission.
We have also pushed the government to include the AGO’s Green Vehicle Guide ratings on the list of vehicles available to MPs – not that it seems to have made much difference to choices being made – the Holden Berlina and Ford Territories, rated 2 and 2½ stars respectively still seem very popular!
The Toyota Prius, Honda and Lexus petrol/electric hybrids are not on the standard list because they are fully imported and sadly no local auto maker looks likely to put these vehicles into production, despite the fact that CSIRO spent $12 million on the successful Ecommodore hybrid which now sits in a museum.
Senators Allison and Bartlett now have a Prius each (Lyn Allison has just taken delivery of her fourth) and enjoying not having to refuel for weeks and the quietness of these stylish vehicles. They use E10 which improves emissions and further cuts use of fossil fuels.
CAMPAIGN: Renewable Energy
QUESTION: Electric Vehicle - Senator Lyn Allison, 28 February 2007 |
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Piety optional
With all the flak flying these past few weeks over who drives what ‘green’ car, you might have suspected you had slipped into an episode of South Park - “Fancy a spin in my Pious, Kevin?” But piety wasn’t behind Senator Lyn Allison’s decision to swap her natural gas fuelled Ford for the hybrid Prius over five years ago; rather it was a belief that you’ve got to ‘walk the talk’.
In a recent article in our Senate Insider Senator Allison discusses why she has fallen in love with her Prius – read the article. |
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