JoNova
A science presenter, writer, speaker & former TV host; author of The Skeptic's Handbook (over 200,000 copies distributed & available in 15 languages).
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Statistics
Weather report from northern Minnesota USA: First week in April was coldest on record (since before 1900)
Global warming my a**!
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Just wait until the 12″ of snow hits this weekend!
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Having another 12″ of snow will raise the air temperature.
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“Having another 12″ of snow will raise the air temperature.” How deep beneath the snow will the Stevenson screens be while the Foehn winds hit?
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But here in central New South Wales the first half of April has been around 5 degrees Centigrade above average. This is the warm end of the month, but still well over the usual.
But we don’t have the latent heat of fusion in play, so we probably don’t compensate for your lows.
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Ted,
Your opinion is not shared by the ABC and Fairfax.
To them, the warm temps in Oz are absolute proof of global warming PLUS a windy day in Adelaide (extreem weather you know).
30
Just reading the Spectator. David Flint says that Malcolm Turnbull should do the right thing and step down in favor of Tony Abbott.
After all the premise that Malcolm had an economic plan, communicated better and was more popular after Abbott losing 30 Newspolls are now convincingly smashed.
You would also have to wonder how Abbott would have fared without the endless sniping, leaking and undermining from his own side.
Ministerial plotters Turnbull, Pyne, Bishop and the rest of their ‘winners’ circle’, the Black Hand. Assassins all.
Then as Communications Minister, Turnbull watched as the ABC/SBS media giant ridiculed Abbott and Hockey. Hockey smoked a cigar and danced with his wife and young son, as caught on a telephoto lens. Forced out. Abbott winked on radio, a setup by their ABC. Bit an onion. Horrific. Paused when asked a question instead of a filibuster of meaningless drivel, photoshopped into a stutter.
Most importantly, Malcolm Turnbull who had previously lost the leadership over the issue of a Carbon tax was able quietly reintroduce it. A Green devotee, he has destroyed the Liberals funding support where many donors and members just walked away and without Union Dan in Victoria, would have turned a Coalition landslide under Abbott into a loss. Kroger is suing the largest donor, the McCormack foundation because they want a conservative leader. The money was not left to Malcolm’s Green Liberals.
This farce has gone on long enough. So can we please have Abbott back now? Malcolm and Lucy, time to say goodbye.
Then we can hope to give the people of Australia at least what they had, adequate, cheap, reliable electricity, control of our immigration, a plan to rescue the white farmers of South Africa from appalling race based robbery, assault, rape and murder and to get out of the devastating Paris Accord.
There is obviously no significant global warming, no runaway emergency, no rapid sea rise. After 30 years of this, we in Australia are being devastated by the Green policies of all three parties. As Tony Abbott said, “Climate Change is crap”. “The Science” smells worse.
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How would Abbott have fared without the endless sniping, leaking and undermining from his own side?
Without any doubt the Abbott Government would today be popular and we would again be relaxed and comfortable, referring to the Howard Government years 1996 to 2007. There would be lower immigration intake, no RET and subsidies, energy crisis started in South Australia dealt with, no ratifying of the UN IPCC Paris Agreement and much more including the several year budget crisis management plan outlined in the Hockey Budget for 2014/15 would by now have resulted in a stronger position and continuing to improve.
To put the history in perspective, the relentless negativity against Tony Abbott MP commenced during 2009 when the lightweight Opposition Leader who earlier undermined Opposition Leader Dr Brendan Nelson who replaced Prime Minister Howard when he retired at the November 2007 election after being defeated in his own electorate. That lightweight leader could see the writing on the wall and feared that Liberal MPs would draft Abbott to replace him, as they did in 2009. Adding to the shame of this situation the self named Black Hand faction of the Liberal Party recruited the Union Labor founded and funded organisation GetUp to get Abbott. The fools apparently could not understand that disuniy is death in politics and by smearing Opposition Leader Abbott the Coalition was too.
But despite all at the 2010 election Gillard Labor was effectively defeated, despite Labor’s comfortable win to form government in 2007, and they had to form alliances with outsiders to form a new minority government. The relentless negativity against now Prime Minister Abbott continued adding to the perception for many voters of a government in trouble led by a failing leader. And, as Abbott recommended to the media after he lost the leadership in September 2015, that they should not accept background briefing and leaking from people who are not prepared to be named as the source. In other words, the Black Hand disloyal anonymous leakers.
In my opinion the damage that was done via public perception of both sides, the Rudd then Gillard then Rudd infighting for Labor and the Nelson, Turnbull, Abbott then Turnbull turnover damaged both sides badly and continues to do so.
We need leaders in government who will place Australia first.
310
Apologies: In September 2013 the Abbott led Coalition decisively defeated Rudd Labor in a landslide victory ….. The relentless negativity against now Prime Minister Abbott …..
90
An astute summary of what is our current political farce Tdef, the one big problem with having T. Abbott back in is the public perception of him is so poisoned and the MSM attacks would be even more viscous that the next election would see the Labor/Greens win in a landslide, even though rational people would not want or vote for this outcome due to years of cultural Marxism eroding the independence of people the irrational now have the numbers, as a Victorian I have seen and suffered through reelected Labor through the apathy of others.
I believe a political culture of “me first” has infested our system and have no illusions that voting Liberals/Nationals will be much better, this culture must be broken if we as a nation want to reclaim our vast potentials and liberty’s we once had as history tells us freedom is far easier to maintain than achieve.
The only solution to this is people vote the true patriots in and physically become involved in having their voices heard, if the number of disgruntled lounge room experts and keyboard warriors actually got off their asses to petition their local member or hold peaceful public rallies then thing would change very quickly, from experience the number of people that turn up to protest big government issues is pathetic compared to the big government organised side this ratio would completely reverse if again the people that are concerned or affected by big government policy got out and walked.
A year ago I was all set to personally protest the closing of Hazelwood power station as stated on this blog, at the time I was ill and injured but was ready to go through with it out of respect to those that showed support here, due to information and correspondence that I cannot discuss I decided not to go ahead out of concern for others that might have shown public support, if anyone is under any illusion that free speech is not in danger of complete removal think again.
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Yes, the public hatred of Abbott in the media is overwhelming but I would argue that people are smart than that. We are not deplorables. Consider that is true of Trump too. Meetings to impeach. His personal life investigated by the FBI. Even half his own party hate him. Still, his partriotism is undoubted and his approval is soaring and he is fixing the problems, undoing the years of damage.
The people of Australia would overwhelmingly support someone who would open Hazelwood, save Liddell, both built at public expense, not private. If the RET was repealed, the whole fake market for power would vanish, dropping prices and ruining the speculators and opportunists who get the massive new electricity prices. With power at 4c kw/hr wholesale, wind and solar would be exposed to the real situation. The seas would not rise and amazingly the world temperature would be unaffected. Essential CO2 would keep rising steadily and the world would get greener.
Then open coal mines, allow oil and gas exploration again, allow fracking, stop importing diesel, restart manufacturing with cheap power and stop the billions in hidden subsidies to smelters which are now uneconomic. Jobs in the country, not jobs in the bloated public service as in Queensland.
Abbott would be a breath of fresh air. He was brought down by his own team, the deep state and a self indulgent public service activist media, especially the huge ABC/SBS complex. I personally never watch the ABC and SBS is pointless. It costs me more than Foxtel. Make them compete and enforce their charter or sell them. As for the Climate Change CSIRO, what good are they? Billions for nothing. Sell them too. Get real jobs.
But start with Paris, Hazelwood, Liddell, the RET, immigration. Everyone wants what Abbott stands for, Australia first. He is the only one with the strength to fix the socialist mess made by Rudd, Gillard, Turnbull, Weartherill and Andrews. There is no one else and he is a good honest man. In the country which hates cheating and treachery, there would be cheering. Even from Labor moderates and most of Queensland and South Australia.
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It would be a landslide. Everyone knows it and the very left media fear it. Expect the attacks on Abbott to escalate to fever pitch. That would not change the result. Subscriptions to the Australian are soaring. Fairfax is dying. The rank and file Liberal members are crying out for Abbott. Barnaby has learned all about his friend Malcolm.
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You could add Victoria who are utterly fed up with Andrews dictatorship, NSW who cannot believe that Liddell is likely to close and Tasmania who live on a knife’s edge with their power after Hazelwood closed.
Plus the new massive unions like the criminal CFMEU/MUA, violent extortionists who are allowed to flourish and even amalgamate on Malcolm’s watch, destroying shipping and isolating Tasmania, blackmailing cruise companies, closing ports at whim. All under Malcolm’s Liberals.
Abbott’s attempt to fix the mess in the building unions would restart. Malcolm is too busy enjoying being PM to do anything about anything. All talk and uncosted huge Ruddesque schemes.
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I’m not sure about the increase in subs for the Aus – reading the comments, there are a lot of very dubious non-traditional subscribers ‘having their say’ all over the place. We binned our subscription for a couple of weeks, but the old fella couldn’t cope with the only alternatives as his news source, and we are back on again. However, many of the articles make my lip curl and I wonder at the overall agenda.
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Especially Nikki Savva, but the paper has balance, unlike the ABC. Everyone writes for the Australian and I like the different points of view. That’s what opinion pieces should be, lip curling and all.
However the ABC/UnFairfax presents opinion pieces as news and news is written from their point of view, omitting evidence. There is no attempt at balance whatsoever, in contradiction of the charter. If the taxpayer funded news is not impartial, why are we compulsorily paying?
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The scenario of a successful Abbot comeback would be amazing but I’m cynical of the numbers, also consider large groups of voters that have recently arrived here will vote Labor/Greens simply based on increased handouts and a platform to further certain agendas, the clock is ticking for any Australian that has any inkling of what was and what can be they must act now or make the task that much harder in the future to gain any victory over tyranny.
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Its must be an indication of how shallow the talent pool is in Australia that the first thought is to lurch back to a previously tried and rejected leader. Maybe its the green recycling thing. Personally I favour the high temperature incinerator and moving on with something fresh.
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There’s some really good talent in the pool its the selection process that’s become flawed, political participation trophies have become commonplace and allowed competitors to represent us that have never been in competition.
Would you trust a Millennial SJW uni grad that majored in ‘Equality within Diversity of Sustainable Soy Production’ to make legislative decisions that will directly impact your business you built from the ground up? no neither would I but I’m a bigot that discriminates against idiocy……apparently.
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Rejected by whom exactly? The Black Hand snakes, the ABC/SBS conglomerate and their left-leaning media co-conspirators? I don’t recall the people having a lot of direct say in Abbott’s demise. He was rejected by the media before he even started because he represents a threat to the new world order they believe in, however fanciful and dangerous it may be.
I don’t think Dutton’s the answer either. Genuine bloke I’m sure, but he has the demeanour and charisma of an undertaker. There may be some younger talented individuals that we haven’t heard of, but they won’t get a run at the PM job for another 5 or 10 years.
Abbott made a lot of stupid calls 1st time around, although his hand was forced on a number of those, but a couple of years in the wilderness seem to have taught him some lessons. He hasn’t put a foot wrong with his policy statements or his position on the Liberal rank and file having the power to select candidates directly without being overruled by head office via Sinodinos & Co.
To me Abbott’s current biggest flaw is his unwillingness to articulate his position effectively. He makes bland statements which are all perfectly valid then fails to back them up with facts and arguments. I feel like grabbing him by the throat and shaking him to make him argue his position in terms that the great unwashed can relate to in their lives. If he did that he would have Turnbull on the ropes within a week. He ought to do more tweeting direct to the public too, a la Trump. Bypass the antagonistic media and speak directly to the people so we don’t hear some twisted version of what he really said.
We’ll have to wait and see how the new Monash group changes the balance of power over the next few months. If I were Turnbull, I’d be planning my early departure back to G-Sachs or maybe to Keshik Capital to join young Alex and his windmill rorts.
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” I don’t recall the people having a lot of direct say in Abbott’s demise.”
well you wouldnt would you, that snot how our system works, like it or not.
however other countries with the same system seem more likely to move forward with new leadership rather than having the Oz predliction for recycling leaders.
the howls of remorse for unseated leaders seem particularly muted from the masses (maybe with the exception of Whitlam, but we still went along). The media and the political class get wound up, but thats what they do.
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Why is it, that the media in Australia, and in the USA, have adopted a far left socialist perspective, when it comes to the democratic selection of a moderate government leader?
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At Rereke #2.2.1.4, ever watched Don Lemon on CNN? Much of the media has become denominational. It’s actually quite funny and informative. They have arrived at the delusional point where they believe that preaching to the choir changes minds. Bit like a church with a diminishing congregation.
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Agree – Don Lemon is a disgusting left lemon.
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Why is it, Rereke?
It is because that is what they have been trained to do! They are produce of our academies!
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Abbott poison? Possibly. However people can act just like politicians. Self interest. They would vote for anyone who promised them what they want.
First the power prices and availability back to where they were just last year or even the year before. End the RET scheme. Save Hazelwood and Liddell and build more and get the fracking job done. Immigration. Help the South African farmers. We have had enough of people who come here to not work. Abbott would do all that. He could be from Mars and people would vote for him.
Then in the country which was upset over a little piece of sandpaper, there is great anger at the way he was removed from his job. Rudd too. It had never happened in the Coalition. Gillard and Turnbull. Same sense of loyalty, something they both demanded.
Then a thousand things. The high ranges. The out of control unions. African gangs and motorbike gangs. The cost of building anything. The EW link in Victoria. The tram in Sydney. The NDIS, NBN, the whole Rudd, Turnbull, Gillard mess.
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Tony Abbott was ousted because he gave the liars and their lies a free run. He should have kicked s few heads at The Drum, The Conversation and the Fairfax press.
Tony Abbott must still for the good of us all kick a few of those heads, but that wouldn’t be hard to do.
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If TA was ever supposed to be there he will be back I believe.
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Ted
Abbott’s greatest blunder was to put the fox in charge of the hen house. He knew Turnbull was a dangerous enemy, yet still gave the skunk control of his own taxpayer funded cheer squad / demolition squad at the ABC. If Turnbull had to be in cabinet, Abbott should have made him Minister for Turnips or something equally innocuous, and absolutely kept him away from the communications portfolio.
Communications should have been given to a head-kicker as you say, someone who could begin to pull the ABC back into line to the point where it mostly complies with its charter. I suppose the problem was that Abbott needed a whole crew of head-kickers: 1 for communications to fight the ABC (and a subordinate to wrestle with the NBN), 1 to stop the boats, 1 to cut the climate/RET crap, 1 to deal with the potential budget blowout etc. Bringing the hostile public media to heel should have been the top priority however, as events amply demonstrated.
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Taken from Andrew Bolt’s blog yesterday, comment posted by William …
Alan Jones reveals the truth behind Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg
This morning (13 April) Josh Frydenberg thought it would be a good idea to mock and laugh at former Prime Minister Tony Abbott on national television.
From Radio 2GB
Alan Jones has had enough of the Energy Minister’s duplicitous and smarmy behaviour, revealing the truth behind Mr Frydenberg.
“Josh Frydenberg and I have known each other for a long time.
“Josh, you are arguing renewable energy because you wanted a job with Turnbull. You were prepared to suck up to whatever Turnbull said and that got you the big job, Minister for Energy.
“But you sold yourself out to get the job.
“You told me and agreed with me on the front lawn of your house that the global warming stuff was rubbish.
“You told me that on the front lawn of your house, Josh.
“Don’t come with this nonsense now.”
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Yes, that says a great deal about both Frydenberg and Turnbull. No surprises. Australia comes dead last with some politicians and its always been about what Malcolm wants.
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When a multi-millionaire starts throwing millions at something you can be sure that it is personal.
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Yes, and why do you think we always tag along like an annoying little kid brother on the US/UK coat tails big brother?
And when the dirty stuff has to be done, guess who gets to do it?
Its embarrassing. To be blunt- the whole anzac mythology is perpetuated so the US/UK will always have fresh meat to throw into the fire to save their own troops….and while im not popular saying this, deep down people know its true…
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Sorry OS but I cannot agree with you there. I know that there are many dead and damaged military in the UK and the USA. There was a large rehab. place being built at Catterick Camp (Garrison, these days) recently because of the need, to add to other facilities in the UK.
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Cabinet decisions and all that. Just because you are in government you dont get to follow your personal beliefs and preferences.
20
?
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Keith, no point railing about Fryburgers personal beliefs vs what he does in his role as a minister.
The PM and cabinet make decisions, the ministers and the bureaucracy allegedly implement them.
Surely nobody here thinks minsters always 100% believe in what they are implementing, or have free reign to implment their own ideas. Its the same with pretty much every management job on the planet (except when you own the place)
10
As soon as we get someone who is not a globalist stooge in the top job there will begin an onslaught from the luvvie media, the ABC harpies and that certain clique at the Australian. Hell, even to go with a non-banker is risky.
A PM who goes only 90 percent of the way for globalism will be attacked ceaselessly through our stitched up, centralized and corporatized media. Abbott was not much chop, but a few inches of him were owned by the voters of Australia, and that won’t do. The globocrats want to own every inch. The one they install must be Australia-negative, borderless, green and entirely committed to the interests of crony capitalism. No white elephant left behind. Those who remember when one income would support a sizeable family in its own home on a quarter acre will soon be dead. The frogs won’t know they’re boiling.
Think I’m exaggerating? Explain Turnbull, explain Frydenberg, explain Bishop. Bishop. My God.
Bishop….it could happen. Don’t laugh.
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Bishop? The foreign minister who gave our money to the Clinton Foundation and $400 million to the UN for Climate Change? Abbott had to send a minder to Lima, Peru to stop the giveaways. She sent her chief of staff to the plotters’ meetings so she could not be accused of disloyalty.
When Trump was elected she said we would survive him. How diplomatic. Where Abbott shirtfronted Putin, Malcolm and Bishop shirtfronted Trump over their refugee problem on Manus.
No policies, no ideas, a scheming socialite, no one needs Bishop in charge. She might even be worse than Turnbull, desperate to please the UN and that means carbon tax and more windmills.
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TdeF:
Wasting money is now government policy after MT flushed $500 million down the Latrobe Valley drains the other day with the scheme to get hydrogen from brown coal. You can do it, they were doing it in England in 1873 but they didn’t try to separate it out from the other gases, just burnt them.
Still the right keywords were there; clean, green, no emissions, innovative, future export industry (to Japan), jobs for the depressed area, etc. I wonder how many realised that it would generate 11 times as much CO2 as hydrogen? That CO2 will be segragated and stored by some process in an economical safe way that has yet to be found. The hydrogen will be liquified and shipped to Japan where it will be “emissions free” green energy.
A few questions popped up in my mind:
As the process is endothermic, where will the necessary energy come from to drive it through?
How are they going to segregate the hydrogen from the CO2? (That will take extra energy).
And what will they do with the mineral residue from the coal?
And have they any idea how much energy it would take to liquify the hydrogen?
And the cost of the special ships for transport that would be required?
Why did they not use the standard proven industrial process of steam reforming of natural gas? (There is natural gas nearby and only the objections of some dill to be ignored).
Who were the idiots who advised the PM on this?
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It isnt all bad. I am seeing a giant Sodastream refilling plant just outside of Morwell.
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Regarding President Trump and what is going on in the US this background briefing by Dr Corsi is very interesting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=9O8VPOd3Dsw
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Assuming Corsi isn’t talking through his aole the left is playing a dangerous game. He has wide support in the military, starting with the Generals and the Marines are a Praetorian Guard. The vets are generally with him and the bikers will come out in force if they think the President is threatened. None of these are snow flakes.
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Hanrahan:
Even if the MSM and allies can bring down Trump why do they assume that (now V.P.) Pence will be any better for them?
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Pence will not attack the swamp with any vigour. What the US [the world] has now is a fight to the death, a cobra V mongoose type fight.
The left don’t want to merely impeach Trump, they want to destroy him, his business, his family and their businesses. Trump has a list of thousands he wants to destroy. Note the word “destroy” not simply “beat”.
I think we will know soon if Trump or the globalists win. There will be blood and not just figuratively.
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I’m tipping that Pres. Trump will prevail.
He’ll gain seats in the Mid-terms, slaughter the Democrats and then wipe the board with the corrupt FBI and CIA and the corrupt elements with the Republican Party.
He’s a winner. Make no mistake.
The only way they can beat him is to apply the JFK MO.
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Pence would be far worse. He is Mormon, strict, no nonsense, decidedly and strongly conservative, and much of the liberal law-changes made in the last 50 years or so will be chipped away, crushed, and toppled if he gets a hand in – worse, if he takes the POTUS seat. I have no idea why anyone beyond those few who desire a true reversion to the imagined glory of the 40s and 50s, much less the far-left greenies and uber-liberals, would even consider Pence as an alternate to Trump. And I think that is exactly why Trump picked him as Veep. For anyone to the far left of center Pence should be seen as a demon. Heck, I’m smack-on center and I see him as a demon.
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These are the gatekeepers we trust:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=70&v=CpdT79rm1ts
Turn them off. No more botoxed robots programmed to fiddle without our heads and emotions through a bright, flashing screen. Our first duty is to ditch these fiends.
30
CNN at least has the decency to come up with an
excuselie, “Aw shucks, we’ve lost our feed” when they cut off a voice they don’t like.50
I had a rather dissapointing lunch the other day with an old work colleague. As it turns out he is a classic MSM only Kool Aide drinker. He held quite strong left/green views, and happily regurgitated the key phrases of “the narrative”. If you scratched one layer deep it was evident that he had spent no time ever researching any of the topics or questioning anything at all.
This is a relatively intelligent and successful person. I despaired a bit on the way home. I am hoping the general population has a greater level of common sense and BS detection.
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Disgraceful suppression of what was trying to be said. I watched it and was reminded of why I don’t trust or watch these ‘news’ programmes anymore.
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Re: Abbott.
11 October 2017 , Well, climate change is real’: Josh Frydenberg reminds Tony Abbott he signed Paris deal
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/well-climate-change-is-real-josh-frydenberg-reminds-tony-abbott-he-signed-paris-deal-20171011-gyyfx8.html
Tony Abbott still believes in a carbon constrained economy …
Nov 16, 2016, the Bolt Report
TA, @6.45 sec: “The abbott govt was prepared to commit to a 26-28% reduction in emissions.”
AB: “Weren’t you wrong.”
TA: “And, I did that Andrew, because I am convinced that we can do that in ways that don’t damage our economy.”
https://www.whooshkaa.com/episode/?id=89817
There is no-one in the current parliament who will tell the truth.
The conservative party vote is split b/c of Turnbull.
It will take a Bill Shorten/ LaboUr government with 50% + of renewable targets to destroy Australia before anything will happen.
Pity the children’s children.
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SMH
“Mr Abbott delivered a major speech in London on Monday in which he suggested the science of climate change was not settled and that Australia’s decision to sign up to the Paris climate deal was “a compromise based on the advice that we could achieve it largely through efficiencies, without additional environmental imposts”.
The former prime minister has also questioned the value of the Paris deal in recent months and suggested Australia’s commitment to reduce its emissions by 26-28 per cent by 2030 against 2005 levels was only aspirational.”
130
https://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/australia-signs-paris-agreement-on-climate-change
The above is a Prime Minister Turnbull statement.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott was deposed in early September 2015, the Paris Conference was held early in December 2015 and according to the statement at the above link Minister Hunt signed the Paris Agreement during April 2016.
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Here is the attack on the Abbott speech in London.
And please remember the advice we were given by Christopher Monckton warning us to watch PM Abbott’s back …
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/tony-abbott-speech-allies-go-to-ground-and-labor-lashes-loopy-expm-over-climate-change-views-20171010-gyxug8.html
40
I voted for Abbott.
I well remember the erudite Monckton of Brenchley’s warnings.
Sadly, they could not save Abbott from himself.
Let Abbott live his 26-28% carbon reduced lifestyle first, and then he can report back how that went and where improvements can be made.
Even if Abbott now said that we must leave the UN Paris Climate agreement, I wouldn’t trust him to do it.
41
Give Abbott credit. He has a Masters in International Politics from Oxford and degrees in economics and law.
He worked out a way to sign in Paris but not impact Australia, Direct Action. It frustrated the EU/UN terribly. Abbott had to go and Malcolm removed it. It was also a great scheme to introduce young people to the workforce and we are far worse off for its removal.
160
Tertiary qualifications are no gaurantee of competence or ability to apply what you have learned. Its more an indication of perhaps better than median IQ and at least the persistence to stay the course and finish what you started.
Abbott worries me in that , like a good many pollies, he has little experience of the world of work and business survival. His short career outside academia, the seminary and politics gets glossed over in one sentence and is never described.
52
Plus his time as manager of a concrete company, where he fell foul of the unions. And his time as a journalist for the Bulletin, along with Turnbull. Plus being a really active sportsman with a sporting blue in boxing from Oxford, surflifesaver and captain of his CFA fire unit and active athlete. That’s all a bit more than the average basic Union LLB like Shorten.
No, its not just about tertiary qualifications, but how many people commenting here have a Bachelor of Economics? Isn’t that what you would want to run a country? Most PMs could not even do their own tax return and Paul Keating simply didn’t do his at all.
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“No, its not just about tertiary qualifications, but how many people commenting here have a Bachelor of Economics? Isn’t that what you would want to run a country?”
No idea, we seem to have more Engineering types than anything, which is sort of understandable. Not sure what the point of the question is , there dont seem to be many here wanting to run the country. Do I want an Economist running the country? No, I dont hold that discipline in very high regard really.
In the absence of a John Monash type we seem to have been struck with a string of lawyers, who while smart and articulate , can be used for good or evil. And then of course the occasional unicorn like Keating.
20
You’re very hard to please. There are few people who have done as much in one lifetime as Tony Abbott. He does not walk when he can run, ride, swim. He is currently riding a great distance for charity and has spent two weeks of every year actually living with aboriginal communities. Name one other politician who has done that once.
He made a great PM, except in the eyes of the ABC/Fairfax who ridiculed him at every opportunity. Most importantly, he is no fake, no dilletante, not lazy or self indulgent. His record of actually risking his life for others is extraordinary and he has a wife and three daughters. Now tell me who in parliament is even comparable, from Bill Shorten to Derryn Hinch. Too many legends in their own long lunchtime, especially Turnbull.
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Lawyers make terrible politicians. Yet they dominate many parliaments/legislatures. A lawyer friend once told me that lawyers are terrible public representatives because they are trained to present cases rather than make decisions. Judges (and juries) make decisions. So we end up with governments that accomplish very little, but argue endlessly. The ultimate political jury, of course, is the voter. The fact that a majority of voters is genuinely “stupid” is a result of two generations of easy living, and a corrupted (politicized) educational system that was taken over by the left since WWII. It will be very difficult to recreate critical thinking in young people because they are addicted to all “truth” emanating from 4″ X 6″ screens, rather than through parental guidance or experience.
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Very true and, at the very least, some ability to read and write, not necessarily well.
We have employers in NZ who look for graduate students and, before any is hired, they test them. The degree(s) are not seen as any guarantee of ability to think …
30
TdeF said at 7.1.1.1.1:
NO! NOT THAT! ARGH.
A modern economix degree (economix rhymes with comix) should be treated as a warning of a dangerous mis-educated incompetent who should never be allowed near the levers of power, just like the Green Party leaders of both Australia [Richard Di Natale] and NZ [James “Cat6” Shaw]
Try reading this tract from Prof Mason Gaffney [pdf]. It explains why in detail. I found this explained a lot about how and why so-called economists stuff up all the time, not just some of the time.
20
There seems to be a real dislike of economics degrees. Thanks to small class sizes and high demand, they are harder to get into from school than Medicine!
The business of economics is quite complex and absolutely necessary if you are going to set a budget and steer the country. That does not mean that some economics graduates are not completely wrong all the time and economics is not science. Take Weatherill, please. However that can be true of every degree, from medicine to engineering. Aptitude cannot be measured by an entrance exam. I found it unbelievable that Weatherill was so profligate in South Australia and at university he dated Penny Wong. How Wong can you be?
50
“There are few people who have done as much in one lifetime as Tony Abbott”
Really? I am not sure if I am hard to please or you are easily impressed. Thinking about the number of people that have changed Australia and the world, Mr Abbott does not leap to the front of my mind. He became PM which is notable (but then so did Billy McMahon). What became of that opportunity?
10
Abbott’s direct action was clever, diplomatic. More trees. Not taxes. Green the country, employ the unemployed. Pay lip service to Paris and we were on target anyway.
So Abbott’s Direct Action was one of the first things to go when Malcolm stole the job. Paris was never about carbon dioxide. It was about Carbon taxes. Turnbull introduced his own carbon tax and openly wants to buy carbon credits. He blames Abbott for Paris, but Abbott was gaming them. Tunrnbull is ripping us off and looking after his banker friends who sell carbon credits, for a nice margin.
170
Howard’s version of direct action, common sense approach and practical without damaging the economy, resulted in Australia after signing the Kyoto Agreement (did not ratify it) meeting or exceeding all of the “greenhouse gas emissions” targets whereas most member nations failed to meet their targets.
40
At the expense of us poor bastards that got screwed with tree clearing in Qld.
Thanks for that.
60
http://www.environment.gov.au/climate-change/review-climate-change-policies/discussion-paper-2017
20
“..26 28% reduction…” I suspect T A was trying to keep half his cabinet from chucking him out. Doug
40
This is Malcolm’s spin against Tony. It is also not true. As below, Tony had worked out how to game the Paris accord. Now they pretend he is responsible for what they have done since.
150
Abbott or Twistcow, and their UN carbon constrained economies, good luck to the LNP elites with that.
30
Some here might enjoy doing the linked survey to give an alternate view to what is expected:
https://www.solarcitizens.org.au/survey_2018?utm_campaign=2018_supporter_survey&utm_medium=email&utm_source=solarcitizens
It can be difficult to find an answer that fits a different perspective to those setting the questions but some questions have the option of other. Irrespective it gives insights into the broad lack of understanding of the serious economic damage grid connected intermittents are causing and is worthy of scanning through it for that reason.
30
What a stupid survey, all it will tell is what a small group of like minded people think. It was really a fund raising exercise. 🙁
30
I saw it more as a recruiting exercise: those presently with Solar installed make a little money from it. If more people joined in with this little rort, they could bring more pressure to bear to turn it into an even bigger rort.
It’s about Subsidy farming. Need more farmers.
More members = more political muscle = more pressure for more money.
20
I completed the survey. They only wanted one answer didnt they?
60
Did you leave your name? They wanted that, too.
10
Sure did, happy to chat with them. Not expecting a call though based on my inputs.
I am a happy user of solar , it has its niche I think. I dont think other people should pay for my choice, and I dont think its anything more than a complementary technogy to real power and should be controlled tightly like all renewables.
If you have the money, knowledge and enthusiasm there no reason why you cant do the whole off grid thing if that floats your boat.
50
getting tight http://balance10.blogspot.com/2018/04/flashpoint-nears-rapidly.html
20
see https://medium.com/@SpencerPMorrison/there-are-2-6-million-ukrainian-refugees-humanitarian-superpower-germany-accepted-150-of-them-a8b5670a0bfe
10
The truth behind the Paris accord is that no one actually wants to reduce the CO2 levels. At $1.5Trillion a year to reduce CO2 growth and 350,000 giant windmills, CO2 levels are growing happily. How can you reduce CO2 drive Global Warming if we cannot stop CO2 growth? Nothing touches it, which should give some sort of clue that we are not cause.
Most importantly, the EU/UN/Bankers do NOT want to actually reduce CO2 emissions. God forbid. They want to be paid for them.
This was clear when Turnbull axed Abbott’s clever Direct Action. Paris is about emitting and taxing, carbon indulgences for your sins. Burn coal and pay someone else for your sins. That’s how the RET scheme works. Almost all of Australia’s power is from coal, but we have to hand over $6Billion a year to burn our own coal in our own power stations.
That is why Abbott had to go, along with his cunning Direct Action scheme. Malcolm is increasingly anxious to get the carbon indulgences going, his emissions trading schemes. Is it about saving the planet? No, but it never was.
The very idea that Australia could lower world CO2 levels on our own is absurd, economic hair shirts for everyone. Bring out your dead and flagellation, the image of the Middle Ages ignorance.
160
Also known as ‘The Science’.
50
Economic Systems: The alarmists keep telling us their concern about global warming is all about man’s stewardship of the environment. But we know that’s not true. A United Nations official has now confirmed this.
At a news conference last week in Brussels, Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of U.N.’s Framework Convention on Climate Change, admitted that the goal of environmental activists is not to save the world from ecological calamity but to destroy capitalism.
“This is the first time in the history of mankind that we are setting ourselves the task of intentionally, within a defined period of time, to change the economic development model that has been reigning for at least 150 years, since the Industrial Revolution,” she said.
Referring to a new international treaty environmentalists hope will be adopted at the Paris climate change conference later this year, she added: “This is probably the most difficult task we have ever given ourselves, which is to intentionally transform the economic development model for the first time in human history.”
The only economic model in the last 150 years that has ever worked at all is capitalism. The evidence is prima facie: From a feudal order that lasted a thousand years, produced zero growth and kept workdays long and lifespans short, the countries that have embraced free-market capitalism have enjoyed a system in which output has increased 70-fold, work days have been halved and lifespans doubled.
Figueres is perhaps the perfect person for the job of transforming “the economic development model” because she’s really never seen it work. “If you look at Ms. Figueres’ Wikipedia page,” notes Cato economist Dan Mitchell: Making the world look at their right hand while they choke developed economies with their left.
30
Morning Mail
Grabbing what you can on the way out the door?
Just like stand up comedy, timing is everything! And so it goes for dud prime ministers on the nose. This comfy little deal exposed by The Daily Telegraph, while probably quite legal is nonetheless rather bad timing—not a good look. Mr Turnbull is certainly a good family man as we are learning. Such shepherding of family members could be seen by some as nest-feathering as the writing is on the wall. We all should have dads like Malcolm. Who said something about conflict of interest? Nah! Prime ministers don’t have inside information, Turnbull has proven that time after time.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has a $1 million personal stake in a highly contentious Sydney investment fund that boasts about profiting from the demise of big Aussie companies.The Daily Telegraph can reveal Bronte Capital has bucked market conditions to return handsome profits to investors — such as Mr Turnbull — by betting on share price falls of certain Australian mining companies and retailers.
Source: News Corp
50
And there is more …
https://stopthesethings.com/2017/03/13/born-lucky-stars-align-perfectly-for-pms-son-with-mammoth-bet-on-wind-power-outfit-infigen/
20
That’s why I look up their background. Figures is an anthropologist and one of her family buried inside the UN. Her father started the current Cost Rica Republic as first President. Her brother was also a President. Their home is the UN. Who needs to live in impoverished Costa Rica? It is not about the climate or CO2, but about other people’s money. Costa Rica is still a third world country where the poor still outnumber the middle class and rich. New York is much nicer.
50
As President Trump observed about UN based officials: people having a good time on other people’s money.
60
I like it.
30
others have mentioned it above…here’s the story:
13 Apr: CBS Minnesota: Brace Yourself For A Memorable Spring Snow Event
By Matt Brickman
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The largest April snow event in Minnesota’s recorded history brought 13.6 inches. That was on April 14, 1983.
This year, April 14 could bring an event that eclipses that one, at least in the southwestern portion of the state.
WCCO meteorologist Molly Rosenblatt says that area is likely to see 16 to 24 inches of snow by Saturday night. The situation in the Twin Cities isn’t necessarily much better, with anywhere from 8 to 12 inches likely.
That same storm already turned to snow in South Dakota. The strong wind and falling flakes created tough travel and even highway closures in Rapid City. More “no travel” advisories are expected before the storm is finished…
High temperatures should stay in the low 30s over the weekend, during a time of year when upper 50s are normal, and after the storm passes through, highs for next week still look to hover in the mid 40s…
The phrase “Third Winter” has been tossed about a lot, lately. It may be time to start considering the phrase “Fourth Winter.”
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2018/04/13/april-snow-storm-prediction/
50
A windy weekend across SE Australia, with wind supplying all of SA’s demand of 1084 MW on Saturday morning. But 370 MW of gas is required to maintain system stability, so 370 MW is being sent to Vic. And that big SA battery is switching in and out 30 MW presumably to help with frequency control. Vic has 935 MW of its own wind (about 25% of total demand) and 930 MW is being sent to NSW. The Tas interconnector is still unavailable so Tas must rely on its hydro and 165 MW of wind.
Prices in SA/Vic have been around $10/MWhr overnight. As solar kicks in from 10am-4pm today, SA price is forecast to be minus $1000/MWhr as demand on the network drops back to 800 MW.
Overall, wind is currently supplying about 3,500 MW of total AEMO area demand of 22-26,000 MW, but earlier in the week it was providing 600-1800 MW.
Despite the multitude of government bodies involved in managing the renewables 2020 targets, I was unable to find out how many more wind and solar generators are “in the pipeline”. Overall, “renewables” under the government’s legislation are mandated to increase from the current 26,000 GWhr to 33,000 GWhr by 2020.
As well as the large scale RET, there is also a scheme for small scale renewable energy that is often ignored (roof top solar, solar water heaters, heat pumps). Small-scale technology certificates are provided ‘up front’ for the systems’ expected power generation over a 15 year period or, from 2017, from the installation year until 2030 when the scheme ends. Electricity retailers) are required to surrender approximately 29.3 million small-scale technology certificates (STCs) to meet their Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) obligations for 2018. I estimate that equals about 2,000 GWhr of production each year.
90
Our Solar System Is Entering A Potentially Dangerous Interstellar Energy Cloud
https://principia-scientific.org/our-solar-system-is-entering-a-potentially-dangerous-interstellar-energy-cloud/
72
The prognostications of astrophysicists have always been a bit doubtful. This one seems to go the Full Monty.
50
More likely than SciFi and a lot of interesting links. Thanks Peter C.
40
Hang on. The scientific articles say we are leaving the cloud but the scare story says we are going into the cloud. Slight Ooops.
20
I wonder if this will link up with the solar storm from our suns orifices that made the news of late? I might wrap the toaster in Alfoil, but then I need my limited Alfoil supplies for my helmet.
60
Kim Hill’s interview – more like an inquisition – with Prof. Paul Kench, “head of the School of Environment at Auckland University’s Faculty of Science. He’s a coastal geomorphologist with an international research programme focusing on understanding the physical dynamics of islands in coral reef environments including those in the Maldives, Fiji, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Marshall Islands and Great Barrier Reef.” Audio available at –
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018640643/professor-paul-kench-when-breibart-news-comes-calling
Breitbart? What the? The knives were out before the ‘chat’ even began. In the previous hour, Ms Hill gave Gonzo Muppeteer, Dave Goelz, a full 55 minutes of air-time (hey, I love The Muppets too) while Paul Kench was given a measly 22 minutes to explain ‘the biggest threat to mankind’ as Obama once read from a prepared script.
In her usual ‘style’, Kim Hill attacked, attempting to corner her guest, with the usual resort to authority, gasps of exasperation, climaxing with the standard throwaway “climate d•nier” nonsense. Being the experienced interviewer she is, she managed to frame her last question to get Paul Kench to reply that, yes, climate change is real. Well, d’uh! Somehow, the terms ‘man-made’ and ‘anthropogenic’ never saw the light of day.
Here is the brief email I sent to saturday (at) radionz.co.nz –
KIm,
Earth’s climates (plural) constantly alternate, ie. change, within the
ice age / warm interglacial / frigid ice age cycle – desert to lush
forest back to desert; seabed to mountain-top to seabed again – so
when the term “climate d•nier” is bandied about by believers [ha!], it
only highlights said followers’ lack of comprehension of vast
geological timescales… and our miniscule time (blip!) here on Earth.
Enjoy the cool change,
Greg
Am looking forward to a thorough peer review of my one-sentence reply (above) by Jo’s numerous, learned, well-informed, erudite, cultured, scholarly readers 😉
P.S. I see the Bureau has issued “BLIZZARD” warnings for your Snowy Mountains tonight through till Sunday: wonder who the d•nier was that named those glistening white, frosty hills…
80
Oops, dang! Spotted my own typo in the Chief Inquisitor’s name in the email: “KIm” should be Kim. Meh, a minor glitch in the system – I blame it on carbon pollution which keeps running away… with the cat ass trophy… woosh! There it goes…
30
KLM ‘Kim’s life matters’ you insensitive denier! 🙂
50
Yonniestone, that’s “Kim’s Life Matters!” please – she’s more of a grammar-freak than I am. Much appreciate your pal review, the first one of many, I’m sure. Your cheque is already in the mail…
20
Even today, right at this moment, on the correct tides, you can go to Kurnell and step foot on the same rock sticking out of the beach/water a few inches that Captain James Cook stepped upon in 1770 …
https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/historic-buildings-places/captain-cooks-landing-place
90
We know that because he took photos. Polaroids, they didnt have digital way back then.
51
not happy with Trump announcement of military strikes on Syria, but MSM are almost entirely for an attack – which will help whom? the jihadi forces Trump claimed to have defeated? sad.
only leftist Mirror has picked up this story in UK re Sky News. Mirror being allegedly anti-Murdoch, of course. yet the writer never mentions the name Sky (but it appears on the video and photos). Mirror happy to provide the lame excuse for cutting off General Shaw:
13 Apr: UK Mirror: TV news interview with former army officer cut short as he questions whether Syria launched chemical attack
People have asked whether Major General Jonathan Shaw was censored for questioning the idea that Assad launched the attack. Here’s what happened
by Mikey Smith
Viewers were left baffled when Major General Jonathan Shaw, a former assistant chief of Defence staff, was stopped mid-answer, as he was questioning why the Assad regime would launch such an attack.
The interview followed a press conference with Russian Ambassador Alexander Yakovenko, which had run longer than expected.
General Shaw said: “The debate that seems to be missing from this is – and this was actually mentioned by the ambassador – was what possible motive would have triggered Syria to launch a chemical attack at this time in this place?
“You know, the Syrians are winning. Don’t take my word for it. Take the American military’s word. General Vergel, the head of Centcom [sic – The commander of Centcom is General Joseph L. Votel] – he said to congress the other day, Assad has won this war, and we need to face that.
“Then you’ve got last week the statement by Trump – or tweet by Trump – that America has finished with ISIL and we were going to pull out soon, very soon.
“And then suddenly…”
But General Shaw was cut off by the host, who apologised for having kept him waiting, but said they had run out of time.
Many viewers saw the awkwardly cut short interview as a sign General Shaw was being censored for questioning the idea that the Assad regime launched the attack.
***But the Mirror understands the interview was cut short because of an unfortunate scheduling clash, and the overrunning of the press conference.
The channel had a ‘hard’ ad break scheduled for 2.27pm – after which they were due to show a half-hour segment with host Dermot Murnaghan interviewing Russia’s foreign affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/tv-news-interview-former-army-12358938
70
Maria Zakharova? Wasn’t she the cute, grunty, Russian tennis player? Cereally though (or is it surreally?) the dogs of war unleash their hounds on Friday the 13th: when I lived in the States of Amnesia I used to love freaking-out the locals by telling them it was already tomorrow in New Zealand and Australia… not many folk could figure it out. Anyway, chaps and chapettes, as they used to say in the War To End All Wars: best of luck and have a jolly good war – tallyho!
50
Doesn’t anyone find it odd that proof of the chemical attacks has not been disclosed? At this stage we are trusting the US and its allies are telling the truth about who performed the chemical attacks, namely Syria. I wouldn’t trust any of the leaders as far as I can throw them. That includes the leaders of ALL nations on ALL sides. Yes Syria might have done it but I need verifiable evidence that has been tested in a court of law to believe it. Trump might believe it on first sight but perhaps he is being fed fake evidence and news by the military. It’s not the first time that has happened. Has everyone already forgotten the Iraq war during Bush’s time over those alleged WMDs? If this is the way the world is to handle such situations from now on (shoot first then ask questions later) then a world war is inevitable once the chess pieces are in their appropriate positions (not there yet).
50
We’re currently discussing this here
https://cliscep.com/2018/04/10/brandon-shollenberger-to-steve-mcintyre/
with special reference to interesting tweets from Steve McIntyre
10
Indeed! but only political BS. Nary a word on Climate climate scam or the complete lack of scientific method. Where is anything other than religious\political opinion?
All the best!-will-
21
can’t recall seeing this posted here. Fairfax finds a reason to approve of CHEAP COAL?
10 Apr: TheAge: Blockchain to get ‘behind the grid’ in landmark Australian deal
By Cole Latimer
An Australian first energy and blockchain deal could help make the NSW Hunter Valley the next Silicon Valley.
IOT Group has signed an agreement with Hunter Energy to build a blockchain centre inside the Redbank coal-fired power station to provide cheap electricity for blockchain applications.
The deal, the first of its kind in Australia, would put the centre ‘behind the grid’, giving it direct access to wholesale electricity prices to avoid additional costs from the retailer, transmission, and being connected to poles and wires.
It is understood the proposed two-hectare development could cut energy prices by up to 20 per cent.
“The average consumer pays around 28 cents per kilowatt-hour, with what IOT are doing its pre-grid [price] is 8 cents and will be 5 cents at night time,” IOT said in a company statement…
Blockchain technology creates a transparent and auditable record of transactions and data movement…
Blockchain technology is also used by oil and resources companies to streamline their commodity trading processes.
“This deal has opened the door to these kinds of businesses,” Mr Neylon said.
“Blockchain processes used a lot of computing power and energy,” IOT Group executive director Sean Neylon told Fairfax Media.
The energy demand of the bitcoin network alone is believed to be equivalent to the entire electricity demand of Denmark, around 32 terawatt-hours annually, or about 16 per cent of Australia’s total electricity consumption last financial year.
“The reasons why blockchain specialists are not in Australia is because power costs are too high, it’s not efficient. Power at wholesale cost would make blockchain related operations attractive in Australia,” Mr Neylon said.
Mr Neylon said this could support the development of a new industry in the Hunter Valley and help create a tech-focussed hub just two hours north of Sydney.
“With these current prices, by having a blockchain application centre behind the grid offers cheaper power. It offers the potential to create a new Silicon Valley in Australia,” he said.
“We’re offering services so clients can build data centres where they can get cheaper power.”
Hunter Energy plans to restart the generator around the first quarter of next year.
“NSW needs more baseload right now,” Mr Myatt told Fairfax Media.
It is understood the blockchain centre could consume between 10 and 20 megawatts of electricity.
Hunter Energy is also investigating the potential of expanding Redbank beyond coal.
“We’re exploring battery and solar on the site as well as part of the transitional energy change,” he said.
Mr Myatt also cofounded Australian Power & Gas – which was bought by AGL for $480 million – and digitally focused electricity retailer Mojo Power.
https://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/blockchain-to-get-behind-the-grid-in-landmark-australian-deal-20180409-p4z8j3.html
SAME WRITER, COLE LATIMER:
Sydney light rail builder chosen to build $500m Queensland solar farm by Cole Latimer
Acciona Energy has won a contract to build a $500m solar farm in Queensland as it takes the NSW government to court over the Sydney light rail project.
Age – 20h ago
Clustering solar and wind farms considered to cut costs by Cole Latimer
The Australian Energy Market Commission has begun investigating the creation of renewable energy zones in order to bring more green power into the grid.
Age – 12 Apr 2017
20
What an incredible amount of waffle. How many times can you mention blockchain? even when it’s totally irrelevant.
So, they want to co-locate a Data Centre with a power source? sounds sensible. However a truly forward looking organisation would not co-locate with a coal fired plant. Why not just cut the chase and co-locate with a wind/solar/battery installation and cut out coal completly? Surely on this basis South Australia is the natural Data Centre capital of Australia if not the world.
20
This is not the first time Syria or its proxies have used chemical weapons.
The usual is drain cleaner liquid bleach, this time, though,there was probably a neurotoxin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=RfIgjXlX6Jg Prime Minister May’s statement, does not say this, but points out that whoever and wherever poisonings occur, there will be a Western retaliation.
It is interesting that the ‘package is delivered’ intercept, referring to the UK poisoning, by 5 eyes was sent through the Mediterranean to Russia.
Perhaps the Syrians are making this organic phosphorus or something similar, as well.
The targeted area was presumably a manufacturing site for the neuro toxin.
The Russians made sure there were no independant forensics done on the site of gas attack. Note the Russians did not try to shoot down the incoming missiles, probably because they could not shoot them all down, demonstrating their own weakness.
Not a good look in a game of bluff.
Syria uses gas when it is locally exhausted and the rebels are winning, or they are dug in and can’t be reached by barrel bombs and incoming shell fire or aerial bombs.
This atrocity was the latter case.
11
12 Apr: Reuters: In boost for farmers, Trump says he may allow E15 gasoline sales all year
by Jeff Mason; Additional reporting by Chris Prentice, Jarrett Renshaw and Jessica Resnick-Ault in New York; Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Matthew Lewis
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday his administration may allow the sale of gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol year-round, which could help farmers by firing up corn demand but faces opposition from Big Oil…
The Environmental Protection Agency currently bans the higher ethanol blend, called E15, during summer because of concerns it contributes to smog on hot days – a worry biofuels advocates say is unfounded…
Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, said the proposed shift to year-round E15 sales would be “very exciting news.”
“It would be a great morale boost for rural America, and more importantly a real demand boost if it can be moved forward quickly,” he said in an interview…
Under the RFS, the EPA sets the volume of ethanol and other biofuels that must be mixed into the nation’s fuel supply on a yearly basis – and a move to expand E15 sales could encourage the EPA to set those volumes higher in coming years.
Currently, refiners are required to blend around 15 billion gallons of ethanol into the nation’s fuel annually.
Shares of major biofuels producers rose slightly after the announcement…
It was unclear, however, whether the move would help the refining sector – which has been lobbying hard instead for a cap on the price of blending credits that refiners must acquire to prove compliance with the RFS.
Greater blending of ethanol through year-round E15 sales would theoretically increase supplies of the tradable credits, and thus reduce prices. But at the same time, more ethanol translates to a smaller share of petroleum-based fuel in American gas tanks, which would hurt refiner sales.
The American Petroleum Institute, which represents big oil companies, issued a statement opposing Trump’s proposal to expand E15 sales, arguing that high-ethanol fuel can damage engines and is incompatible with certain boats, motorcycles and lawn mowers…
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biofuels/in-boost-for-farmers-trump-says-he-may-allow-e15-gasoline-sales-all-year-idUKKBN1HI3EU
30
13 Apr: BusinessGreen: Biofuels industry gets boost with introduction of new targets
by Madeleine Cuff
Legislation confirming changes to the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation will see use of biofuels double by 2030
New targets for boosting the volume of biofuels used in the UK each year will come into force on Sunday, in a legislative move the government hopes will cut the carbon impact of road and air freight.
Changes to the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) will increase the UK’s renewable fuels target from 4.75 per cent to 9.75 per cent in 2020, before rising again to 12.4 per cent by 2032…
“The changes we are introducing will double our carbon emissions savings from the Renewable Fuels Transport Obligation scheme by doubling the use of renewable fuels and reducing reliance on imported fossil diesel,” he added. “This will deliver emissions savings equal to taking hundreds of thousands of cars off the road.”
The government said the new rules will ensure large transport companies such as hauliers and airlines do more to abate the environmental impacts of their operations…
It is also moving away from crop-based biofuels in favour of encouraging waste-based renewable fuels, such as those made from old chip fat. Waste-based fuels promise to deliver a much higher carbon benefit than crop-based versions, because they do not run the risk of driving negative land use changes. But farmers and biofuels producers have given the standards a cautious welcome, amidst concerns the sector will struggle to produce enough waste-based fuel to maintain market share.
Nevertheless, trade body the Renewable Energy Association, declared it an “exciting time for renewable transport”.
“These new regulations will fire the starting gun on the UK’s development of novel fuels for aviation and other forms of transport which are hard to decarbonise, and build on our leadership position in the production of renewable fuels for road transport,” CEO Nina Skorupska said.
https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/3030116/biofuels-industry-gets-boost-with-introduction-of-new-targets
20
Turbo equipped cars love ethanol if tuned appropriately. In Australia the E85 option is very popular amongst the emerging generation of petrol heads (ethanol heads?) whose cars are likely to feature turbo(s) and computer style sophistimaction.
E10 is for people who think they are saving money and dont realise their consumption goes up. Or in some locations dont really have much choice in regard to basic fuel.
10
11 Apr: BloomberNewEnergyFinance (BNEF): Giant Moroccan Solar Park Takes Top Spot in Subdued First Quarter
The latest quarterly figures from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) show global clean energy investment at $61.1 billion in 1Q 2018, down 10% on the same period a year earlier.
The quarter to the end of March saw solar investment slip 19% to $37.4 billion, affected both by weaker activity in some markets and by lower unit prices for photovoltaic systems. BNEF estimates that benchmark global dollar capital costs per MW for utility-scale solar PV have fallen 7% in the last year.
Jenny Chase, head of solar for BNEF, said: “We expect the world to install even more solar this year than last year’s record of 98GW. Two of the main drivers are the ongoing boom in China for both utility-scale and smaller, local PV systems, and the financing of very large solar parks in other developing countries as cost-competitiveness continues to improve.”
The biggest solar project reaching financial close in the early months of 2018 was the 800MW Noor Midelt portfolio in Morocco, made up of a mix of PV panels and solar thermal systems with storage. Development banks including KfW of Germany and the European Investment Bank have agreed to fund the complex, which is likely to cost around $2.4 billion.
The largest conventional PV installations financed in 1Q were the 709MW NLC Tangedco portfolio in India, at an estimated $660 million, and the 404MW Acciona and Tuto Puerto Libertad project in Mexico, at $493 million.
Wind investment showed a rise of 10% in the first quarter to $18.9 billion, while biomass and waste-to-energy declined 29% to $679 million, geothermal rose 39% to $1 billion and small hydro-electric projects of less than 50MW attracted $538 million, down 32%. Companies specializing in energy-smart technologies such as smart meters, energy storage and electric vehicles attracted $2 billion, down 8%. Biofuels staged a recovery, with investment up 519% year-on-year to $748 million, thanks to the financing of two U.S. ethanol plants.
Looking at the geographical split, China dominated yet again, investing $26 billion in clean energy in 1Q, although this was down 27% from a hectic first quarter last year. The U.S. saw investment of $10.7 billion, up 16%, while Europe suffered a 17% decline to $6 billion, reflecting an absence of German or U.K. offshore wind deals. India saw investment rise 9% year-on-year to $3.6 billion, while Japanese outlays fell 54% to $1.4 billion.
Country highlights included Vietnam, where the financing of wind projects helped its 1Q investment tally to $1.1 billion, a quarterly record, and Mexico, where continuing activity in both solar and wind pushed up its total by 3% year-on-year to $1.3 billion. The financial close on a 91MW geothermal project in Indonesia helped that country’s tally to $757 million in 1Q 2018.
Abraham Louw, clean energy investment analyst at BNEF, commented: “The global first quarter figures are the lowest for any quarter since 3Q 2016, but it’s too early to predict a fall in annual investment this year…READ ON
https://about.bnef.com/blog/giant-moroccan-solar-park-takes-top-spot-in-subdued-first-quarter/
20
If they can’t con us into doing away with coal they will tax it out of existence , if they go ahead with this proposal I can’t see Australian producers being able to match the price of overseas coal effectively bankrupting the industry .
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-14/coal-industry-in-transition/9644812
30
Trump sends in the missiles.
Sadly I think he has been conned.
60
I think we’ve all been conned.
80
No one wants to ‘side with’ Syria or Russia but is there enough
evidence of who did what to rush into retaliation and risk WW3?
60
Relax beth its a one-off strike to test weapons and intelligence, WW3 is not in the picture.
A calculated limited response to poke Putin in the eye with a burnt stick and encourage them to stop using chemical weapons.
50
Russia was worried about the 3,000 tons of Sarin gas which was made by Saddam and fled the country. They finally convinced everyone to act and Assad allowed them to be destroyed on factory ships in the meditteranean.
However the situation in Syria is that there are many wars going on. Religious, economic, land, political. If Assad blatantly used this poison, he is no friend of Russia. Russia too accused of poison in attempting to murder an ex spy in England.
However all this may be fake, people trying to bring down the system. Generals out of control on both sides, trying to provoke. Putin’s control may be less than perfect and Assad’s. In particular this use by Assad of chemical weapons which were not supposed to exist is a direct challenge to Russia as much as the UK, France and the US. So why did he do it? It is generally accepted that Assad has won, with Russian help. Why did he risk it? Why now? For a small number of lives?
No, there is much more to this poisoning than meets the eye, especially after the attempt in the UK. Besides if the poison is so instantly deadly, how are father and daughter alive?
Someone is trying to pit Russia against America, the UK and France. Someone wants war. It’s not Putin or Assad. That makes no sense.
130
Also remember this is the land of the suicide bomber. There are people in this region who really want Armageddon. WWIII is unthinkable, except in some religions.
70
I don’t believe Assad would risk everything to bring down condemnation on himself as a monster. Someone who can authorize barrel bombs would not bother. Someone had some nerve gas and used it to create this situation. If Assad had the gas and the delivery system, he could have wiped out a suburb. No this is as contrived as the UK poisoning. Yes, around 80 people died horribly, but why? This doesn’t add up.
70
T, I doubt anyone died when it’s easier just to stage an event. Not that the fundamentalist mates of John McCain would baulk at anything. The White Helmets are, of course, the very monsters we are supposed to be in the Middle East to fight. We are handing the secularists, nationalists, Christians, Alawites and Yazidis over to the groups I can’t even name without being moderated. While millions starve and thousands die in Yemen at the hand of the fundamentalist kleptocrat Saudis…and the groups I can’t name without being moderated. Of course Iran and Hezbollah are present. How could they not be? And what a great final pretext that makes for unending warfare and further invasions.
At least when Australia declared war on Finland in support support of Stalin there were some valid pretexts. This is just pure shame.
60
The white hats are bad actors and I mean in the Hollywood sense as well as the Trump sense. Anything they provide is guaranteed BS. Has a death toll been confirmed or are we just believing what we are told?
The only thing I know is that we are constantly lied to. Abbott was right, there are no good guys. What he didn’t say is that the worst are in Washington.
40
The Deep State has it in fir Trump i fear. Convincing him to bomb syria is tantamount to poking Putin in the eye with a sharp stick. The russians i suspect have military tech that will waste most of the US military , which is why the russians have told the US not to provoke them into a hot war. The russians had Sunburn missles in the 1990s which could take out any US ship, the Iranians no doubt now have them. The russians dudded a US destroyer electronically in the black sea recently, The US /UK would be beyond dumb to keep poking the russian bear….and we havent even talked Scalar tech yet …
50
There is this story going around that it was Britain under Blair who first sent in agent provocateurs to organise upheaval in Syria to unseat Assad, they have created a right mess.
50
Reports are coming through of a Russian backed attack on a US base in Syria earlier in the year ,the attackers were well armed with heavy weapons ,after a courtesy phone call the Russians insisted it was not them so the US forces obliterated the attackers and according to reports killed more than 200 Russian soldiers .
Russia have repeated their stance it wasn’t their soldiers but may have been patriots from Russia .
Either way a lesson was learnt that it’s not a good idea to attack US forces no matter who you are .
70
Absolutely.
The other reason for the attack by Pres. Trump (in conjunction with France and UK) is, no doubt, to contrast the cowardly inaction of his predecessor whose red lines meant nothing; who inaction made America the laughing stock of the world’s dictators.
Trump has fixed that in one stroke.
70
Yeah but chest thumping neans nothing unless it can be backed up with force
20
OriginalSteve,
Mate. He’s just backed it up with force. He’s destroyed their illegal gas production facilities. The USA and the others knew where they were located. They’re not dills.
If the dictators of the world don’t get the message that things have changed; that the USA has finally grown a spine, then the dictators of the world have more lessons coming their way. They are the dills; along with their lefty/anarchist comrades. Some of whom even infest this site.
50
The liberal democracies of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Dubai, Azerbaijan etc are grateful to be protected from these dictators. Their wahabi and M Brotherhood allies will be most appreciative. No fundamentalist left behind!
Let’s hope the White Helmets still have their chemical and film production facilities. Of course they’ll be fine. We all know how accurate those Tomahawks are. Why, you only have to watch CNN if you are a leftoid, or Sky News if you’re not, to know what a surgical strike this was.
40
Could have been agents-provocateur wearing Russian uniforms … someone wanting to start WWIII
Russia may be heavily committed on the Ukraine border if there is any truth in this report … Propaganda is propaganda and this site seems to have a few credibility problems.
20
Makes no sense? Does anything going on in the middle east make sense? Making sense implies that it is rational and in the actual best interests of all involved. Where is such rationality to be found? I see it as in very short supply with few very isolated examples existing.
40
Lionel,
Perhaps you need to rethink rational.
For a Greenie it is rational to stop mining coal and to undermine the free-market capitalist system.
For a Communist it is rational to slaughter those who disagree with you.
For a Fascist it is rational to slaughter those who disagree with you.
For a follower of the Prophet it is rational to slaughter infidels by whatever means available.
All ideologies have their own rationality for those who are committed to them. That’s the problem.
What we are looking at here is not about rationality. It’s about morality. It’s about freedom. It’s about democracy.
50
As many questions as there are, the evidence is pointing to Russian manufacture of the nerve agent.
https://www.rferl.org/a/poison-victim-yulia-skripal-turns-down-russian-help-as-she-recovers/29159797.html
“The global chemical-weapons watchdog has confirmed Britain’s analysis of the type of toxic chemical used in the poisoning of a former Russian double agent and his daughter.
In a summary of its findings made public on April 12, The Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said that its investigators agreed with the British findings.”
This does not mean Putin was aware of the attack. It also does not mean, aware or not, he isn’t supporting those who made the attack. He could have a few rogue lab techs, or higher-ups, or he could have a plan where a general and a few scientists sent to a posh prison – a nice dacha with guards and all the conveniences of normal life. It could be 50 years or more before anyone knows what really happened and who ordered/authorized/planned it.
10
“Relax beth its a one-off strike to test weapons and intelligence,”
The weapons are probably carbon neutral and did not leave any collateralised carbon footprints behind whatsoever. And probably that is also why when alleged poison gas repositories were hit in some geographical locations in the country called Syria, nobody was harmed and perhaps it was even pleasant and left the scent of roses, roses….. as the poison gas was converted right there and then into harmless, perfectly breathable oxygen by the new hi-tec carbon neutral missiles. According to the latest intelligence…..well at least this theory seems more intelligent than what has been communicated lately here and there..
50
Let’s hope so, el gordo, but jest remember, like Philip Tetlock’s
study of experts’ political, economic and military predictions found,
‘We’re not good at predicting.’
And the Middle East, too geographically central, too many players interacting, alliances, and fake news, who knows, like WW1, over by Christmas, every big player thought they had the winning card. Carry
a big stick but try to avoid using it, seems to me.
50
Nikki Haley, undaunted protector of human rights of Binomo, says it’s all real.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RgXL7byTF0&t=77s
30
Solar Cycle 25 began the other day and Leif reckons the Grand Minimum is not expected in the foreseeable future.
20
Let’s assume that CO2 causes Global Warming, that there is a desperate need to stop CO2 growing, that it is really worth spending $1,500,000,000,000 a year, that’s 1 1/2 million million dollars. All to stop CO2. Save the Polar bears, save the fish, stop the drowning island.
So how’s it going? 350,000 big windmills across the landscape. Millions of solar panels. Massive disruption to Australia’s energy in particular and a lot of suffering on an individual level. The RET is really ripping into the poor, who are the problem.
And how’s the CO2 level going, the point of all this. Try this
Now I would challenge anyone in the world to say that we have had an effect on the CO2 curve, up or down. So why are we punishing those who cannot afford heat in winter? Why are we making manufacturing impossible? Why are we punishing ourselves and blowing up coal power stations? Why are we renting giant diesel engines?
For what? What good has it done? In fact, look at the curve and yourself what impact mankind has had on the curve at all.
None.
60
THE CO2 HORSESH*T HAS TO STOP.
20
Now perhaps instead of spending vast sums on stopping something natural and failing miserably, why not spend the same money on Fusion research or give the windmills to people who actually need them or look at what climates we want, now that we can change climates.
Unlikely. It is all the worst joke in human history, millions of people involved in a fake story, making the main players rich and famous.
So the last thing anyone wanted Tony Abbott to do was just grow trees. It’s about the cash, not the trees. It always was.
60
It occurs to me how in the “stars wars” era, $20,000 hammers were in reality bleeding cash off to fund black projects.
All the money for climate programs is just being diverted into the UN to make it a real global govt.
40
13 Apr: ScottishDailyRecord: Nicola Sturgeon accused of ‘trampling on local democracy’ over controversial Chinese wind farm plan
The Scottish Government’s move to take over decision making on the renewable energy project was branded ‘a disgrace’ by opposition parties.
by David Clegg
The substation will be controlled remotely and create no local jobs…
13 Apr: Scotsman: Nicola Sturgeon under pressure over control of China power plan
by Scott Macnab
Nicola Sturgeon is under renewed pressure over her visit to China after it emerged that her government took control of proposals for a Chinese-owned power station in Scotland the day before the First Minister met with its parent company in Beijing.
Opposition parties have accused the First Minister of putting the interests of a Chinese firm before local people in East Lothian where the development is earmarked for the site of the former Cockenzie power station.
The Scottish Government insisted there is no link between Ms Sturgeon’s meeting with (China’s largest state-owned investment fund) China’s State Development and Investment Corporation (SDIC) on Tuesday and the move to relieve East Lothian Council of the final decision on whether the planned substation goes ahead…
SDIC’s subsidiary, Red Rock Power Limited, is the owner of Inch Cape Offshore Limited, which is behind the Scottish application. The firm plans to build 72 turbines up to 300m tall around 15km off the Angus coastline. Electricity from the turbines would be sent to the National Grid via a substation at the East Lothian site…
East Lothian Council had planned to market the site for commercial use in an effort to create jobs after buying the land from ScottishPower last month, but that ambition is now under threat.
The local Prestonpans Community Council has branded the proposed substation a “giant shed” and are instead pushing for the site to be turned into a cruise terminal…
Labour’s East Lothian MSP, Iain Gray, said: “My constituents can hardly be blamed for feeling that Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP seem to care rather more about the interests and aspirations of a Chinese company than those of the communities of Cockenzie and Prestonpans.”
He added: “We now know the Nicola Sturgeon met the State Development Investment Corporation the same week her planning minister removed a planning application by their subsidiary Red Rock from East Lothian Council, so the government could decide itself…
Inch Cape Offshore Limited project manager Ian Johnson said: “This is not uncommon for a project with such national economic and environmental importance.“
If successful, the project will help achieve the Scottish Government’s goals to minimise our reliance on carbon energy, but also act as a positive catalyst in the local area.”…
The latest row comes after a £10 billion investment deal between the Scottish Government and China collapsed 18 months ago following an outcry about the secrecy surrounding the deal. The two Chinese companies involved in the deal, SinoFortone and China Railway No 3 Engineering Group (CR3), withdrew from a memorandum of understanding they struck with Ms Sturgeon about investment in clean energy, transport and housing.
Liberal Democrat energy spokesman Liam McArthur said: “It’s important that the Scottish Government avoid giving the impression that they are kowtowing to Chinese special interests at the expense of local people in East Lothian. To put this issue to bed, the First Minister should make clear precisely what it was she discussed with the State Development Investment Corporation.”
Tory council spokesman Alexander Stewart said: “This is an outrageous move from the Scottish Government and completely tramples over local democracy.”
https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/nicola-sturgeon-under-pressure-over-control-of-china-power-plan-1-4722849
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If I were Scottish I’d trust Sturgeon about as far as I could pick her up and throw her. The sneering thin lipped face of the rabid left in that part of the world. I shudder to think of what diabolical plans she would have for an independent Scotland. Blake’s dark satanic mills come to mind.
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Facebook friends with Kathleen Wynne you think? Wynne was dubbed the most dangerous woman in Canada by Jordan Peterson.
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If I click on a thumb up or down does it cause me to participate/notify/assist in FB or twit IN ANY WAY???
(or would it if I didn’t have “noscript” tuned to disallow?)
I know the answer so I’ll ask another question.
Why advertise for the competition?
WW III is ‘at this time’ digital.
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would you believe any response? doesnt sound like it
your on WordPress, not great buddies of FB
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for those who haven’t seen it:
9 Apr: Youtube: 4mins57secs: NASA Goddard: Tour of the Moon in 4K
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr5Pj6GQL2o
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Pretty cool indeed.
30
Good catch Pat.
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22 instances of “TRANSITION”, including one in right hand column showing original headline for this piece – “Why ‘transition’ is the coal industry’s hardest word”:
14 Apr: ABC: Coal industry grapples with change and the challenges of TRANSITION
ABC Alice Springs By Ben Deacon
(ABC Bio – Ben Deacon is a senior producer for ABC weather)
When AGL CEO Andy Vesey announced a new project to convert brown coal to liquid hydrogen in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley this week, TRANSITION was on his lips.
“As we TRANSITION to cleaner technologies,” Mr Vesey said, “this project may spark a reinvigoration of Latrobe Valley’s energy industry by generating a competitive edge in a new market.”
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was also talking TRANSITION.
“It is critically important that we invest in energy sources of the future and that we affect the TRANSITION from older forms of [energy] generation to new forms of generation and we do so seamlessly.
“Getting the TRANSITION right is critically important,” he said…
AGL is Australia’s largest owner of coal fired power stations and Australia’s biggest emitter of carbon dioxide. It is also the most vocal of the big coal industry companies about transitioning out of coal.
“As Australia TRANSITIONS to a carbon constrained future, creating new sources of prosperity and growth in communities which host conventional coal power stations is a critical priority,” Mr Vesey said this week.
The day before, Minister for the Environment and Energy Josh Frydenberg touched on the issue of TRANSITION as he talked about the challenge of integrating climate and energy policy…
“How do we establish a policy framework that manages the TRANSITION; achieves the objectives of lower prices, higher reliability and lower emissions; and provides constancy and consistency through political cycles?”…
New coal tax proposal
At a conference on coal TRANSITION in Canberra this week, a new tax on coal was proposed to help communities adjust to a downturn in coal production.
One of the co-authors of the proposal is Professor Frank Jotzo, the director of the Centre for Climate Economics and Policy at the Australian National University.
He said there was every possibility of rapidly declining coal demand in the coming decades…
The proposal examined the effects of taxing Australian coal exports by about $US18 ($23) a tonne, predicting the tax could raise up to $US16 billion ($20.5 billion) by 2035.
The proposal also looked at what would happen if the world’s four biggest coal exporters — Australia, Indonesia, South Africa and Columbia, all applied an export tax.
In this case, global carbon dioxide emissions could drop and a collective $US125 billion ($160.2 billion) could be raised over the next 20 years.
Finally, the study looked at what would happen if the big four coal exporters put a tax on production, estimating that could raise a collective $US266 billion ($340.9 billion)…
Politicians at odds over a coal TRANSITION
Two weeks ago, Resources Minister Matt Canavan said he found it highly objectionable to talk about people’s loss of jobs and livelihood as a transition…
“For many thousands of businesses and people in central Queensland and north Queensland and in the Hunter Valley, it won’t be a TRANSITION, it’ll be utter heartache for them and their families.”…
Labor’s climate change spokesman Mark Butler said unions and non-government organisations lobbied very hard at the Paris Climate Conference in 2015 to include the term “just TRANSITION” in the agreement.
“Malcolm Turnbull and other governments lobbied to try to exclude that commitment but thankfully they were unsuccessful,” he said.
Mr Butler agreed with Professor Jotzo that Australian workers needed a just and orderly TRANSITION to a clean energy economy…
So the need for a coal transition depends in part on whether Australia’s international coal customers keep buying…
According to Adam Walters, the principal researcher of consultancy Energy Resource Insights, Australia exports more than a billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year in coal, gas and oil exports, making Australia the world’s third biggest exporter of carbon pollution…
Quoting IEA figures, Resources Minister Matt Canavan said Australia had no need to prepare for a coal TRANSITION because the export business to Asia would stay strong for decades.
“Far from a market in structural decline, demand for thermal coal has been accelerating, at a pace never seen before,” he said.
However, a recent report from consultants McKinsey and Company questions that view (LINK). The report found that the acceleration of cost declines in renewables over the next 30 years could halve coal demand for power in China and India. The fall in demand could lead to lower thermal coal exports from Australia…
World’s biggest coal port plans a TRANSITION beyond coal
The Port of Newcastle’s new chairman Roy Green said that there would be an inevitable TRANSITION to renewable energy sources around the world…
The Port of Newcastle wants to move into container shipments, which are currently dominated in New South Wales by Sydney’s Port Botany.
“That will contribute to the growth of the Hunter region, which in the past was very dependent on primary commodities, but is increasingly taking up the challenge to a more knowledge based economy,” Mr Green said.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-14/coal-industry-in-transition/9644812
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18 Dec 2017: Port of Newcastle: Professor Roy Green appointed Port of Newcastle Chairman
Respected business and academic leader Professor (Emeritus) Roy Green has been appointed Chairman of the Port of Newcastle Board.
Professor Green has worked in universities, business and government in Australia and overseas, including most recently as Dean of the UTS Business School at the University of Technology Sydney.
Port of Newcastle’s CEO, Geoff Crowe, said Professor Green’s national and international experience will add significant value to the Port in its strategy to grow and diversify its trade.
Professor Green previously chaired the Australian Government’s Innovative Regions Centre, CSIRO Manufacturing Sector Advisory Council and NSW Manufacturing Industries Advisory Council, and he is currently Chair of the Queensland Competition Authority.
“Professor Green also has a strong understanding of the Hunter region’s competitive advantages, having worked at the University of Newcastle through the 1990s, including close engagement with the BHP Newcastle Steelworks transition and Hunter economic development bodies,” said Mr Crowe…
Professor Green: “Port of Newcastle has already started diversifying, through investments in a new cruise terminal and non-coal freight facilities. But we must build significantly on this platform and create world class port facilities that are able to meet the needs of a rapidly changing Hunter and NSW economy. With a 98 year lease, the Port of Newcastle is obliged to think long term, and it will…
“Clearly the long term outlook for coal is a threat to the Port and Hunter region, but it is also a huge opportunity. While the world’s demand for our coal is beyond our control, our ability to invest in new sources of growth and innovation is not. Among our challenges will be ensuring a level playing field for the development of a viable and competitive container terminal…
***Port of Newcastle’s Shareholders are The Infrastructure Fund and ***China Merchants Group who have an equal 50/50 shareholding.
http://www.portofnewcastle.com.au/News/Items/2017/Professor-Roy-Green-appointed-Port-of-Newcastle-Chairman.aspx
20
11 Apr: SMH: Matt Wade: Beware privatisation that hinders competition
Australia’s consumer watchdog chief, Rod Sims, is a long-term advocate of privatisation. But he’s on the brink of changing his mind.
Why? Because Australian governments keep sacrificing the long-term good of the economy in a bid to artificially boost the price of assets they put on the market.
Sims, who is chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, said in a recent speech (LINK) he was “almost at the point of opposing privatisation because it’s been done to boost proceeds, it’s been done to boost asset sales and I think it’s severely damaging our economy”.
A few years after the privatisation of NSW’s three biggest ports, NSW voters are beginning to get a sense of why Sims is so frustrated.
In April 2013, then NSW treasurer Mike Baird declared the $5.1 billion long-term lease of Port Botany and Port Kembla together “a great win for NSW”. A year later he announced another “momentous result” with his $1.75 billion privatisation of the Port of Newcastle, the world’s biggest coal port.
But in mid-2016 The Newcastle Herald published a secret document (LINK) that must have had Rod Sims rolling his eyes.
It was a confidential “Port commitment” obliging the operator of a future Newcastle container terminal to pay a compensation fee (called a “cross payment” by the NSW government) to the operator of Port Botany and Port Kembla once it had moved a relatively small share of the containers that arrive in the state each year.
That helped boost the price the NSW government received for the long-term of lease of Port Botany and Port Kembla.
But now a report by Deloitte, commissioned by the Port of Newcastle, has drawn attention to the potential downsides.
Even though Newcastle port operators knew about the restrictions when they took on the long-term lease, they would now like to diversify into handling containers…
***But the Port of Newcastle would have to pay about a $100 “cross payment” for each container unit it moves above a 30,000-per-year threshold (Port Botany now moves about 2.4 million a year).
That makes a Newcastle container terminal unviable…
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/beware-privatisation-that-hinders-competition-20180411-p4z92p.html
40
9 Apr: AFR: DP World joins Newcastle container plan
by Matthew Stevens
DP World is in early stage discussions with Port of Newcastle about long-stalled plans to introduce the world’s biggest coal port to the international container shipping business via construction of a new terminal that would create an export gateway to northern NSW…
And the potential that Australia’s biggest container port operator might invest in a new terminal with capacity of at least 270,000 containers annually looks certain to strengthen the arm of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which has confirmed it is reviewing a controversial state government fee (LINK) that was designed to contain Port of Newcastle’s renewed ambitions in boxes…
The existence of the secret cap and fee arrangement was confirmed by the government after its details were revealed in mid-2016 by the Newcastle Herald.
Should it ever be triggered, the arrangement would see the fee flow through the NSW government to NSW Ports, which in 2013 paid a staggering $5 billion for 99-year leases over Port Botany and Port Kembla…
So the fee triggered by container movements through Port of Newcastle that eclipse the cap is equivalent to paying maybe 50 to 70 per cent more than the shipper might pay at Port Botany, with all of that cash being passed directly to the private owners of the government’s legislatively preferred option…
And the simple fact that the new owners who paid the government $1.75 billion for the Port of Newcastle lease have been able to attract DP World into their orbit of container ambitions says that the major operators might well see potential in a northern hub.
“To condemn Newcastle to a future as a bulk commodity port is to say they are putting a handcuff on the Newcastle economy,” Green said…
We cannot possibly finish off with this issue without noting that these latest developments must be hugely encouraging to a Novocastrian named Greg Cameron.
A former community relations director at the now disappeared Newcastle Steelworks, Cameron has become surely one of Australia’s most diligent writers of letters to editors of the nation’s media in his one-man crusade to highlight the economic absurdity of a container cap and fee regime that further institutionalised the failure of successive state governments to deliver the port expansion promised as mitigation for the loss of the legendary steelworks.
I am sure I will be hearing from you Greg.
http://www.afr.com/business/dp-world-joins-newcastle-container-plan-20180409-h0yj54
20
Don’t ya just know it. The wind is blowing, the sun is shining but it’s a balmy Sunday morning and no one gives a rat’s about all that “free” electricity.
20
Sort of the perverse flip side to summer when many really hot days happened on weekends.
20
This is what the climate scare is all about:Tomorrow’s Global Green Dictatorship.
Of course, it will be fully compliant with Agenda 2030 and fully sustainable.
(Un)Happy Nightmares, folks.
The German National Socialist Party (1933-1945) showed exactly how to regulate and control every facet of daily life. There will be no shortage of Green eager beavers to volunteer for the Geheime Staatspolizei.
We fought a big war, 1939 to 1945 in which millions died, to prevent this from ever happening again. We are only one generation away from that conflagration and what was fought against is about to be introduced.
No, I don’t think I’m being overly alarmist about it, because some of Europe’s Central Bankers are already to implement their share of it.
Watch the emphasis move away from Climate towards Sustainability and Agenda 2030. We haven’t won anything. The climate debate has kept us nicely distracted, and if we aren’t carefull, it may continue to do so. We’re about to lose the lot.
51
Per General James Mattis, I gots ta reuse his wort “consonance” with our allies, to destroy the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons research, development and production capabilities. Lovely Consonance ist so damn salacious I hardly contain myself. OOps! Perhaps I did not! 🙂
42
The hidden cost of “renewables”…
The ultimate way of shifting pollution on a grand NIMBY scale
China, the true cost of Britain’s clean, green wind power experiment: Pollution on a disastrous scale
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1350811/In-China-true-cost-Britains-clean-green-wind-power-experiment-Pollution-disastrous-scale.html
40
The US had a rare earths industry years ago, they closed it down because because it is so dirty and polluting. They now worry that they are totally dependent on China for a critical military resource.
50
The ABC’s pearl of wisdom this morning is that the Barossa Valley will not be able to produce wine in the near future –
BECAUSE OF CLIMATE CHANGE.
40
Thanks for the warming. Good excuse to buy more good Barossa reds right now.
40
I’d be more worried about the diesel fumes from Weatherdills generators tainting the grapes.
Unsurprisingly SA max/min recorded temps are in the 60s and 70s, rain max/mins in the 80s. The unprecedented, catastrophic, shiraz killing tide doesnt seem to have floated all boats in 2018.
30
http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2018-04-11/2018-cracker-year-for-south-australian-wine/9639058
just sayin’
10
We have kinda identified ‘kind’ neutrinos, leptons, bosons, photons, but these morons are worrysome!
61
🙂
00
It seems there is a rumour in US financial circles that Dep AG Rosenstein will be impeached Mon morn. We’ll see.
00
An upgraded report on socialism attacking capitalism using climate change …
https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/climate-change-crisis-capitalism/
00