Academic Freedom in Australia: Academics are free to use hotmail at work
For the first time in months the ABC suddenly finds time to mention Professor Peter Ridd — but not because he got sacked for an email with the illegal line “for your amusement”. That new development in academic freedom was not newsworthy on the billion dollar ABC site. Nor did the-blob’s-ABC feel Australians needed to know that the international outcry over his sacking was so strong that Ridd raised $160,000 in donations in a mere couple of days. However now things are apparently “serious”: other academics at JCU have given up using the official email network, hiding their thoughts on hotmail and gmail instead. Finally, 27 days after he was sacked, the ABC have arrived…
Management of JCU insists Ridd’s sacking was not about academic freedom. But everyone at JCU acts otherwise. Staff at JCU now know exactly how free they are — if they say something the management doesn’t like, they too could be victims of a personalized email trawl. Anyone could lose their job at any time for falling foul of a selectively enforced and unknowable “code of conduct”.
James Cook University staff avoid using emails after climate change sceptic sacked
Peter McCutcheon
A leading Great Barrier Reef researcher says academic staff at James Cook University (JCU) are avoiding using their staff emails in the wake of the sacking of climate change sceptic Peter Ridd. “They’re using G-mail, Hotmail and Yahoo instead,” Jon Brodie from the University’s Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies told 7.30.
Professor Brodie was the target of some of Peter Ridd’s criticisms, but he still feels the search of the outspoken academic’s emails sends a “terrible signal” to the rest of JCU’s academic staff. “A lot of people will be thinking about what they wrote in email they thought were private to the people they were sent to,” he told 7.30. “We know already lots of people are now not using the JCU email system, it’s happening now.
“If they wanted, they (JCU) could go back through anybody’s emails and find what they said…”
So they have academic freedom to write emails to colleagues through external email systems. And the public who pay their salaries while they sit at work using hotmail have the right to see none of that. So much for transparency. So much for integrity. Bravo JCU.
As I said at the time: “This taints all research James Cook University puts out. We know all reports will be pre-filtered or self censored.”
If staff don’t even feel they can write freely in an email, we know for sure they won’t put it in a peer reviewed paper.
Give me a reason taxpayers should send one more dollar to this institution.
Once…was it so very long ago, that Nullius in Verba
was the guide to enquiry in universities?
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It’s the common dream, but I’m beginning to wonder if it ever was.
Or was like everything turns out to be, a cute turn of phrase but not reality.
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Having just looked up the meaning, it probably was referring to the ideal.
Unfortunately people are too lazy to think for themselves.
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Hi Kinky
The reality is that on the whole, people think with other peoples thoughts which cone to us from outside, and usually conveyed aloud. For example…on the TV by someone somewhere….for example.
For example if someone hears something from ‘A’ and then if ‘B’ also says the same, then ‘C’ will be convinced that it is so and couldn’t be otherwise.
A mild state of hypnosis. Nothing more.
To say people are to too lazy is very harsh.
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Hi ES,
Totally agree with you and believe I’ve made the same point myself recently.
I was just being a bit lazy myself.
You have expressed the situation very well and the human brain has to operate that way or it would be overwhelmed in analysing and processing every new bit of information coming at it from the eyes, ears and other sensors like the skin.
We have been programmed to take a lot on trust but sometimes that means we can be misled.
KK
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Don’t know why anyone would give that comment a red thumb.
It’s the Best description of the human condition that you could find.
Thanks Environment Skeptic.
KK
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I keep wondering if this whole climate change thing and all the nonsense that goes with it in academia and the rest of the world isn’t a simple case of me too ism. I want to be part of the group therefore I go along to get along. After a while you believe it because it’s become a part of you.
Then look out anyone who challenges the status quo. If you do that you’re suddenly the other, the outsider and a threat to the comfort zone of the believers and they’ll suppress the threat any way they can.
I watched An Inconvenient Truth being shown where I was teaching — didn’t attend myself — and as far as I could tell there was not one skeptical voice anywhere. The student newspaper picked it up verbatim and went along with the instigating professor’s, “No doubt exists, it’s a done deal, you can’t challenge it, etc. and only little old me challenged that with a letter to the editor. It wasn’t published nor was a single word said about it except perhaps behind closed doors. Looking back I suppose I should be glad I wasn’t called in front of the college president to explain my apostasy.
I find it very hard to believe that every last person who watched that awful movie believed it right down to the poor old polar bear floating on ice not more than 20 feet from the camera. The question of course was how far lost out to sea was the cameraman? Answer: not far enough to cause anyone to worry. Does no one understand that polar bears can swim at least as well as a boat suitable for taking that picture can float? They swim like a fish. They hunt near and in the water. That one issue cast so much doubt on climate change that everyone involved in it should have been hiding with a paper bag over their heads before going out in public. Of course, now Jerry and the legislature have outlawed the paper bag so I wonder where they could hide anymore.
And there you have the same old good old boys network that chokes and strangles knowledge and understanding, not to mention any useful progress everywhere.
Fie on the bunch of them. 🙁
Looking back, the only reason I wasn’t there is that it happened during my day job, the one that put butter on the bread on my table. I probably could have taken the time off. And I could have asked questions that would raise eyebrows or worse and make enemies in the process. Maybe better for my teaching career that I wasn’t there. And that’s the whole problem with this pernicious go along to get along nonsense that the human race has suffered from since the dawn of humans.
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Brilliant comment Roy! Good on ya!
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‘Nullius in verba (Latin for “on the word of no one” or “Take nobody’s word for it”) is the motto of the Royal Society. John Evelyn and other Fellows of the Royal Society chose the motto soon after the founding of the Society.’ wiki
Is professor Ridd now persona non grata?
He should take this opportunity tp speak up and tell us a few plain truths about coral bleaching, the probable cause and such. It could go viral.
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If his lawsuit succeeds, that will go viral and we can help it.
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We don’t have to wait for the legal outcome, he is an unemployed civil heretic and should speak to the Coalition ginger group.
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I realize that. However, we don’t want to give JCU the opportunity to bray about “not being able to have a fair trial do we? (Personally, I don’t give and R**’s A***e about JCU but we should be “seen” to be paying lip service to Fairness.)
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Presumably JCU don’t care what he says, so he can shout it from the rooftops.
“We defend Peter’s right to make statements in his area of academic expertise and would continue to do that until we are blue in the face,” Gordon says.
“The issue has never been about Peter’s right to make statements – it’s about how he has continually broken a code of conduct that we would expect all our staff to stick to, to create a safe, respectful and professional workplace.”
Iain Gordon / Guardian
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I like the quote attributed ( possibly incorrectly ) to Voltaire :
“To find out who rules over you, find out who you arent allowed to criticise”
So true…..
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so, it is really all about safe spaces???
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I am seeing a plaque with a picture of Michael Mann (or customise with your preferred alarmist), with that inscription below it.
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Long ago there was a computer game that generated the amusing saying ‘All your base belong us’. It’s now reality in our education system.
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A slight difference in meaning, which might be worth pointing out:
Back in the day, you mostly chose your motto from the works of Horace or Virgil. “Nullius in verba” is from a poem by Horace where he is skiting about his independence (although he was completely dependent on the most powerful man in the world and his culture minister, Maecenas.)
Years before Horace wrote, when you joined a legion you swore an oath repeating the words of the commander. When armies got huge it was usually a mass oath taking, where troops swore “in verba” – in the words – of the commander.
Roll forward to Horace’s day, and swearing “in verba” was a familiar expression meaning that you were a “cliens” or client, shilling for someone with more money and influence. Pretty common in that city, almost a way of life.
My guess is that the R.S. chose its motto to mean that it would be an independent body, not taking orders to say from church, state, navy, business etc. Like Horace, they were probably being optimistic…but a nice idea. So it wasn’t just about not taking anyone’s word on anything. It was about not being steered or politicised either.
All over now, of course. All long gone.
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Nobody’s b!tch then, if you pardon the expression.
A long forgotten ideal now.
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Horace! Toffs!
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Thanks mosomoso,
That is what I love about this blog. I learn something new almost every day.
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I’m trying really hard Jo but can’t think of a reason for taxpayers to fund this UNuniversity.
If the U.N. wants to dictate what people think, let them pay for it.
KK
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For the staff that wholly embraced the UN agendas and frameworks this is the first of many rude awakenings, rejoice and feast upon the fruits of your labour my children of the state.
Socialism good and hard!
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They’ve had the good.
Now for the Hard.
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If I recall, it is Jordan Peterson who highlights that the University administrators are the key players in this ideological drama. In the US and Canada that may be the case, but in Australia and New Zealand, both secular globalist strongholds, the academics hold the purse in their pursuit of what might be described as the curse of science and the curse of democracy, namely, policy-based evidence. The doctrine of performance based research funding (PBRF) ensures they are compelled to follow the money. If they do not capture a grant, ipso facto, eventually, they no longer work.
The incremental slide of academia into policy-based outcomes (seen most obviously in the ‘climate change’ polemic, public health, and health and safety) parallels the political slide Leftward, a slide headed toward collectivism, compliance and control, also known as secular globalism. I think its time is nearly done. It is being outpaced by empirical evidence. The politicians, the complicit MSM and the “academic” scientivists are inexorably being left behind or displaced by reality. The retraditionalisation of Europe is well underway, the Paris discord is increasingly irrelevant and people are alert to the scam of open borders, wrecked culture and economic suicide, the ‘gifts’ of secular globalism. Politicians are slow to come to the party, but being the lying opportunists they so often are, they usually turn up, even if it is late.
I have a conference at JCU scheduled for December. I will not be going unless they undergo volte-face on Prof. Ridd. Each of us makes our small contribution to the cause.
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Secular Globalism? Really? When too much Globalism is not nearly enough? What was wrong with the concept of “Neo-Liberal Globalism”?
Frankly, this newer term just looks like an agenda-driven attempt to smear the word-concept of “secular”. Which in common use is simply to be indifferent to religious issues, assertions, world-views, demands, or attempted political sway or influencing.
I have have no hesitation in saying that in that defined regard, I’m thoroughly secular, and reject any silly US derived front-loaded political attempts to hijack the concept (and reality) or to smear people for being secular, particularly in NZ or Australia thanks.
Yes, I have zero time for the mixing of religion and politics, and I’m not changing that for anyone—ever.
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WXcycles, most understand the romanticised meaning of the word secular in ‘common use’ (neutral, indfifference to spiritual belief) and most would be in concordance with its manifestation as the clear separation of church and State. It is the preferred arrangement. Come to think of it, someone should remind the Pope. His secular globalist sponsors have him conflating Christianity and environmentalism on a regular basis these days. He obliged them by opened the UN 70th General Assembly in September 2015 launching the “transformational” agenda. And then we have to deal with the paradox of theocractic despotic men that pursue nuclear weapons, subjugate women, extoll FGM and apply the randomness and intolerance of Sharia law. Yes, we all agree that religion and politics are best kept far apart.
Many in the West these days are not church goers or particularly religious. Nonetheless, there remains a tacit recognition that the West is founded upon and embraces a Judeo-Christian culture that lies at the heart of formative history, identity, law, values and mores. These have generally served and continue to serve us well.
The segue into post-modern secularism is not intended to besmirch the romantic vernacular of ‘secular’, it is intended to conflate it and then replace it. Post-modern secularism is THE globalist dogma that has raised the diversity (division) of cultures to possess the highest political value, even above individual freedoms and freedom of conscience. Post modern secularism does not approve of individuals judging each other, ergo ‘discrimination’. As a dogma it embraces ‘inclusion’ — completely.
The dogma was in full action, on open display in Rotheram, UK (also in Rochdale, Leeds, Bradford, Luton et al.) The various institutions of the police, social services and child welfare demonstrated it par excellence. Andrew Norfolk of The Times eloquently expresses the consequences and the work he undertook to reveal a social catastrophe in the name of post-modern secularism.
Dr Sonia Sharp, having wreaked her secular compliance competently at the childrens’ services in Rotheram, UK for three years, washed up at another secular globalist bastion, this time Melbourne, a perfect fit in Victoria’s education department for early childhood development and school education. /sarc. When her history became known, she was required to resign from her Australian position
In a borderless, homogenised Dytopia, there exists no defining culture, identity or values save those ordained by the bureaucratic State. It is reassuring to remind oneself when on the rack, that post-modern secularism is ‘inclusive’ of ‘diversity’, except of course with those who disagree.
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The ills/issues/complaints you impute to secularism, as an implicated quasi ‘causation’ if not accusation, has ZERO to do with the word, the concept, or the daily reality of a person being a secular person.
So one can only conclude your use of it is nothing more than an improper if not disingenuous or deliberative smear and denegration process, that has nothing to do with this nebulous boggie-man, or stawman, or stalking-horse use of the word as you weild it, ideologically, with an ‘ism’ tacked on to the end of it, as if it’s some sort of global mass political ‘movement’.
Hogwash.
People who do that are people I won’t be listening to, especially their manufactured politico-religious non-realities.
And despite your claim, to something or other, the colonies that became the USA were founded by people seaking to entirely escape the crackpot European politico-religious oppression that was being driven by just such conjured imaginary nothings, through despotic people claiming a superior morality and the self-asserted right to control others, against their will.
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When all NZ’s legislation establishing a “monetization” requirement for state research grants for research and the introduction of the PBRF initiative was all before Parliament, I read in the NZ Herald that “…universities and academics are to be the conscience of society … ”
Uh oh. When I joined this blog, I joined with a gmail address and have posted from behind a pseudonym. I wasn’t about to fit myself with a hemp collar as a “Justin.”
(Justin = Just IN Case).
So far, I have never been asked for my Facebook URL but other employers on this side of the Tasman demand it from new hires. A few dismissals have occurred over criticism made on Facebook as employers have checked them. I won’t and don’t have one, but if one should be demanded of me as part of my “Personal Information” I am prepared. I retire soon (just a couple of months to go) and then I won’t have to care about what I say.
Oh yes: Happy OBE ROM. Have a good one. 🙂
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Thanks Sophocles.
You actually made me feel a bit humble back in that other post.
I was honoured that you went to the bother of reading all of my epistles and were prepared to say so.
My attitude is that you don’t have to agree with me at all but if I make you THINK regardless of who you are then I have accomplished something of value to both that person and maybe to myself and society over all.
An honour I think about now and then was paid to myself nearly 40 years ago.
I was drafted / elected as a representative of some 500 to 600 farmers in the west of the state on the then Victoria’s Farmers Union Grains Council when I was at the young age of about 32 , at least young for the farmers organisations of those days.
I spent ten years in that position through the 1970s then decided that you can get very stale and fixed in your ways and vouluntarily resigned my position to let new blood have a go.
Besides in a farming partnership with one of my brothers , a wife and three little kids which she had to cope with, a heavy debt and collecting only travelling and overnight expenses for my efforts when in Melbourne plus about a once a fortnight a 300 km drive to Melbourne and 300 kms drive back in the evening after a full days meeting wasn’t going to advance my prospects much at all.
Such is the life of so many volunteer officials everywhere.
.
But the real honour for me was about 6 months after I had resigned from the Grains Council.
A deputation of three from the Grains Council came to see me and asked me to stand again for the Vic Grains Council.
They were quite open as to why they wanted me to again join the Grains Council.
“You were often wrong”, they said, “but boy, did you make us think!”
And that to me was an honour indeed !
No! I had had my day in the sun for that organisation so declined their offer.
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sophocles, enjoyed your post and in particular, ‘I am prepared’..
I was intrigued by your reference to “…universities and academics are to be the conscience of society … ” and trawled about with this for a bit. In a polemical headline (2004), “Universities say a “control freak” Government is trying to erode their independence and stifle their academic freedom” the NZ Herald went on to cite the vice-chancellors committee as saying: ‘it will sabotage the university role as “critic and conscience of society”.’
Among other things the Chair of the VC Committee stated: “In a democratic society we cannot allow state control of our free-thinking institutions. No nation in the Western world has universities under state control. The pillars on which New Zealand academia is built are being eroded by creeping Government control.”
Hysterical laughter when one thinks about this, about Peter Ridd and where things are today … globally.
Nevertheless, even in 2018 there remain glimmering embers of life, at least among the students.
Otago University: Critic and conscience or censor?
Mainstream media outlets have refused to reproduce the cover illustration by Saskia
Not a paragon of good taste, nor a critique of climate change, it nonetheless challenges the absurdities resident of one of the Left’s favourite dogmas de jour, ‘identity politics’.
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Ha, maybe I should have looked deeper rather than relying on (flawed) memory. Nice piece of hunting. I thought it was the NZ Herald! I couldn’t remember which side of the fence it was from. It didn’t matter because all the VCs just rolled over after a a token protest or two and research in NZ was shafted by the pollies.
2004, Helen Clark’s watch. A graduate of Political “Science” so of course, the guvmint knew better.
I’m watching the new Tax Working Group. Cullen’s going to have to be innovative and imaginative to be Fair and dodge the bullets written into his terms of reference. It seems we are going to get the tax system we already have but with a new coat of paint which says “it’s Fair. See?” It’s almost as scary as NZ becoming “Carbon neutral by 2050.” I say almost, because there’s not much wiggle room so it’s more predictable what will come out of it.
A “good tax system” is seen as one wherein the goose is thoroughly plucked without too much hissing and wriggling from the goose. Just? Que? Fair? (Read their lips!)
I could say a lot more but this is only loosely a political forum so I won’t because it all strays too far off topic. [Yes it does. But I’ll approve it because you self moderated.] AZ
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Hello Sophocles. I am already enjoying your posts; can’t wait to see what you come up with when you are retired!
We are supposedly retired but my husband is doing three days a week pro bono (or non-stipendiary if you prefer). It often morphs into much more time than that, especially did while the new church was being built but still does now.
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Beautifully put!
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Interestingly, my university-attending neices who are approx 20 yo, are in the very vocal anti-PC camp.
The New Resistance is strengthening itself daily…….
I notice there are courses now to “correct” what is called “unconcious bias” toward minority groups in all areas of employment.
In other words, they are starting a desperate pusch against those who might hold out against the Leftists nazis.
I have a message for the same Leftist nazis – youre losing…the very youth you thought you control, you are losing control, they are going to hand your rear ends to you, and its going to be so much fun to watch.
Viva the new breed of 20-something neo conservatives…..
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Science should always be happy to be challenged or questioned. This is fundamental to finding ‘truth’ in theory.
The only thing that seems to be revealed whenever the ‘science’ of gerbil warming predictions are analyzed is the total lack of substance to their claims of fact.
Australian taxpayers have paid $$$Billions for the building of 3 water desalination plants on the back of claims that ‘the rains will not come and the dams will not fill”. Who has been held to account for that waste of taxpayer money? Rhetorical question.
The fact is that the only reason that Australia will run out of water will be due to the opposition of Greenies to the building or expansion of current dams.
Green ideology…proven to fail at every turn.
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There has been little due diligence and the desalination plants are a glaring example, now its the GBR and professor Ridd gets to the crux of the matter.
“When you’re going to spend a billion dollars to save the reef or you’re going to close down the fishing or the coal industry, you need to have a better system of quality assurance than this peer review process and that is what we don’t do.
“It does happen in the private industry, but it doesn’t happen for the public good science that we’re talking about.”
ABC
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Sorry, my mistake,… there has been more than 3 desal plants built.
I think we are up to about 6 or 7?
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And have any of them produced a litre of water to mitigate lack of water from drought?
No.
This was always, and I mean ALWAYS about finding very very high paid work for the bruvvers.
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The Perth desalination plant has been in use constantly since it was built. We built a second one and are now building a third. Would you like to sell us yours cheap?
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A bit of “Due Diligence” required here. I’m Independent of Australia so I’m in the best position to carry it out.
1. Are you both capable and able to uplift and carry off the plant if the sale is made?
2. Can you pay for it in full and immediately on agreement?
3. Are you prepared to accept that it is second-hand goods and therefore under no warranty nor guarantee?
We are prepared to ensure there is not encumbrance or inhibition on title to the plant.
If this is acceptable, then, in the best tradition of Spike Milligna, the well-known Typing Error, open your wallet and say after me: “Help yourself.”
🙂
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Great to know it’s being used. Do you have any decent hills over there?
We have good hills where dams could be built but the No Dams green politics has left us dry at times.
KK
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Pretty sure the Brisbane plant has only been used during floods, ironically.
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The Sydney desalination plant was costing taxpayers $534, 000 a day during the seven year lease to the Canadian pension funds, but now the Japanese have it and they are keen to get the one in Victoria too,
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Morning el gordo.
I’m pretty sure there are seriously expensive desalination plants in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane, for starters. Not sure about Sydney. Only the Perth plant is running, the rest are massing up huge (hundred million per year) bills while they are waiting for a catastrophic climate event that seems to be running late. (Flannery made his famous “Perth will be a ghost city”) comment in 2004. The only reasons that Perth has an operating desal plant are 1. It’s always been a bit dry over here, and 2. The population has probably doubled since the Water Corporation built their last dam.
These days, the only thing the WA Water Corp seems to do is to punch out adverts blaming global warming for their failure to deliver a plentiful supply of aqua pura.
Cheers,
Speedy
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Good afternoon, underground pipes didn’t get a mention on the Kimberly run.
‘Following Mr Barnett’s 2005 defeat, an inquiry concluded that a canal over 2,000 kilometres long would face many engineering challenges including pumping and evaporation problems. The study also concluded that the final cost of the water was far in excess of other options to supply Perth such as desalination.’
ABC 2013
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Thanks for the heads up.
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Wal, just imagine what Australia would be like now if all of that money had been put into HELE power plants.
We would be the industrial capital of the world with new. Aluminum plants and other manufacturing sectors popping up.
As it is, we are on the verge of collapsing back into the stone age.
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Not to mention the neglect of medical research, I’m sure there’s plenty of people that would like to see cures for cancer, arthritis, dementia or the end of a wheelchair bound existence instead of paying a bunch of numbats exorbitant sums of money to hoard or squander based on a failed hypothesis.
I wonder what people will think once they fathom the entire shameful waste of opportunity.
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Medical? research into brain ‘damage’ at JCU funded by the USA Army this year.
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How much of a dent did that research put in the $1.5 trillion per year global climate change industry budget?
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Please Yonnie, don’t insult my favourite animal. Numbats are really cute critters, and they definitely have more smarts than JCU’s vice chancellor. I think you really meant dingbats!!!!!
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Numbats was the only thing that’d pass moderation…..swap it for parasites then and were all good.
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Add ANU VC to the list of pariah VCs!
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Yes. That’s another area of loss. The good research and human progress forgone.
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Yes KK but building such new generation coal fired power stations would be so normal given that’s exactly what many other nations are doing. Australia is not normal. Much of the population has caught some kind of mental disorder that prefers to buck the world trend and instead destroy our only means to produce base load power by blowing them up. Our worst overseas enemies couldn’t do a better more efficient job. Oh well, let’s continue voting for both major parties giving them total control without any checks or balances in both houses of parliament. Neither wants to support coal fired power stations in any way, with one at least being open and honest about it, while the other (LNP) is takings us for fools.
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CO2 sequestration is a misguided follow-on to the technologically misleading concept of ‘carbon footprint’. The planet atmosphere came dangerously close to the low level which would have resulted in extinction of all land plants and animals at the end of the last glaciation. It is still impoverished for CO2. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DeuAH_4VMAAlBDd.jpg
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Dan. Pangburn:
The Creataceous time (100 million years ago) is usually listed as 1650-1900 ppm CO2. It had to be warmer than present days with no ice sheets and a higher sea level (althought possibly the result of Carribean volcanic uplift) and inland seas across Nth America and Australia (Eromanga sea) and geologists have better methods to assign CO2 levels than Climatology BS so why is it shown as 1,000ppm?
Not that it particularly matters, unless the [snip] try to resurrect T. rex.
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Perhaps you overlooked the word “approximate”.
Berner has determined the CO2 level using GEOCARBIII as shown with average global temperature by Scotese at http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/Carboniferous_climate.html
The numbers you quoted are Probably +/- one standard deviation of some determination and are well within the uncertainty range determined by Berner.
1000 is about in the middle of Berner’s uncertainty range 100 mya and served its purpose for my graph.
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That’s what I thought when I was a young scientist. As I grew up I realised modern science by and large is a rort. Sad as I wanted to make a career out of it. I hate untruths and deliberate deceptions carried out in lots of fields of science today.
In fact one of the foundational principles of the science is to doubt everything and if just one example disproves a theory then the theory must be rejected. In climate science it appears to work in reverse. Doubt nothing and the more examples that come up to disprove the CAGW theory the stronger it gets.
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An excellent if not perfect definition of faith.
Meanwhile, the clutch of useful idiots, with the aid of several pots of gold and a unicorn or two were converted to ‘climatism’ or ‘climate scintivism’ where far larger forces were at play, engineering the Trojan horse of our age.
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Correction – it’s the definition of blind faith. There is also valid faith, such as the faith that the person who made the coffee for me is not poisoned so I go ahead and drink it.
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Bad English but you know what I mean. I need a cup of coffee 🙂
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The Adelaide deal plant is necessary insurance for the (inevitable) prolonged drought, when the upriver states will hold back all the water.
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Stefani its about due diligence, 30,000 gigalitres of fresh water flows into the Indian Ocean from WA’s north west every year.
They could put in an underground pipeline and send 8000 gigalitres to NSW, SA and Victoria.
The aim would be to replenish the Murray-Darling Basin whenever needed, so that agriculturalists and environmentalist would no longer be at each others throats, and South Australia could develop new opportunities for agriculture and mining.
A plentiful supply of relatively cheap water will fix the problem.
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Nice idea, but who is going to supply the steel for the pipeline? Not Oz, I fear!
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Australian steel will be mandatory and the pipeline infrastructure put up to tender, which Beijing should win because they are backed by the China Infrastructure Bank.
Imagine the MDB awash with ample clean water, its a win win situation and would take the wind out of the green blob sail.
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Excellent idea even if it has been suggested a number of times previously.
Now try and get the building of a new dam in the WA Kimberleys, some 3000 kms north west of the Murray River, past the rabid watermelon, latte sipping ,vegan,smashed avocado hypocritical Green enviro set in inner Sydney, inner Melbourne and inner Brisbane.
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Lake Argyle awaits.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Argyle#/media/File:Lake_argyle.jpg
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Doomed proposal, the depleted water flow in the Kimberly would threatened the yet to be discovered Speckled Axolotl Flanneri and threaten sacred sites (somehow). The usual suspects would rally to ensure nothing happens.
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Decided to look a couple of items up in view of the discussion above;
.
Sydney harbour capacity= 600 GL’s——- ie. 0.6 cubic kilometres.
.
Lake Argyle in the Kimberleys = 10,380 GLs
.
Mean annual runoff in the Kimberley region after enviro and transpiration is equivalent to = 152 mms / 16% of the annual rainfall of 950 mms.
.
estimated / modelled Kimberley annual runoff flow = 12,980 GL’s
.
Murray / Darling basin annual runoff flow = 23,850 GL’s
.
Murray / Darling basin total annual water volume before transpiration, evaporation and enviro losses. ie ground water recharge etc = 2, 070,000 GL’s
30
“Jon Brodie from the University’s Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies …..”.
I think a new name is needed for this Centre after reading this article from Graham Lloyd in the Australian. Extract and link below:
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/james-cook-university-dragged-into-global-research-scandal/news-story/c4157b4961cf772e1f3aa3935520fc92
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John,
I’ve never seen a last sentence so powerful.
130
Ah! The dog ate my laptop excuse.
70
Six years ago the population of Pygmy Squid in breakwater mariner in Townsville numbered in the thousands. Researchers from JCU started collecting large numbers of them on a weekly basis. The numbers have now decreased to so few a to be very rare. My count this morning was 4 in an area that used to have at least 50.
160
Manmade depletion?
81
.
Annie @ # 4.3.1
Off topic.
Annie, remiss of me to not also say a thank you also for your comment and support and best wishes for my OBE back a number of headline posts.
And I also read all of your posts maybe it is because you are a woman venturing into a very male dominated stronghold here, a male dominated strong hold which would you believe, has been created and is led and controlled by a woman in the form of Jo who seems to be able to somehow keep all of us males in line.
You seem to have a very subtle feminine softening of your comments for which “subtly” darned if I can put a finger on.
So please keep your comments coming because you often throw another viewpoint in compared to the male dominated viewpoints here.
20
Thank you ROM for your lovely comment.
We women may be fewer here but I hope we are helpful. This is a wonderful blog and I learn so many new things as well of being reminded of things I’ve long forgotten!
Three cheers for Jo! 🙂
71
It does explain the much smaller diameter of calamari rings.
60
One wonders why ‘researchers’ needed large numbers of the squid each week. Perhaps you’re thinking what I’m thinking?!
21
John of Cloverdale (WA) said:
(meaning the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies)
Would this suffice:
“The Centre of Excellence for Forging Coral Reef Studies .” ?
70
Are you allowed to say that.
20
KK said:
Of course I am. Why not?
My OED says:
forge verb with obj
1 To make or shape some thing, usually metal objects, by heating it in a fire or furnace and hammering it. (working it.)
• figurative: create (a relationship, or new conditions or concept) the university is forging a new future, the partners forged a close bond
2. produce a copy or imitation of a document, signature, banknote, work of art for the purpose of deception.
Which meaning do I intend?
What proof have you of your choice?
Frustrating isn’t it? 🙂
40
“We’ve shares in the very best companies – – ”
or something like that
“From twitter:
Robert Barnes @Barnes_Law
Wonder why @Comey let Hillary walk for using personal email to conduct official business? Because #HorowitzReport finds: “Comey, Strzok and Page used their personal email accounts to conduct FBI business.” ”
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2018/06/14/dueling-foundations-lawfare-happy-birthday-mr-president-ig-report/#comment-96390
100
Or maybe I should have used this heading from SDA
“When The FBI Does It, That Means That It’s Not Illegal”
70
If you are one of those who likes to have the latest technology in home , office or personal and you think that JCU is acting like George Orwells “Big Brother” of his dystopian book “1984”, then think again as what the JCU dwellers [ I can’t bring myself to call them scientists after some of the devious crap they have been promoting ] are experiencing might be fairly low key compared to what might be your future experiences with your connected home and its white goods.
Hacking The Connected Home: When Your House Watches You
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Given that all Intel CPUs since about 1995 suffer from the Meltdown vulnerability and the Spectre one as well, things online are going to be distinctly hairy. Intel is apparently not considering any recall (bye bye Intel) even in the face of now three Class Action Suits. They’re still talking “mitigation.” So there will be more and bigger Lawfare.
AMD CPUs are not vulnerable to Meltdown but are to Spectre. I haven’t looked so I can’t say ir there is any Lawfare against AMD out there, yet. I run AMD machines and have my fingers crossed that OpenBSD can handle it. I’m not using Linux at the moment but I’m thoroughly enjoying Linus Torvalds invective being flung at the poor Intel engineers …The Spectre vulnerability is supposed to be very difficult to exploit but I’m not betting on it even if I am risking it.
IBM Power Cpus are vulnerable as are some (but not all) ARM Cpus. (power many smart phones).
I’ve reverted to a simple cell phone handset and won’t use it online at all. Many cell phones use the ARM hardware, so check yours.
Most of the common OS’s are trying to mitigate, so expect some noticeable slowing down in IO tasks esp. Internet access when updates with mitigation are made.
Note: both of these are hardware vulnerabilities and not operating system or other software holes. Mitigation action has to be taken by the kernel of whatever operating system you use. You will experience some IO slowdown from mitigation patches to your OS. If you have been updating regularly and things seem to be slower, then it could be this.
Don’t panic but consider your actions on line carefully.
I wouldn’t recommend enabling your Connected Home in any shape or form just yet, ROM. Not until it has completely “cured” hardware. Otherwise, it won’t be just the House watching you but the CIA, the NSA, MI5 & 6 etc etc and the rest of the world, too. 🙂
20
The ARM chips that are at risk are the newer big ones with large pipelines. Pretty much all the older smaller ones like used in older Cell Phones are immune.
So only if you have a new “Hot” fast phone or tablet with an ARM chip is it an issue. The ones in question have ‘superscalar” listed as a “feature” here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ARM_microarchitectures
It is that “out of order execution” that is exploited by Specter.
40
Thank you E.M.
Yes, I’m aware it’s all in the branch predictive area. It went someway to satisfying my curiousity for the multitude of web browser updates this year. I’ve got 6 versions of Firefox for the last three months alone, about the same for Vivaldi etc. Javascript interpretation was the researcher’s tool or chosen path for accessing other processes data so I might have made the point about keeping one’s chosen web browsers right up to the minute.
Any interpreted code would most likely be exploitable, not just javascript but that’s the most commonly used one at the internet interface.
O/T but of interest (to me).
Have you succeeded in making Devaun sit up and perform? I tried Betas 1 and 2 but gave up because they both demanded access to their site of origin and I had no Internet then. I had decided to wait until our fibre installation reached me first.
00
The best defence is an air gap, and dont get me started on theose stupid all-of-house snooping AI bots that snoopi-zon and gurgle offer…..
A connected house ( especially anything IoT ) is a security nightmare waiting to happen.
We dont even have wifi, for much tha same reason.
00
ROM
Be ultramodern. Connect them with fruit cans and string if you really want connectivity.
10
O/T
You may be interested in this talk.
The Hon. Tony Abbott—the former Prime Minister and current Member of the House of Representatives—will give the second Bob Carter Commemorative Lecture.
The Lecture will be held at CQ Functions in the Melbourne CBD, on Tuesday, 3 July 2018, starting at 5:30pm.
The AEF established the lecture series to commemorate the life and work of Bob Carter, an AEF Director and its Scientific Adviser at the time of his death in 2016.
Our Events page has more details. Bookings should be made through Eventbrite [link here].
http://www.australianenvironment.org/news-1/2018/5/29/tony-abbott-to-give-aef-lecture-melbourne-cbd-3-july-2018
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We’ve booked for that.
42
I will book for that,
31
I wish. I hope it ends up on youtube or similar. A simulcast would be nice. Right, I’m off to check the pages …Bizzy Bak Sun.
31
The sub editors will be sharpening their pencils, looking for that catchy headline, Tony Abbott said ….
This is about Ridd and corrupted peer review. It would be ideal if Tony, as leader of the ginger group, employed Professor Ridd to advise them.
20
I know what it’s about, thank you. Tony Abbott is no intellectual slug despite some … interesting decisions—and who can say they haven’t made mistakes?—and I’m interested in the subject, but not sufficiently so to board an aeroplane.
20
Here is where you can read some of the legal statements of claim filed for Prof Ridd.
https://platogbr.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/2018-05-18-amended-statement-of-claim-1_redacted.pdf
Geoff.
71
JCU’s Intellectual Freedom Obligations and in accordance with JCU’s Code of Conduct.
‘Intellectual freedom includes the rights of staff to: Pursue critical and open inquiry and participate in public debate, and express opinions about issues and ideas related to their respective fields of competence.’
———–
Ridd spoke outside peer review because the system has become corrupted by enlightened self interest.
91
That explains it. Universities these days do not have much intellect hence little intellectual freedom abodes. So when someone like Prof Ridd tries to use his great intellect the University blows a fuse. Sounds familiar…
Trial Pontifex: 1138 THX is charged with violation Appendix 445613-EX78.7: Drug Evasion. Malicious xxxxx Perversion and Transgression.
Trial Prosecutor: Immediate destruction! On the basis of an Echo TRX 314. Totally incurable chemical imbalance with socially deteriorating…
Trial Defender: Reject! Reject! Inefficient, unwarranted, destruction. Must be saved!
Trial Prosecutor: If allowed these erotics to exist…
Trial Defender: Inane. Inane. What is the prosecution doing?
[from the movie THX 1138]
In Prof Ridd’s case he was effectively charged with Falsehood Evasion. Malicious Perversion and Transgression of Untruths. Immediate destruction! On the basis of University standards.
60
Universities have lots of intellect: it ranges from poor and ignorant to excellent, selfish, and cunning/devious, all shades!
It’s a matter of where the Right Stuff resides. Administrators seem to be like the driftwood which washes ashore after a storm, of insufficient intellect to do any research after their PhD. Some might have even awarded themselves PhDs or Professorships without the necessary research or other requirements just because they could, but, of course, that is just pure and wild speculation.
20
Slightly off topic. Its been news for the past week that men of leftwing literally world regular had sex with two underage sisters with the blessing of their mum, some 40 years ago. I can’t find one mention by the ABC. Might be because many there were friends with Bob Ellis. Even reported by the Guardian but not the public broadcaster hovering $1.1b a year not to be biased.
80
Q:- Whats the difference between a plastic drinking straw and a typical LPU (Least Publishable Unit) of ‘research’ put out by so many universities these days?
A:- Nothing. They are both cheap, disposable, easily manufactured devices to suck up ‘sugar’, soft drink in one case and soft funding in the other.
80
Q:- Whats the difference between a plastic drinking straw and a typical LPU (Least Publishable Unit) of ‘research’ put out by so many universities these days?
A:- Nothing. They are both cheap, disposable, easily manufactured devices to suck up ‘sugar’, soft drink in one case and soft funding in the other.
40
Julie Bishop says “it was disorientating to see President Donald Trump “chumming up to a man who oversees a vast gulag of political prisoners” … http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-14/julie-bishop-drops-truth-bombs-after-a-tumultuous-week/9870626
Yet, Julie Bishop is not disorientated when President Donald Trump entertained Al Gore who “needs to Punish Climate-Change Deniers” …
https://www.ecowatch.com/al-gore-at-sxsw-we-need-to-punish-climate-change-deniers-and-put-a-pri-1882022405.html
Of course this has nothing to do with Peter Ridd and any coincidences perceived are purely accidental.
110
If it was up to her we’d be goading NK to a full out war situation with millions dead as a result. At least Trump is trying the path to peace. He’s no fool though. Plan B is tougher sanctions and Plan C is war. Let’s hope he succeeds with Plan A, unlike the likes of her and the Democrats in the US who all they want it to start a war. How ironic that the Democrats before Trump was elected they all exclaimed how Trump would lead us to war. Some in both the LNP and ALP suggested the same thing. How the tables have turned. Yet some people seriously suggested she be the next PM?! They got to be kidding.
131
love how FakeNewsMSM, including theirABC, seemed to love Kim Jong-Un until he met Donald Trump:
27 April updated 3 May: ABC: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shows sophistication in unscripted Korean summit moment
By China correspondent Bill Birtles
But if the 30-something leader was nervous about this historic handshake, he didn’t show it.
As South Korean President Moon Jae-in waited on his side of the demarcation zone at the border, Mr Kim smiled, walked over and was the first to speak as the two leaders shook hands for about 30 seconds.
Both smiled as cameramen scrambled around them to capture the moment…
As Mr Moon gestured for the pair to walk into South Korea towards the ceremonial area, Mr Kim stopped him and invited him to take a historic step of his own into North Korea.
It was a moment that appeared to catch the far more seasoned South Korean leader off guard.
Mr Moon hesitated.
So the younger man took his hand and together they hopped back over the border line as officials applauded…
***It appeared to be a rare moment that veered off-script, one where a young leader long ridiculed abroad as a caricature showed his sophistication at a high-pressure showpiece event.
And it set a warm tone as both men proceeded to smile and chat as they inspected a military band and posed for photos with their respective officials.
The two were handed flowers by a South Korean boy and girl, residents of a village situated in the demilitarised zone.
Walking on the red carpet rolled out for the two heads of state, the pair were met by a South Korean honour guard in historical costumes and playing traditional music…
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-27/kim-a-step-ahead-in-historic-handshake/9703500
Trump Derangement Syndrome sets in:
15 Jun: ABC: Donald Trump made new friends … and new enemies in a week where he put on a show
By Washington bureau chief Zoe Daniel
Kim Jong-un is “talented”. Justin Trudeau is “dishonest and weak”. Friends are enemies. Enemies are friends.
I’ve flown around the world and back this week and, man, oh man, is the water going backwards down the drain or what?…
Just a reminder Kim Jong-un is a brutal dictator who tortures and murders people in a prison state that has likely the worst human rights in the world.
Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans are in camps starving to death as we watch the pics of their leader on a loop making nice with the President of the United States and taking selfies in Singapore…
Just as he overhyped the potential of the meeting, Donald Trump is overplaying the result…
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-15/donald-trumps-big-week-in-singapore/9873270
13 Jun: ABC: China is a clear winner from the Singapore summit with Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un
By North Asia correspondent Matthew Carney
US President Donald Trump called the declaration signed at end of the summit with Kim Jong-un “comprehensive” but it only contained four generalised main points and was very light on detail…
At this early stage China is a clear winner…
***This is a golden opportunity for China to consolidate its ambitions of dominance in Asia…
12 Jun: ABC: Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un in Singapore a macabre spectacle that offers hope
by Matter of Fact host Stan Grant
There really is much that is deeply distasteful about this meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.
Here is a leader, Mr Kim, who holds an entire nation hostage to secrecy and fear.
He is brutal, he has been accused of ordering the murder of family members; he exhibits all the hallmarks of a psychopath…
30
“President Trump goes outside the White House wire to explain North Korea deal”
http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2018/06/president-trump-goes-outside-the-white-house-wire-to-explain-north-korea-deal.html
20
Yes I watched the whole event on Sky News Extra. Trump actually showed up better than the other times in front of large audiences. He came across as a real person with much integrity and honesty. So refreshing and different to the usual politician. Turnbull and Obama in comparison look like a sleazy old gas bags.
10
“I wouldn’t be taking my foot off the throat of North Korea until I saw very concrete steps that this time, they were genuine,” Ms Bishop said.
Bishop is out of step with reality, Kim will open up the gulags and free the prisoners, and she should be supportive of Donald’s efforts.
The cold war is over in this part of the world and we are about to witness an economic revolution, and the main beneficiary (besides North Korea) will be Beijing.
30
Wonder if Kim has offshore detention camps?
00
followup to David Maddison & Annie – did you know Ridd will be there?
Tony Abbott to Give Carter Commemorative Lecture
***Dr Peter Ridd will move the vote of thanks. Peter was a former colleague of Bob Carter at James Cook University and was recently sacked for criticising his colleagues’ research on climate change—something for which Bob Carter had previously been sanctioned.
http://www.australianenvironment.org/events
***”white male” smear merchant Reafearn doing his usual ugly thing. read it if you must:
15 Jun: Guardian: Inside the AEF, the climate denial group hosting Tony Abbott as guest speaker
The Australian Environment Foundation has secured a former prime minister to speak. But what does it actually do?
by Graham Readfearn
Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy recently got Kevin Rudd. Australia’s Nelson Mandela Day committee has snaffled Julia Gillard for their next annual lecture.
What about our most recent former PM, Tony Abbott?
Next month, Abbott will deliver the “2018 Bob Carter Commemorative Lecture” to the Australian Environment Foundation (AEF), where the ticketing site says he’ll talk about “Climate Change and Restraining Greenhouse Gas Emissions”.
The AEF is an “environment charity” that promotes views that wind turbines make you sick, that human-caused climate change isn’t really a thing, and that environmentalists (the other sort) are killing farmers, fisheries and the economy…
***When Abbott delivers his lecture, he’ll be introduced by Dr Peter Ridd, the controversial marine scientist sacked from James Cook University for alleged multiple breaches of its code of conduct…
The AEF’s current chair, lawyer Tom Bostock, was also a board member of the Lavoisier Group – another collection of conservative ***white males that came together in 2000 to fight Australia’s engagement in United Nations climate agreements and to attack the science of human-caused climate change…
Abbott’s lecture will be the second in the “series” – the first was delivered in November 2016 by Canadian denialist Tim Ball (that’s the one YouTube video on AEF’s channel)…
Ball’s speech was a classic of the climate denial genre, mixing conspiracy theories, hatred of “leftists” and disregard for any evidence contradicting a view that climate change is the “biggest deception in history”…
I emailed three of the listed AEF directors – Ridd, Bostock, and Alan Oxley, the former Hawke-era diplomat and now chairman of the APEC Study Centre at RMIT University.
I asked about the charity’s activities, how they secured Abbott’s appearance and the charity’s apparently defunct projects (including the Melbourne strippers) but I didn’t get a response.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2018/jun/15/inside-the-aef-the-climate-denial-group-hosting-tony-abbott-as-guest-speaker
30
“I asked about the charity’s activities, how they secured Abbott’s appearance and the charity’s apparently defunct projects (including the Melbourne strippers) but I didn’t get a response.”
Sounds more like “No answer was the stern reply”
10
Yes Pat, we did know that Prof Ridd is due to be there. We are looking forward to it.
11
Oh Darn it,
I won’t be able to be there.
10
That’s a pity Peter C, we met you at the first one when Tim Ball spoke.
I wonder if any others who comment here intend to go?
01
behind paywall – but found some excerpts in Pickering Post comments:
Top energy users to shoulder NEG costs
The Australian – 1h ago
A group of 100 of Australias biggest energy users will be required to shoulder responsibility for ensuring the security of the national energy market by contracting their own back up or agreeing to dial down usage.
The National Energy Guarantee design document that was put to state ministers this afternoon will call for a system of contracts for big energy users that would effectively reduce the cost to electricity retailers of ensuring the lights stay on at times of stress in the system.
The NEG would require businesses using 5MW or more of peak load as well as the retailers to sign up to the reliability requirement to ensure there is enough dispatchable energy in the system to keep the lights on.
The deputy chair of the Federal Government’s Energy Security Board, which designed the details of the policy, said the reliability obligation would apply only to the biggest users, accounting for around 30 per cent of the country’s electricity consumption.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/heavy-energy-users-to-bear-costs-of-maintaining-market-reliability-under-neg/news-story/6cd734b607382b90df58cd089ab08c3d
50
There goes any chance of more aluminium smelters being built in OZ.
Is there nothing that our politicians can’t stuff up? sarc
150
wal1957:
I think that the Dog Registration Act is safe – unless they hear about on TV.
I am in the Mayo electorate and have decided to vote for the ousted member. Not because I endorse her views or think that she is the best choice. All things being equal I judge Georgina Downer far and away the most intelligent and certainly the one with the most commonsense, but I feel that electing her, or even giving her an improved vote over the last hopeless Liberal is too big a risk. It would cause Turnbull to yelp about how he can win the next election and he and Frydenberg will continue destroying Australia.
Turnbull can’t win away, all Labor has to do is get rid of Shorten and they will have a 60 seat majority. They can then totally stuff things up in their usual manner, and in 5 years we will have to rebuild the country.
50
Vote Informal, for peace of mind.
00
I will never vote Informal.
In one case, long ago, my wife and I voted Liberal and we got rid of someone whose party, not him specifically, had behaved badly towards us.
The margin was much less than 100 votes.
The system works, imperfectly, but it is still better than the one in North Korea.
KK
40
North Koreans can’t vote and Australia has compulsory voting, chalk and cheese.
Hopefully before the next election I’ll find a reason to vote for the Nats, otherwise its informal.
10
G’day Pat,
Here’s the ABC version:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-16/energy-guarantee-draft-puts-pressure-on-big-business-power-users/9876200
I find the hide of the goverment breathtaking – we’ve created the problem, now you (business) fix it.
Cheers,
Dave B
30
rinse…repeat…rinse…repeat…rinse…repeat
30
Desperation by AEMO. They want to keep the lights on before the next election, but that may be difficult. The longer Lord Emu hesitates the more chances the flying pigs won’t work for Josh Frydenberg and the higher the chances we will have blackouts. Labor will win, and if they dump Shortoncredibilty they will have at least a 60 seat majority. They will then stuff things up in their usual manner, until even the greediest bank won’t payroll them anymore.
The only good aspect is that lots of “Liberals” will get the (well deserved) boot and we may get some commonsense back into a major party. If not then the Conservatives will have to take charge of the recovery.
10
Off Topic:
Good read at WUWT
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/06/15/fellows-of-the-royal-geological-society-pushback-over-climate-position/
This is the lead-in… “Back in 2010, 43 fellows of the Royal Society wrote to its then president, Paul Nurse, to complain about the unscientific tone of the society’s messages on climate change. A few days ago, a group of 33 current and former fellows of the Geological Society wrote an open letter to their president in similar vein.”
70
15 Jun: SMH: ‘Frankenstein’s monster’: Energy plan may allow states to ‘free ride’
By Nicole Hasham, Peter Hannam & Cole Latimer
States and territories that slash greenhouse gas emissions will likely do the heavy lifting while others would be allowed to do less under the Turnbull government’s update of its signature energy plan.
Energy analysts raised concerns about the latest updated National Energy Guarantee, with one describing it as a “Frankenstein’s monster” rather than a “light hand” of management…
The guarantee would force electricity retailers to ensure minimum standards of emissions reduction and reliability of supply – for the first time integrating climate and energy policy in Australia.
The government says the measure will reduce electricity prices, provide investor certainty and encourage investment in low-emissions power generation…
Critics say the guarantee would stymie investment in renewable investment, prop up ageing coal-fired power plants, make inadequate cuts to dangerous greenhouse gas emissions and potentially lead to higher prices…
The guarantee will seek a 26 per cent cut in electricity emissions by 2030, based on 2005 levels – in line with Australia’s Paris targets…
‘Smoke and mirrors’
States and territories including the ACT, Victoria and Queensland have strong renewable energy targets that seek emissions cuts beyond the national goal.
Anthony Lynham, Queensland’s energy minister, highlighted his state’s concern with the possible impact on electricity bills and its “interaction” with the state’s aim of reaching 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030…
“We’ll carefully examine the proposed National Energy Guarantee and consider what it means for Victoria,” Lily D’Ambrosio, the state’s energy minister, said.
“Meanwhile, we’re getting on with reaching our renewable energy target, which will create jobs, reduce emissions and bring down energy prices.”…
FROM COMMENTS:
***fizzybeer BAN ALL DONORS: Yet another instance of saving time by starting off from a position of lack of trust of the Liberals when there is any mention of renewable energy.
As per usual the right wing NSW energy dinosaurs will be cosseted at the expense of the other states doing more than their fair share.
Similar to the attitude of letting other nations do the work while we attempt to catch a free ride.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/frankenstein-s-monster-energy-plan-may-allow-states-to-free-ride-20180615-p4zlsk.html
***when Fairfax writers won’t inform their readers about the failure of most countries to stick by their voluntary Paris Accord pledges, etc, you can hardly expect their readers to know better.
30
pat:
See my 14.1.1 – we have no hope when all sides believe that getting rid of the cheapest method of electricity generation and installing the most expensive will lead to lower prices. It is necessary to change our political class, and only a collapse and depression will do that.
60
This in a way is off topic yet it seems to me at least to be relevant to the JCU situation repeated to a greater or lesser degree in most of the modern academic bubble reinforced strongholds.
Jo’s lot here being a pretty switched and well educated mob will most likely know of and will have heard of Trofim Lysenko, the Russian biologist who reigned supreme in the USSR’s agriculture during Stalin’s era of despotic rule.
To quote from ;
The Soviet Era’s Deadliest Scientist Is Regaining Popularity in Russia
Now my point here is that this type of human catastrophe could never occur under a “representative democracy” where the voters elect a representative to represent their interests in the parliament.
Usually in a democracy the political pundits will tell us that the politicians are responding to or will respond to the demands of the voters.
And that is the sole reason why a democracy, messy as it may be in so many facets, more or less works according to the political pundits.
I differ somewhat from that belief which is only a partial explanation I believe as to why why we don’t have our own Lysenko’s and the millions of consequent deaths in a democracy.
In a democracy there is a regular albeit an often rather disorganised and somewhat chaotic change and turnover of persons and political power groups who may hold more or less some of the trappings of power which if they aren’t careful and doing the right thing and maintaining the confidence of those who elected them, will find themselves once again on the street learning about life at the bottom.
In a democracy a section of science as an example but which can be applied to all sectors in a democracy, and its practioners will hold power and be able to initiate their policies and beliefs in their sphere of influence whilst a group of politicians who may not be there after the next election runs interference for that same [ scientific] clique and helps to promote and oversee and implement their policies.
And then the next democratic election and maybe the inevitable slew of new faces and opinions and a change in some or most basic policies..
And lo! the former [ scientific ] clique finds itself on the political outer before it gets all its policies into place and might even find itself having to answer some very awkward questions as as to why a rather serious situation now exists due to the cockups that under the previous political regime they easily got away with.
The emphasis with the messy but democratic changes in the power structure has switched from one facet or more of society to another and newer facet of society such as for example, sewerage or roads or whatever where the available funding and the limited political capital for the new generation of politicals as voters will apportion will be better spent as far as the new set of politicals believe..
There is only so much political capital and so much funding available to politicians and to who ever exercises power and decision making in a democracy
So that political capital and the economic power available will be directed into another facet of society rather than continuing on with an older situation and all its faults as they are now seen after the demise of its former political and bureacratic support system.
So in a Democracy, the always changing power stucture inevitably leads to an always changing emhasis from one section of society to another section or aspect of society .
And so there is a balance which might at times appear lop sided but sooner or later will be corrected sometimes in spades, by both time and yet another lot of politicians with a different outlook and a different emphasis on the various aspects of our democratic society.
JCU has as has other academic establishments, got away with a dictatorial control of the scientists and personnel within their establishments for a long time.
But here’s betting that the next couple of generations of politicians in our democratic society will, with the knowledge of the problems within the academic establishments now becoming common knowledge, will move right on into the hallowed walls of the increasingly corrupted from a learning and science supporting systems aspect, our higher instutions of learning and science to clean up and force out those academics and academic power centres who are not prepared to redevelop the path to real science in those academic institutions.
After all the politicians hold the key to most of the funding that those institutions and universities now receive.
And the politicians have only so much political capital from the voters that could be used to expend on defending the corrupt practices of those same institutions.
The end so as to speak is near for the manner in which many of our western institutions of science and learning are operating today.
81
ROM
I saw a comment recently to the effect that
“Lysenko’s findings were useful to Stalin but much more useful to Lysenko”
10
problem not yet solved, but some good news:
15 Jun: TheSouthAfrican: Cape Town rejoices as water gushes through Theewaterskloof dam [video]
What a beautiful sight!
By Tom Head
The Cape is onto a winner this winter. The rainfall has been copious, and it has gone where it’s needed. Theewaterskloof dam will certainly testify to that.
As shared by ReenvalSA, even more relief has come to the Villiersdorp facility.
Over the last few weeks, dam water levels have increased by around 12% – that was before torrential storms throughout Thursday.
It seems as if Theewaterskloof can expect another rise itself this week.
Watch water flowing into Theewaterskloof dam here: VIDEO…
It was forecast that around 50mm would drench the region during Thursday, but some reports suggest that the figure could have topped 70mm…
Dam levels rose to 32% (UPDATE 33.7%) of their capacity this week, but that still means 68% of it is empty…
No matter how hypnotic these videos may be, level 6b water restrictions are still in place for Cape Town…
https://www.thesouthafrican.com/theewaterskloof-dam-water-rainfall-video/
MULTIPLE VIDEOS: 14 Jun: TheSouthAfrican: Cape Town storm: Capetonians caught up in the pounding rain It’s madness out there!
By Nic Andersen
The Cape Town storm of June 2018 has been pounding down so far on Thursday. The winds are gusting and the heavens have opened up. Capetonians are loving it so far, though Attempting to stay dry, however, that is almost an impossible task.
While Capetonians have known that this storm was coming for the last few days, locals travelling early this morning took to social media to share the storm’s effect in their area.
https://www.thesouthafrican.com/cape-town-storm-rain-video/
sadly, South Africans are now suffering from rolling blackouts as Eskom workers continue with illegal strikes, as their demands for higher wages are not met.
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Sadly drought is probably the least of their problems. The downward spiral will continue.
10
unbelievable:
13 Jun: The Hill: Let’s have a worthy debate about sea level rise
By Michael E. Mann and Andrea Dutton
The basics are easy to understand. As the oceans warm, seawater expands. As glaciers and ice sheets warm, they melt. To deny these facts is not just to deny climate change. It is to deny basic physics. This is precisely what Fred Singer did in his June 8 commentary in The Hill entitled “There’s no need to panic about the rising sea level.” (Tell that, by the way, to those in Miami Beach or Hampton Roads Virginia, in New York City, North Carolina’s Outer Banks, or yes, Washington, D.C., itself.)
Singer is arguably the granddaddy of modern-day climate change denialism. His latest commentary echoes the same misinformation as his recent Wall Street Journal commentary, “The Sea Is Rising, but Not Because of Climate Change.” It presents a virtual laundry list of discredited climate change denier talking points. No, sea levels aren’t rising at a steady rate — they are in fact accelerating. The rate of ice sheet melting in Greenland and Antarctica is also accelerating, in part due to warming oceans that erode the ice from beneath, destabilizing it…
Singer indeed knows that he doesn’t have the facts on his side, so he engages in distortion and diversion. For example, he takes a swipe at one of us as an “alarmist,” attacking the “Hockey Stick” curve published more than two decades ago demonstrating that recent warming is unprecedented in at least a thousand years. That work has been overwhelmingly reaffirmed and extended by subsequent work by numerous independent scientific teams. But professional climate change deniers continue to attack the curve because it is an iconic reminder of the profound impact that we are now having on this planet…
Without strong policy to quickly slow and eventually eliminate fossil fuel emissions, the seas will rise faster and faster, resulting in trillions of dollars of economic damages and displacement of hundreds of millions of refugees from every coastal city in the world. That may sound daunting — and the implications of scientific research sometimes are — but scientific knowledge also can be incredibly empowering. Allow us to empower you to have the courage to pivot and confront.
Michael E. Mann is distinguished professor of atmospheric science at Penn State University, director of the Penn State Earth System Science Center, and author of four books, including “The Hockey Stick and The Climate Wars” and most recently, “The Madhouse Effect” with Washington Post cartoonist Tom Toles.
Andrea Dutton is an assistant professor of geological sciences at the University of Florida and a leading expert on rising seas. She was featured in a recent PBS NOVA documentary on climate change. Rolling Stone named her one of 25 People Shaping the Future in Tech, Science, Medicine, Activism and More.
http://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/391548-lets-have-a-worthy-debate-about-sea-level-rise
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“Give me a reason taxpayers should send one more dollar to this institution.”
Because the left does not generally create wealth, it destroys it. Absent rule of law, private property,
and objective consideration of reality in business decisions, leftist governed institutions consume more than they produce, thus
requiring consistent infusions from the productive body of society, until it too is bled dry. Academics cannot continue to decree knowledge upon us if we don’t fund them. You are not supposed to ask questions. This blog is subversive. You are challenging the livelihood of one of the few institutions holding society together, and endangering the whole planet with your climate carping.
Pay your darn taxes and shut up….you should not question your betters. Stop driving cars. Stop having children. Stop using paper bags. Your meagre salary is a gift from the state; were we not here to organize life you would be living on scraps provided by some tribal chief. We only exist to serve the people.
“It’s a cookbook.”
50
15 Jun: ClimateChangeNews: Development bank climate funding jumped 28% in 2017
Global banks gave $35.2bn in climate finance, although much of it was in ***loans or did not reach those countries most in need
By Soila Apparicio
Finance was up 28% on the previous year according to a joint report (LINK) published by a group of MDBs on Thursday. “Collectively, [the banks] have committed almost $194 billion in climate finance during the past seven years in developing and emerging economies,” the report says.
According to the report, a third of mitigation finance went towards renewable energy and a fifth on energy efficiency and low-carbon projects…
Not all of the cash given out by MDBs ends up in developing countries. The European Investment Bank (EIB) in particular supports projects inside Europe. Poland alone received more than 5% of the total finance over the past three years, despite being defined as a high income country…
***81% of the finance recorded by MDBs in 2017 was given as loans, while just 4% came from grants…
Finance should act as compensation for the emissions that developed countries put out, according to Mattias Söderberg, senior advocacy adviser at NGO DanChurchAid.
“The logic behind loans is a contradiction in terms of climate finance,” Söderberg told Climate Home News. “It’s important to agree on what kind of money to count, otherwise the promise of $100bn will be empty.”
“Climate finance is absolutely one of the most important elements of the Paris Agreement”…
http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/06/15/development-bank-climate-funding-jumped-28-2017/
10
the amount of time politicians spend on CAGW is frightening:
15 Jun: ClimateChangeNews: Germany to pressure rich countries to pledge new climate cash
The Petersberg Climate Dialogue will start a replenishment drive for the Green Climate Fund and focus on protecting jobs in the shift to clean energy
By Megan Darby
Germany is expected to start a drive to replenish the Green Climate Fund (GCF) at a meeting of ministers and climate negotiators in Berlin next week.
The fund is central to delivering the rich world commitment to mobilise $100 billion a year by 2020 in climate finance to developing countries…
Top officials from 30-35 developed and developing countries will attend the Petersberg Climate Dialogue from Sunday to Tuesday. The forum, hosted by Germany for the ninth year, offers a space to thrash out political issues that can make or break the UN climate negotiations.
Participants are not likely to arrive in Berlin ready to pledge new cash, a spokesperson at the German environment ministry told Climate Home News. But the hosts will prompt them to unlock funds from their domestic budgets to keep the GCF going…
Samantha Smith from the International Trade Union Confederation is due to hold a press conference alongside German environment minister Svenja Schulze on Monday morning.
“That is something new, we haven’t had a union rep at that kind of talks before,” said the ministry spokesperson. “That is a new signal to include social justice at these negotiations.”…
Germany is set to miss its 2020 emissions reduction target in part due to concerns about the impact of climate action on jobs.
http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/06/15/germany-pressure-rich-countries-pledge-new-climate-cash/
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14 Jun: ClimateChangeNews: South Africa draft climate law would set emissions targets for every sector
The bill calls on every part of government to coordinate in climate action, but South Africa’s heavy use of coal remains its biggest challenge
By Megan Darby
It does not specify legally binding targets but cites the country’s submission to the Paris Agreement, which aims for greenhouse gases to peak by 2025, plateau for a decade, then decline…
One of its biggest challenges is shifting away from coal, which is mined for export as well as dominating power generation.
Nearly 12GW of new coal plants were in planning or construction phases in January, according to Coal Swarm’s global database. These include Thabametsi and Khanyisa, which researchers from the University of ***Cape Town say are no longer needed amid declining demand.
Ahmed Mokgopo, campaigner with climate network 350 Africa, said government pro-coal policies contradicted the goals of the climate bill and South Africa’s international commitments. “In determining what is fair and equitable in drafting the climate change bill, no new coal should be built, ever,” he said.
Wind and solar power started to undercut new coal plants on price years ago, but renewable energy deployment faces resistance from trade unions over the loss of mining jobs.
State utility Eskom eventually signed power purchase agreements with 27 renewable generation projects in April, after a two-year delay. Energy minister Jeff Radebe announced a new bidding round earlier this month…
Harald Winkler, climate and energy professor at the University of Cape Town, said: “Overall, providing a legal basis for climate action is an important milestone. However, many details in
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14 Jun: Reuters: Exclusive: Global warming set to exceed 1.5°C, slow growth – U.N. draft
by Alister Doyle
Global warming is on course to exceed the most stringent goal set in the Paris agreement by around 2040, threatening economic growth, according to a draft report that is the U.N.’s starkest warning yet of the risks of climate change.
Governments can still cap temperatures below the strict 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7° Fahrenheit) ceiling agreed in 2015 only with “rapid and far-reaching” transitions in the world economy, according to the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The final government draft, obtained by Reuters and dated June 4, is due for publication in October in South Korea after revisions and approval by governments.
It will be the main scientific guide for combating climate change…
“Economic growth is projected to be lower at 2°C warming than at 1.5° for many developed and developing countries,” it said, drained by impacts such as floods or droughts that can undermine crop growth or an increase in human deaths from heatwaves.
In a plus-1.5°C world, for instance, sea level rise would be 10 centimeters (3.94 inches) less than with 2°C, exposing about 10 million fewer people in coastal areas to risks such as floods, storm surges or salt spray damaging crops…
IPCC spokesman Jonathan Lynn said it did not comment on the contents of draft reports while work was still ongoing.
“It’s all a bit punchier,” said one official with access to the report who said it seemed slightly less pessimistic about prospects of limiting a rise in global temperatures that will affect the poorest nations hardest.
The report outlines one new scenario to stay below 1.5°C, for instance, in which technological innovations and changes in lifestyles could mean sharply lower energy demand by 2050 even with rising economic growth.
And there is no sign that the draft has been watered down by Trump’s doubts that climate change is driven by man-made greenhouse gases.
***The draft says renewable energies, such as wind, solar and hydro power, would have to surge by 60 percent from 2020 levels by 2050 to stay below 1.5°C “while primary energy from coal decreases by two-thirds”.
By 2050, that meant renewables would supply between 49 and 67 percent of primary energy.
The report says governments may have to find ways to extract vast amounts of carbon from the air, for instance by planting vast forests…
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-report-exclusive/exclusive-global-warming-set-to-exceed-1-5c-slow-growth-u-n-draft-idUKKBN1JA1HD
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Governments cap temperatures? yep, [snip]
[The word I snipped will get you stuck in moderation every time. As much as it’s tempting to do, Jo really does discourage name calling.] AZ
00
behind paywall – part of excerpt from Carbon Brief:
Chevron under fire over Australian CO2 emissions
Financial Times-8 hours ago
It follows moves by the Western Australian government to force Chevron to begin offsetting carbon dioxide emissions from its gigantic and Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities. The $2.5bn CCS plant at the Gorgon site will inject up to 4m tonnes of CO2 into a reservoir 2km below Barrow Island, a nature reserve off Western Australia’s coast…
also on Carbon Brief:
FT Guide: The Energy Transition
The Financial Times has launched a new guide to the “energy transition” – the long-term restructuring of the energy system away from fossil fuels and towards renewables. In the first of six instalments, the FT delves into the role of the energy producers, examining “how new technologies and environmental concerns are transforming the energy mix across the world’. The guide includes articles on how coal is fading in the developed world but is far from dead in Asia, why renewables and high costs are challenging the case for nuclear power, and how natural gas is vying for a big role in the shift to low-carbon economy. The next instalment, on the role of citizens, will be published on 31 July.
20
an ego to match Mann’s!
14 Jun: Guardian: Bill McKibben: Big Oil CEOs needed a climate change reality check. The pope delivered
At a gathering of fossil fuel executives at the Vatican, Pope Francis spoke much-needed common sense about climate change
You kind of expect popes to talk about spiritual stuff, kind of the way you expect chefs to discuss spices or tree surgeons to make small talk about overhanging limbs.
Which is why it was so interesting this week to hear Pope Francis break down the climate debate in very practical and very canny terms, displaying far more mathematical insight than your average world leader and far more strategic canniness than your average journalist. In fact, with a few deft sentences, he laid bare the hypocrisy that dominates much of the climate debate.
The occasion was the gathering of fossil fuel executives at the Vatican, one of a series of meetings to mark the third anniversary of Laudato Si, his majestic encyclical on global warming…
Yes, Donald Trump notwithstanding, most countries have begun to take some steps to reduce demand for energy over time…
But no one has been willing to face the fact that we have to leave more than 80% of known fossil fuel reserves underground if we have any chance of meeting the Paris targets. No company has been willing to commit to leaving the coal and oil and gas in the earth, and almost no nation has been willing to make them do so…
In Australia, the Turnbull government backs a massive new coalmine; in Canada, the Trudeau government literally buys a pipeline to keep the tar sands expanding; in the US, the federal government might as well be a wholly owned subsidiary of the fossil fuel companies.
In fact, as Francis points out, it’s not just that these companies and countries are committed to digging up the reserves they currently have. Even more insanely, they’re out there exploring for more…
But Francis also understands that our current approach makes no mathematical sense. We can’t have a nice, slow, easy transition because we can’t put barely any more carbon in the atmosphere. We must solve the problem of energy access for the poor by using renewables, not fossil fuel, because “our desire to ensure energy for all must not lead to the undesired effect of a spiral of extreme climate changes due to a catastrophic rise in global temperatures, harsher environments and increased levels of poverty”. Above all, we’ve got to pay as much attention to actual reality as we do to political reality: “Civilization requires energy, but energy use must not destroy civilization!”
It’s odd to have the pope schooling energy executives on the math of carbon. But actually, no odder than NFL quarterbacks schooling politicians on racial injustice, or high school kids schooling a nation on the danger of guns. Amid the unprecedented wave of nonsense coming from DC, it’s good to remember that there are still people of all kinds able to pierce through the static and the shouting. Good common sense speaks even more loudly when it comes from unexpected corners.
Bill McKibben is the Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College and the founder of the climate campaign 350.org.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/14/big-oil-ceo-climate-change-reality-check-pope
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Bill McKibben and the pope might have been drinking special water! See Pat’s next comment.
21
is there something in the bottled water the CAGW mob drink?
14 Jun: WaPo: Speaking of Science: Climate change is moving fish around faster than laws can handle, study says
by Kate Furby
Fish don’t follow international boundaries or understand economic trade agreements. Different species live in regions all over the globe. If that wasn’t complicated enough, they also migrate as they age.
“It’s like trying to raise cattle when you’ve taken down all the fences,” said Karrigan Börk, a professor at University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law whose background includes a PhD in ecology. “Except you can’t even brand the fish. There’s no way to know which fish is yours.”
And in response to climate change, vital fishery stocks such as salmon and mackerel are migrating without paperwork. According to a new study being published Friday in Science magazine, coastal countries need to collaborate even more on international fishing regulations to prevent misuse of resources. Food, environmental and economic securities are at stake, it warns…
The researchers’ analysis is based on economic, legal, statistical and ecological data, which they used in sophisticated modeling to predict the future of international fisheries and to make recommendations for success…
“This isn’t some imaginary future threat,” said Malin Pinsky, an assistant professor at Rutgers University who helped lead researchers at six universities in a half-dozen countries as part of the Nippon Foundation-University of British Columbia Nereus Program…
On average, it says, fish are venturing into new territories at 43 miles per decade, a pace expected to continue and accelerate…
Challenges will only increase, according to the researchers. One reason is that policymakers often move more slowly than the fish…
But if fish stocks migrate to a new country before management is in place, there may be a period when the fish are literally lawless, meaning not governed by any entity.
“A fishery that’s shared for the first time [is] like two kids facing off for the last piece of cake,” Pinsky said. “They’ll race to grab it and get cake smeared all over the table.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2018/06/14/climate-change-is-moving-fish-around-faster-than-laws-can-handle-study-says/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f02dfc5a0444
10
Oh boy! Since when didn’t species migrate?
31
How could Academics have been so careless to get caught coniving in E-mails. If only they’d realised, Climategates I, II, & III might never have happened.
40
read it all – very funny:
14 Jun: LSE/Grantham: Bob Ward: Another failure to tackle fake news about climate change
The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) has today demonstrated again that it is unwilling to take action against fake news about climate change that appears in its member newspapers…
In January, I complained to IPSO about an article by Christopher Booker, the veteran columnist for The Sunday Telegraph, which included several inaccurate and misleading statements about the trend in winter temperatures in North America…
The newspaper also pointed to Mr Homewood’s website, which draws attention to the fact that NOAA corrects the records of weather stations across the United States during the process of calculating climate trends. These corrections are necessary because many stations have replaced their instruments or changed their methods over time, which can mean that the raw measurements cannot be compared. For instance, some weather stations have changed the time of day at which they record the temperature, which has introduced a systematic bias when trying to compare measurements from the early 20th century against more recent ones.
All of these corrections have been independently scrutinised and documented in scientific papers over the years. For instance, Matthew Menne and co-authors published a paper in the journal Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society in July 2009 which discussed why these corrections were necessary and how they have affected the overall record.
It is clearly ridiculous that Mr Booker should claim that these corrections constitute “one of the greatest scientific scandals of all time”.
So with Mr Booker’s claims being so manifestly untrue, why did IPSO decide that there had been no breach of the Editors’ Code of Practice, Clause 1 of which states: “The Press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information or images, including headlines not supported by the text”?
The answer lies in IPSO’s weird interpretation of the Code as it applies to climate change, where it consistently treats all information as just a matter of opinion. In this case, newspapers are permitted by IPSO to publish as much demonstrably inaccurate and misleading information as they like, as long as it is labelled as ‘opinion’…
IPSO also told me that it does not need to consult scientists or any other experts before deciding on complaints about the misreporting of climate change.
IPSO’s consistent failure to act against fake news about climate change has many consequences. It confirms that the UK’s system of self-regulation for newspapers remains hopelessly broken. It is not surprising that many newspapers, including The Guardian, The Independent and the Financial Times, have refused to join IPSO.
IPSO’s failure also helps to undermine the public’s confidence in the integrity of journalists. A recent opinion poll shows that only 27 per cent of the public trust journalists to tell the truth, placing them just ahead of professional footballers and politicians. In contrast, 83 per cent of the public trust scientists to tell the truth…
Most importantly of all, IPSO’s actions are allowing newspapers to harm the public interest and putting people at greater risk from the impacts of climate change. It is the systematic misreporting by newspapers like The Sunday Telegraph that is contributing to public confusion about climate change. A recent survey (PDF), for instance, found that only 30 per cent of the UK public realise that the vast majority (80% or more) of scientists agree…
http://www.lse.ac.uk/GranthamInstitute/news/another-failure-to-tackle-fake-news-about-climate-change/
30
an organisation so shabby even The Guardian wont sign up to it, thats a new low
10
I would like to preface my comment by saying that I think JCU was wrong in firing Peter Ridd, because I do believe that they are stifling academic freedom.
Having said that, this may have been pointed out before (I haven’t read all the comments), but the fact is that the university’s email system, and all the emails in it, actually belong to the university.
When you use your employer’s email system, your emails are not private: they are the property of the employer and the employer has the right to read anything you have written, because when you use their email you are representing their organization. That’s why an employee can be disciplined or sacked for sending porn or other inappropriate material via the employer’s email system. The employer owns the emails, and the employer makes the rules.
People think that their work email is the same as their home email. It is not.
62
Interesting point, would these email rules be set out in an employment contract or JCU tenure?
40
I’m not sure if the email rules are ever explicitly laid out or not, but the employer provides the email address to the employee for the purposes of carrying on the employer’s business.
30
It’s like sending out a letter on the employer’s letterhead.
30
If that is all true then probably most employees of every organisation is breaking the rule in some way or another even in the normal course of one’s employment. I don’t see a lot of follow-up sackings. The matter becomes much bigger than just academic freedom. It becomes a matter of the rights of an individual to have freedom of dissent. Unless one believes the organisation owns the person who wrote the email, which is illegal since that would be slavery, then I would have thought the right to dissent overrides the rights of the organisation. We are not talking about something that’s illegal such as conducting paedophilia over the internet, or doing something against the rules of the organisation such as distributing porno material. We are talking about the freedom to disagree with the organisation’s view on any matter, which as I already stated probably happens all the time during the course of a normal day at any organisation. It’s a totally different thing and the position of the line of dissent to be drawn then becomes a matter of contention and must be spelled out precisely in the employment contract. Good luck on that one.
30
Could come under the employers intellectual property clause that protects ideas or discoveries within that organisation?
This is only applicable if anything intellectual actually exists in universities today………
20
True but we are not talking about intellectual property. We are talking about dissent and freedom to state an alternative position on a scientific matter.
00
Does the same go for what you say on tbeir telepbone?
30
Same rules should apply. So an employee should be able to talk to his manager over the phone and disagree with him on an issue without the fear of being sacked. I have done so many times in my past careers.
40
I think in most cases problems come with HOW the employee disagrees with his or her manager on an issue, not WHETHER an employee disagrees.
Generally, before firing an employee you have to have a paper trail outlining the infraction(s), how they were dealt with, any disciplinary measures that were taken, how the employer tried to help the employee work through the problems, etc. Unless there is a truly gross offense (e.g. literally caught with your hand in the till stealing money), you really have to have quite a dossier justifying why you are firing that person. Otherwise, the employer is just asking for a wrongful termination suit.
It seems to be a little different in the ivory tower of higher education, however.
20
If you are unfortunate enough to be recorded, yes.
30
Using a company or an organisation’s e-mail system to contact those outside of the organisation for non company or non organisation purposes without the permission of the senior executives is very similar to writing a letter on a sheet that is headed with the company’s or organisation’s official letter head.
Using those sheets with the company’s letter head, sheets which therefore are the company’s / organisation’s property and which represent the company/ organisation , for personal reasons or to criticise the company or organisation to those outside of the company or organisation and all done without any executives clearance would and should be looked upon with considerable displeasure by the company executives and CEO’s.
Using one’s own means of communication to put a point whether critical or not might make the executives uncomfortable but there is little that they can do about it unless the report / missive is highly defamatory, except to reprimand , discipline or fire the author and owner of the personal communications report.
And those executives had better make damn sure they are on very solid legal grounds if they are going to fire somebody on the basis of what was in a private missive and on a communications system that was completely independent of the company or organisation involved.
.
——————
Just to show how cocked up some internal communicating systems become when bureacracy overwhelms common sense;
Some three decades ago now there was a bureaucrat in the Civil Aviation Department of the times, a bureacrat in every meaning of the word who tried to get every gliding club in Australia that was located on an airfield used by power aircraft, thrown off that airfield using some very obscure aviation regulations to do so.
The same bureaucrat used to write voluminious reports and quite literally send letters addressed to himself so that it was all recorded and to which he could refer to such letters when he was challenged.
That was another of those very painful problems I got involved in when that bureacrat closed down our local 8 day annual gliding competion here in Horsham where we had close to 60 gliders, some from as far away as Queensland , a hundred or so participants and a half a dozen tug aircraft on the field.
A couple of hours before the first briefing at the Saturday morning start of 8 day long the competiton I recieved a phone call from this bureacrat’s sidekick and lackey in the aviation department.
As the Operations Director for the competition I was both responsible for and ran the entire operation.
So I was the guy who was going to get arrested for ignoring the Aviation Departments regulations if we went ahead with the competition according to a direct phone conversation I had with this bureacrat’s sidekick and lackey.
Common sense from the very top of the Department in the next few hours meant that even though we had lost a days flying, the way was cleared the way for our competition to continue for the rest of the week.
That bureacrat had finally exceeded his authority by a wide margin and in effect was subtly stripped of all the former power he had wielded over the aviation industry..
Later negotiations with the executives of the Civil Aviation Department drew up a new agreement and operational requirements for gliding competitions Australia wide , most of which agreed criteria are still in place today.
In the end the bureacrat was just plain run over by the senior people in the department.
20
ROM
That sounds like one from up here. Council owned strip and they had invited the local gliding club to use it. Rep of the Department of “Whatever its Name Was That Week” buttoned the shire chairman and announced that
“There wasn’t room at that strip for the Department and a gliding club”.
To be told that
“Well it is going to be f-ing tough for the department then”
30
Another Ian
I wish there was one of those animated little figures around here for clapping hands!
10
That is an interesting comment. I don’t think many employees, including the academic staff of JCU and also including Prof Peter Ridd, appreciated that.
Ridd may have been naive or foolish to use his JCU email to contact a journalist with a story!
10
O/T but late for the last thread
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/06/15/antarctic-melt-story-overdone-by-liberal-msm/
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The Antrarctica Melt story is not only over done. It may be totally wrong!
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/06/15/nasa-glaciologist-jay-zwally-puts-the-hammer-down-antarctica-is-gaining-ice/
20
I wonder if it’s all academics using personal emails now or only 97% of them.
40
Here’s an interesting observation in certain circles of law:
Personal Email Definition:
An email sent by an employee within an employer’s server but which serve no business purpose.
20
dont really think that is a a general definition of personal email
you could equally say that the address you use rather than the content is the personal part. My old company had no issue using their network to do personal emails (gmail, live etc) that didnt exist on their system. On other other hand, work email guidelines were simple. Would you feel comfortable explaining what you just wrote in court??
00
I don’t see the issue. It would be the same as using the organisation’s phone system to discuss a personal matter with say one’s spouse. It’s a personal conversation not a business one. Of course if someone uses the organsiation’s email or phone system to conduct an illegal conversation, such as planning a crime then it would be grounds for dismissal. However, that’s not what we are talking about here. We are talking about normal conversations between two private individuals about personal affairs that have no relevance to the business being conducted on the premises. Hence the term personal email even though the business email system is being used. People do it all the time although for privacy purposes it would make more sense to use a private email account.
00
Worked for Comey, Clinton et al
60
Well, there is a saying “give ’em enough rope”.
Perhaps the rope-buying department at JCU could make use of an extra dollar.
30
The could use the extra money to forge a merged international high quality institution with Evergreen College in the USA. I think there would be powerful synergies there.
40
If emails are fair game and the Vice Chancellor and his staff read all of Prof Ridd’s emails to build a case for his dismissal, it was not based on a complaint. Not only does this look at a minimum like entrapment and fabrication, but it opens a Pandora’s box. It would be equally appropriate for Peter Ridd’s lawyers to demand access to all the Vice Chancellor’s emails, private and public and without privilege and to have the judge order that they not be destroyed.
It is clear that the emails were examined simply to manufacture a case for dismissal was the intent and that there was no case with discovery of what was arguably private information. Conversely the very idea that the University has rights over all communication, private and public is very nasty and can be used in reverse to establish a very good case for damages against the Vice Chancellor personally and as the most senior representative of JCU, against the university itself.
Why not examine everyone’s emails, internet history, banking. Where does it end? Where are there limits to the power of an employer to harass and intimidate and abuse employees simply because they are employees?
As for the ‘evidence’ presented, the idea that something might have been amusing must be the worst argument for dismissal in history. Is that all they could find? The Vice Chancellor’s email trail would likely show something closer to a criminal conspiracy to cause serious financial and career and personal damage to a person accused simply of ‘non collegial’ behavior. How ‘collegial’ is scouring his communications to find cause for dismissal? An appalling example of abuse in the workplace, invasion of privacy and bordering on criminal in intent to cause personal harm.
90
After all, there is no case that Prof Ridd sought to personally damage anyone. I would ask for the emails of everyone involved to be examined. An intent to cause damage to Prof Ridd might well emerge. The likely destruction of all emails would be taken as implying that this accusation has foundation and at the very least allow the dismissal of the evidence against Prof Ridd and a good case for damages against the people involved and the University which condones this personal and extremely damaging attack on a long serving member of staff with the intent to cause great personal and professional damage, ending his career. The irony is that he is being accused of ‘non collegial’ behavior. Sheer hypocrisy.
80
Also examination of the emails might reveal that Prof Ridd’s emails were made available to his adversaries for examination. There even might be a conspiracy to make sure he never worked in a university again, a lifetime punishment for offence taken.
Such a conspiracy to damage Prof Ridd may have happened and those involved can be brought into the case and show why they should not personally be liable for commercial damages if their intent is shown to be a lot less than collegial.
Why shouldn’t the university rules apply to the potential conspirators too? Why is Prof Ridd the only one who must show respect to his colleagues, or else? Where does privacy stop and start if his personal and professional correspondence is available to anyone at the Vice Chancellor’s whim and for the purpose of end a colleague’s career, without compensation.
How villainous can you get, a professional lynching for fabricatred misdemenours and potentially organized by the person entrusted with the responsibility of supervising professional behavior?
Discovery should be interesting. I was going to say, amusing.
60
In this operation of a central Univeristy mail server, was it made clear to all members of staff and even members of the public, that any emails sent or received become the property of the University and people lose all rights to privacy and content? Imagine if Hotmail did that? Or Gmail?
So whatever you wrote to anyone or anyone wrote to you is the property of the University with no restrictions and as directed by the all powerful Vice Chancellor, can be sent to anyone, read by anyone, published in court or anywhere else without your permission. It can be used in evidence against you without any need for a search warrant, order of discovery or even decency.
What research organization would tolerate that? What person would think that was reasonable? What point non disclosure agreements in R&D?
Where was this written in the contract or is the total loss of privacy implied in the job, while you are bound in an all encompassing code of personal conduct, the university and the Vice Chancellor in particular is bound by no laws, no decency, no concern for personal privacy and rights? Then to have that system abused openly to punish you with your own words, to self incriminate.
Why not record every word said on the telephone too, or open everyone’s mail or scan every written page to await the pleasure of the Vice Chancellor and his friends.
Wow.
50
you appear to draw personal lines that dont exist in the world outside
whose property would you think an email sent into any institution is?
Hotmail and Gmail routinely scour you email for useful content
10
When I first heard it, I thought Echelon meant flying in formation.
Tony.
20
It is the property of the recipient until proven otherwise, not withstanding any disclaimers on the bottom of the email.
The fact that the email goes through many hands does not mean it belongs to everyone. It would be presumed that personal or professional emails or data sent between two parties, neither of whom is the institution itself was not automatically property of the institution. Having the ability to examine backups of those emails or a personal account changes nothing. Our law does not rest on such rights and it will be an interesting test of Professor Ridd’s rights to privacy. We also have very strict laws about ordinary mail with criminal penalties, so it will be interesting to see if they can be used, but I believe this needs to be resolved.
It would be reasonable to expect that you had if not privacy from your employer then at least ownership. Michael Mann even established ownership of his data, data obtained at the University expense. Each country will be different but this does need testing.
Then there is the question of intent. If the intent of examination of presumed private emails was to cause commercial and personal damage to Professor Ridd, to discover an argument for his dismissal and if opponents of Professor Ridd were given access for this purpose, he has a real case for commercial damages against both the institution and others involved. Robbery, fr*ud, deception are possibly there but most of all for a case based on an argument of ‘non collegial’ behaviour, it destroys the basic argument for dismissal or equally, the dismissal of everyone involved.
20
There is also a great difference in so called ‘useful content’ and actually using the literal content, name, dates, correspondents to commit crimes like blackmail, extortion and to get you fired. Yes, there is a thin line, The university may have well passed that line in looking for evidence and quoting content to justify dismissal.
20
There is also no question that they have caused Prof Ridd great personal and commercial damage, blackened his name and with the intent to do so. In this they used the exact content of at least one email. A dangerous precedent which not only means he might get his job back, but has a good argument for commercial damages. The whole thing now looks more like blackmail than a simple administration. He refused to keep quiet, so the threat has been carried out using his own personal communications which anyone could expect to be kept private unless a crime has been committed. He has not committed a crime. I am not so sure about the Vice Chancellor.
10
There might even be a case for defamation and libel. It is not a question of whether they used facts, it is partly how such facts were obtained and the intent in the use of those facts. Truth is not an entire defence.
In the US constitution there is a right to privacy, to feel secure. Our laws are not based on rights but with damages and intent to damage and a case for restitution. Damages are unquestioned but the reason to invade Professor Ridd’s private email was to find evidence which could be used to damage him. This is now self evident.
Would Peter Ridd be employable from here? Would he even want his job back? Could he suffer serious health problems as a direct result of this invasion of presumed privacy by an employer or could the stress cause more serious damage, as with cartoonist Bill Leak? This is all very wrong, against the very nature of privacy and questions where there is any privacy in employment or who decides that the alleged misdemenour justifies ignoring any rights to privacy.
What crime exactly has Prof Ridd committed? What justified the administration scouring his private emails for evidence? What rights does he have? These will be interesting questions for all Australians and need to be tested. As for the expectation that Prof Ridd could not reasonable be expected to defend himself, that was true and it is only thanks to popular support, gofundme and publicity from the IPA, Andrew Bolt and others that he has any hope of justice against his infinitely wealthy employer.
I just hope he can stand the heat and takes the positive view that he is now fighting for the rights of all employees for privacy in their workplace and freedom from arbitrary and overwhelming oppression by an employer to limit his freedom of speech and occasioning total invasion of his presumed privacy.
30
On the other side are the hundreds of millions of dollars of funding at risk if what he says is even half true.
20
And what he said is only half as important as his right to say it.
20
just like that…
16 Jun: ABC: Andrew Bartlett to quit as Greens senator to make way for Larissa Waters’ return
By Caitlyn Gribbin
Former Greens senator Larissa Waters, who was forced out for being a dual citizen, is set to return to Federal Parliament.
Her replacement, Andrew Bartlett, has announced he will quit the Senate at the end of August to focus on campaigning for the Lower House seat of Brisbane.
One of the Greens’ strongest performers, Ms Waters spent six years in Canberra before resigning last year when realising she was a dual citizen, in breach of Section 44 of the constitution, and should never have been elected.
In a statement, Ms Waters said she was thrilled to, “become the first senator section 44’d to return to the seat she won”…
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-16/greens-senator-andrew-bartlett-resigns-larissa-waters-to-return/9877432
00
Is that permissible?
10
They have no scruples.
Illegally signing this declaration carries a criminal penalty of one year in jail. Even suspended, this means they are prohibited from ever sitting in any parliament.
Consider these are degreed and qualified lawyers signing and they can read. It is a very clear single page form. If they cannot read the law, why are they in parliament?
I do not believe for a second they are not aware that they are in parliament illegally. That means their vote is worthless and they owe 6 years of salary and costs, but they pretend to be innocent and ignorant.
How can we trust such people to write our laws when they have no respect even for our constitution? People who failed this test, like Barnaby, should be banned from ever entering parliament again. Every child of a foreign citizen knows they have rights, especially New Zealand. They didn’t want to give them up. It was not an old law or a wrong law, unless our Constitution is wrong. The law remains there to prevent our parliament being abused by people who have no need to obey our laws as they can flee the country at any time. Until the constitution changes, they should be banned from ever sitting.
Why did Pauline Hanson go to jail? On a technicality, signing a form which was true a day later. She returned the $250,000 money entirely but still went to jail!
What about $800,000 from Ms Waters and the rest, maybe a million dollars? Barnaby, $2Million. Plus jail terms. This poor innocent and ignorant act is appalling. Where is the outcry? Where is the rule of law in parliament?
10
15 Jun: BusinessUpNorth UK: Manchester energy start up business receives prestigious Ashden Award for its Virtual Energy Store
Last night Manchester’s Upside Energy received the 2018 Ashden Impax Award for Energy Innovation at a ceremony at the Royal Geographical Society in London. Upside Energy was honoured for its ground-breaking approach to balancing the National Grid. Its Virtual Energy Store™ shifts electricity use to help balance demand and supply, allowing the grid to integrate more renewable energy capacity and reducing the use of old, polluting power stations…
Former UN Climate Chief and key architect of the Paris Climate Agreement, Christiana Figueres, was the keynote speaker at the Ceremony…
In the past, the UK’s electricity system was kept stable by gas and coal power plants running below full power, so they could quickly increase or decrease output to respond to changing circumstances. But as renewable energy generation increases, there are fewer fossil fuel power plants operating, andthe use of polluting ‘peaking plants’ needs to be avoided because of their high CO2 emissions.
To tackle this issue, Upside Energy’s Virtual Energy Store™ connects to devices and energy storage systems that don’t need constant power. It temporarily turns them on or off to help balance the grid, reducing the need for fossil fuel power stations to do this, and enabling more renewable energy to be connected…
For example, an energy supplier could offer its customers Upside-enabled home energy storage in return for a cheaper tariff…
A distribution network operator could use Upside-enabled electric vehicles to smooth out peak demand at an overloaded substation, allowing more people to recharge their cars without an expensive upgrade to the substation…
The Ashden judges said: “Upside Energy’s innovative approach to flexibility has the potential to revolutionise the sector, making it practical to involve millions of devices in homes and businesses in keeping the grid stable.”…
https://www.businessupnorth.co.uk/manchester-energy-start-up-business-receives-prestigious-ashden-award-for-its-virtual-energy-store/
00
We have to confront the fact that education is a vast holding paddock for youth, something less than desirable for which there is no immediate alternative. Once accepted as such, education might become a cheaper, more practical and less self-important process. The way it is now we are doing less with more.
There are people who glorify going to the ‘loo, and there are people who glorify education. For most of us, both processes should be a matter of in-then-out. The problem is that too many people are stuck in education and there’s nowhere to send them all. Instead of accepting the situation we glorify, we propagandise. The move to a Swiss system of near-universal apprenticeship may take a while and may bring its own problems and exploitation, but anything is better than what we have now.
Indulging students and academics with mushy subjects, green politics and snowflake activism is just adding to the cost and ego-inflation which can only end badly for all when the kissing has to stop.
It’s obvious you need a few experts on coral but those experts need to be seriously bright with a lot of coral scrapes and shark experiences. Or they’re not experts, right? Brats (in lab coats to protect from coffee spills) fiddling with stats and models won’t cut it. Not saying you don’t need a few data crunchers but if I want to know about weather, coral or climate there are few old cockies and yachties who come to this site I’d ask first. Then I’ll consult the crunchers, but only if they haven’t mangled the data or used it to make pictures to fit the politics of this naughty world.
80
Back in the day when I was at High School, an apprenticeship was actually a path to follow, and you could leave school at the end of the 10th Grade to take up an apprenticeship, and it was considered a good thing for those without the aptitude to go all the way to grade 12.
Incidentally, that going on to Grade 12 thing. The aspiration was to go to University, and when I left at the end of grade 10 to join the RAAF, there were a number of my peers in the same year as me that I thought would end up at University. I kept in contact with around 15 to 20 of those fellow students, and only one of them went on to Uni, and she dropped out after a year. The others, friends I thought were very clever and would ‘go all the way’ to higher education took the fall back Teachers College. Oddly, I ended up with one of the better jobs of most of them. I have seen a couple of those friends over the years, and they just remained as average run of the mill Primary teachers and another one taught at a Private High School.
As to those going on to an apprenticeship, they went to what used to be called Tech Schools, which later became Tech Colleges, and then, when Labor wanted every one to go on to University, all those Tech Colleges morphed into TAFE and then most of them ended up becoming Universities anyway, or campuses of Universities.
Actual technical trades got downgraded so far that it assumed the standpoint of an (almost) failure of a life, and they wanted everyone to go on to Grade 12 for the
extra 2 years child mindingfullest education.It seems you were no one unless you had a Bachelors Degree, and then they also got slowly degraded so that the typical BA graduate these days is most heard uttering the common phrase ….. “Would you like fries with that?”
Education, in the pie in the sky ideal of becoming a higher achievement slowly became devalued to where it sits today.
Sorry about the somewhat depressing nature of the way I think currently, but it seems some people think of joining the Military these days as of someone who has somehow not quite made it in life, you know, not enough brains to actually achieve something.
Luckily, I have ALWAYS been immensely proud that I did join the RAAF when I did, and get that Trade, and think about this if you will. I was 15 years and nine Months old, when I joined as a Trades Apprentice.
Can you imagine any parent these days agreeing to a child of theirs of that age coming home and saying that they wanted to join the Military. There would be furious efforts to dissuade them or just outright not allow them to.
We were actually luckier in our days I think.
Tony.
80
Tony,
With my four score years up only a couple of weeks ahead, I often look back at my life experiences now and think to myself that I have lived through Australia’s golden years.
Interestingly when I bring this up on rare occasions amongst those of my generation there is almost universal agreement on our generation living in and through this golden era which most think is now passing into history.
It was period that was created by our parents who had come through the Great Depression which affected Ausrtralia just about more than any other nation due to the economic circumstances forced onto Australia by the debiltating financial programs promoted and enforced through recall of debt by the then still privately owned Bank of England which was also the British Central Bank equivalent at the time even though it was privately owned by stockholders.
The Bank of england was only nationalised and came under the British government ownership in 1946 and became independent of the political process in 1998 .
Then with so much still to be built and developed here in Australia done with a pragmatism brought home to Australia by the returning servicement from WW2 who had all the superflous ideological baggage stripped out of them as they faced the enemy where life’s essentials took on a whole new meaning,.
Our generation, yours and mine picked up where our parents left off and continued to build on our parents economic and social foundation that theyhad so firmly laid which by around 1990 had brought unparalleled living standards and wealth to nearly all Australians.
The old german saying of my mother and my grand parents; Clogs to clogs in three generations looks like it is going to contiue its path and hold through the current and next generation.
The first generation begins the business and lays the foundation that will bring success.
The second generation builds on the first generations efforts and creates a new level of wealth.
The third generation pisses it all up against the wall.
I often today get the impression that with all the wealth that is now Australia’s, that third generation is right in there hewing very closely to that clogs to clogs in three generations saying of my parents and grand parents..
——–
.
And as a byline I have noted for sometime that the clogs to clogs in three generations seems to hold in politics as well and most visibly in dictatorships, ie; the Kim family of North Korea is showing all the signs of the political version of the clogs to clogs in three generations is under way.
70
Nice one mosomoso.
I was alerted to your comment by ROM below.
Not sure what we do about the education problem now. Labor started it under John Dawkins (education minister in the Keating Government)
10
.
Mosomo @ # 37
I like that comment.
Just out of curiosity could you expand a bit on that Swiss near universal appreticeship system ?
Hopefully there are politicals or at least an odd few of their back room staff who read Jo’s blog and they might even pick your comments up.
30
ROM, some time back I was watching a show on YouTube where Swiss secondary kids were asked who was going to uni. Only a few put up their hands. The majority were passing into apprenticeships and there was not the least problem about it. All knew that there would be continued study, in some cases very tech, but that it would tied to occupational needs. In fact, there seemed to be no snobbery or prestige attached to tertiary ed for the Swiss.
The result is a well-paid, well-specced work force with desperate French neighbours clamouring to break into the Geneva job market just over the border. Not being part of the EU makes it a little easier for the Swiss to say no unless they want to say yes. Mind you, there are Swiss employers who don’t mind the idea of French “invaders” working for 20% less, so those “market forces” which have been adopted by the globalist left are straining against Swiss nationalist tendencies.
I’m not hoping for the Australians or the French to become like the Swiss. It just seems there may be lessons to learn and we’re not learning them because we have made a sacred cow of education.
The shows I watched on the subject were all in French but I’m sure there’s much in English on the subject of Swiss ed and jobs.
30
For any Francophones, this is one interesting show on the subject. It starts by pointing out that more than 2 out 3 Swiss kids leave school at age 15, something we would view as a social tragedy. That should get our attention!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJg-mY3aggU
30
Was probably the same in Australia 50 years ago before the elites decided to saddle everyone with an extra burden of schooling to hide the embarrassing unemployment trends.
Lots of people didn’t want an extra 3 years of confinement, they wanted work.
KK
30
KK
Quip from an ancient Reader’s Digest
“When almost everyone in USA has a Ph.D. the last plummer will make a fortune”
60
🙂
10
Swiss kids get assessed and streamed at a relatively early age into University or trade oriented schools (we lived there for 5 years). I am sure its efficient but also sure it crushes some individuals on the margins.
I take my own case and wonder where I would have ended up en Suisse. I was assessed with relatively high IQ but in those days there was no systematic approach as to what next (makes you wonder why they tested). Left high school early mainly due to boredom, did electronics trade school, then a succession of TAFE, Uni, Post grad all while working. At least in Oz I wasnt pigeon holed. Not sure if one system is any better than the other, the Swiss are stats driven and love a nice structured approach so it works for them.
40
The system would not have suited me much, as I’m a chaotic mick type. I do get on well with Swiss and Germans, probably because they regard me as comic relief.
But a country fabulously rich in coal, iron and bauxite should at least be able to have a large, advanced and advancing metal industry which combines education and practical experience. Instead we have bored kids trapped in school till their late teens, writing essays on the effects of CO2 on same-sex marriage between dolphins while smelters break down or go broke through lack of power and re-investment.
40
15 Jun: AEMC: Consumer confidence in energy retailers drops to new lows
Electricity bill-shock and lack of trust in energy retailers are driving Australians to take control of their energy bills by generating their own electricity with rooftop solar…
(AEMC Chairman, Mr John Pierce AO) said consumers who can, are opting for “do-it-yourself” rooftop solar
People are adopting new technologies to source their own energy as solar PV becomes more financially beneficial for households and small businesses.
There were 154,877 residential solar PV installations in 2017, an increase of 25 per cent from 2016, with 1.8 million Australian households now using solar panels.
This is expected to continue, with solar costs forecast to decline further.
This is good news for those who are able to engage with market transformation and take matters into their own hands. At the same time it risks increasing costs for those who are unable to make those changes and have to stay on the traditional energy supply model…
Consumers are taking matters into their own hands and adopting new technology…
•More people are investing in or considering solar PV, batteries and other options to reduce usage and improve efficiency.
•Between 41 per cent and 62 per cent of consumers across the National Electricity Market either have already installed, or are considering investment in solar panels.
•Between 24 per cent and 46 per cent are considering installing batteries in the next 12 months…
https://www.aemc.gov.au/news-centre/media-releases/consumer-confidence-energy-retailers-drops-new-lows
15 Jun: SanDiegoUnionTribune: Why solar mandate will add to California’s high cost of housing
by KELLY CUNNINGHAM
(Kelly Cunningham is an economist with San Diego Institute for Economic Research)
The solar mandate is an extreme tool for energy and environmental regulation far beyond tax incentives, education programs, and renewable standards for utilities. The mandate eliminates consumer choice and assumes only one option on all new homes with very limited exception.
Residential rooftop solar has a role to provide but far from the most cost effective or efficient option. Still developing and somewhat unreliable, solar panels imposed on not just some but every new home is a redistribution of costs forced on everyone…
According to business consulting firm Lazard, the net cost of energy generated by residential rooftop solar is twice the cost of solar panels on commercial and industrial roofs, as well as potentially costing as much as 10 times more than large solar farms. Even considering costs of high-voltage transmission and concerns over large installations in sensitive desert eco-systems, rooftop solar does not outweigh the huge cost advantages available from large-scale installations.
California already generates so much solar and wind power that production sometimes must be halted or electricity given to other states to avoid overloading the electric grid. During some midday hours utilities actually pay to consume electricity. Electricity system operators say they increasingly need to curtail large, less expensive solar producers because there is too much mid-day power. The new housing mandate will pile even more expensive power onto the excess. Net costs imposed on society therefore go up, while received value goes down. Retail rates are paid according to the state’s net metering policy, no matter location or time-specific value of the power. In the end the net amount of solar power across the state will not increase much, if at all, while more expensive rooftop solar is substituted for centralized solar energy…
Not only is rooftop solar not necessarily the best technology for low-carbon energy, it also imposes the commitment of current capacities to the next 30 years. Consider what was thought the best technology (and still viable) from 30 years ago…
Compelling homes to become even less affordable is no way to end the housing crisis. Requiring nearly $10,000 in current technology be installed on every new home disproportionately increases the burden of “affordability” on homes and apartment complexes. The added cost of homes selling in the millions may not be significant for the wealthiest of buyers, but proportional costs on lower-priced housing has significant weight. In economic terms this regressive distribution is a heavier burden on lower household incomes…
Californians currently moving out of the state tend to earn less than $30,000 per year and usually cite unaffordable housing as the primary reason for leaving…
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/commentary/sd-utbg-solar-mandate-oppose-20180615-story.html
20
15 Jun: Yahoo: Tesla’s Solar Business Is in Trouble
by Travis Hoium, The Motley Fool
Tesla has been shutting down its solar business since acquiring SolarCity for $2.6 billion in late 2016, and this could accelerate the former industry leader’s demise. Installations, which peaked at 253 megawatts (MW) in the fourth quarter of 2015, fell to just 76 MW in the first quarter of 2018 and show no signs of recovering. Tesla may be using its layoff announcement to shrink the solar business further, which may have long-term consequences for the broader company…
As part of the announcement, Musk also said a deal with Home Depot would be discontinued only four months after it was launched. which will undoubtedly lead to reduced solar installations. Sales efforts will be moved to Tesla’s retail showrooms, leveraging existing staff there, but showrooms haven’t proven to be a good place to sell solar. Again, it looks like solar will be de-emphasized after this week’s announcement.
Buying SolarCity could be a costly mistake
If it comes to it, shuttering Tesla’s solar business wouldn’t be a trivial matter for the company. Before being acquired by Tesla, SolarCity was given a $750 million subsidy by the state of New York to build the building now known as Gigafactory 2. But Tesla has to spend $5 billion in the state on solar manufacturing and installation-related activities to keep up its end of the bargain. Here’s the detail from Tesla’s Q1 2018 10-Q filing: ETC
What’s even more shocking is that competitors aren’t seeing the same declines in solar as Tesla is. Sunrun and SunPower have actually used Tesla’s weakness to grow their residential solar business and increase market share. The fact that Tesla is pulling back in solar indicates that something is wrong with the business. It could be underperforming sales channels, poor solar panel manufacturing, or problems producing the solar roof.
Whatever the reason, investors should be concerned that continuing layoffs in Tesla’s solar business could be extremely costly to the company long-term…
Disclosure: Travis Hoium owns shares of SunPower. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Tesla…
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-apos-solar-business-trouble-100200493.html
15 Jun: SolarPowerWorld: U.S. government is considering additional 25% tariff on Chinese solar modules
By Kelly Pickerel
In a message from SEIA to its members, the trade association confirmed that the federal government is considering adding an additional 25% tariff (LINK) to Chinese solar panel imports under Section 301 of the Trade Act…
In this investigation, solar cells and panels are listed under the category “8541.40.60: Diodes for semiconductor devices, other than light-emitting diodes.” While not explicitly referencing solar, other solar items have been referenced against that category code before. The potential new solar tariffs are subject to an additional review and are not official today by any means…
https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2018/06/u-s-government-is-considering-additional-25-tariffs-on-chinese-solar-modules/
00
15 Jun: SMH: Craig Kelly calls for party room clarification as emission gap widens
By Peter Hannam
Federal Coalition MP Craig Kelly has called on senior ministers to clarify Australia’s Paris climate commitments after the government confirmed the country had signed up to total emissions budget at odds with a “hockey stick” approach to reductions he had been advocating.
Mr Kelly, who chairs the backbench energy and environment committee, has been outspoken in his calls to delay action to reduce greenhouse gas emission cuts until the end of the 2030 period Australia has committed to in the Paris agreement.
“It’s essential the trajectory of the reduction in the emission intensity of the electricity sector is done in a hockey-stick shape, where the majority of the heavy lifting or major reductions are backloaded towards the end of the next decade,” Mr Kelly said in a post to Facebook.
However, Fairfax Media sought a clarification from the federal Environment Department and was told that the Turnbull government had signed up to a “cumulative emissions reduction task”.
The plan to cut 2005-level emissions by 26-28 per cent by 2030 meant the task required carbon pollution reductions of 868-934 million tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent over the period, the department said.
“Australia intends to take an ’emissions budget’ approach to tracking progress towards 2030, meaning that emissions in every year from 2021 to 2030 are included in accounting against the target,” a spokesperson said…
Mr Kelly told Fairfax Media that the total emissions budget – which largely precludes his plan of ramping up reductions closer to 2030 – was “completely different from what the [Coalition] party room had been led to understand”.
“If that’s what the Environment Department is saying, that is for sure contradictory to [my understanding] and [that of] many others in the party room” of the implications of the Paris goals, he said.
“It does make a very, very big difference,” Mr Kelly said, saying that the issue “will have to be clarified”.
Mr Kelly said he had also approached the parliamentary library service to have the department’s statement checked for accuracy.
Mark Butler, Labor’s climate spokesman, said the Turnbull government had “given up on reducing emissions and meeting our Paris commitments”…
Mr Kelly said he also had concerns that the government’s plan to cap emissions reductions in the electricity sector to 26 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030 would have big implications for other sectors of the economy that would be less capable of cutting emissions.
He noted transport emissions are projected to rise under a business-as-usual case from 80 million tonnes of CO2-e in 2005 to 110 million tonnes in 2030. A 26-28 per cent reduction would imply emissions from that sector dropped to about 60 million tonnes or less by 2030.
Taking “every single car off the road in 2030” would only deliver about 44 million tonnes of cuts, he said.
A similar problem exists in agriculture, “where about 90 per cent of emissions are animal farts”, and would be difficult to reduce merely by changing the type of fodder cattle ate, he said…
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/craig-kelly-calls-for-party-room-clarification-as-emission-gap-widens-20180615-p4zln4.html
16 Jun: Guardian: Government faces growing pressure over Heathrow third runway
Government faces criticism from its own advisors over failure to mention emissions targets as campaigners enter second week of hunger strike
by Matthew Taylor
The Committee on Climate Change [CCC] has expressed its “surprise” that there was no mention of the government’s legal obligations to reduce greenhouse gases when it announced it was backing Heathrow expansion plans earlier this month.
And environmental campaigners have stepped up their activities with protesters spray-chalking SNP headquarters in Scotland and staging a “die-in” inside Westminster. Eight activists are set to enter their second week of a hunger-striker in protest at what they say would be an “environmentally catastrophic” decision.
Lord Deben and Baroness Brown of Cambridge, chair and deputy chair of the CCC, wrote to transport minister Chris Grayling on Thursday to remind him that the government has a “legally binding commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Climate Change Act” and that it has “also committed, through the Paris agreement, to limit the rise in global temperature to well below 2C and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5C.”
The letter added: “We were surprised that your statement to the House of Commons on the National Policy Statement on 5 June 2018 made no mention of either of these commitments. It is essential that aviation’s place in the overall strategy for UK emissions reduction is considered and planned fully by your department.”…
“Higher levels of aviation emissions in 2050 must not be planned for since this would place an unreasonably large burden on other sectors,” it added…
One of (the protesting activists) involved, Robin Boardman, a student from Bristol, said that although a week without food was beginning to take its toll, it was a proportionate response to a “reckless and criminal” decision…
“Hundreds of thousands of people are already dying globally because of climate change and that figure is only going to go up. We have known about this threat for many years but our politicians have proved themselves unable or unwilling to take effective action.
“In the context of this knowledge, to push ahead with this expansion will be viewed as nothing short of a criminal genocide by future generations.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/15/government-faces-growing-pressure-over-heathrow-third-runway
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I went to a talk by Peter Ridd some months ago. He truthfully pointed out – with evidence – the errors that some JCU staff were making. He didn’t say they were lying… but they were.
He also pointed out the glaring flaw in the statement, “Peer Reviewed.”
Peer Reviews are “supposed” to be carried out by Peers unassociated with the presenter of the paper, or at least at arms length, without prejudice. Not only that, the reviewers are expected to repeat the experiment, and verify that the results are the same as in the paper.
Prof Ridd pointed out that this was not happening, in some cases. Presenters merely gave their paper to like minded friends or associates, who merely endorsed any findings without bothering to do an actual review, let alone a repeat.
I strongly suspect that this is occurring widely, in the climate change doom set. Not having access or the skill to do so, it would be interesting to see the reviews by peers, to see in any positive reviewer differed in opinion from the presenter.
So, the story is that Prof Ridd was told by JCU, not to differ with his colleagues, or at least, not to say or publish that he was differing.
And this is the charge by JCU. Not that he differed in his opinion, but because he had the temerity to say he was differing. And when he did, they charged him with “not doing as he was told.” That’s JCU’s lie and subterfuge.
The damning thing about this is that there is no attempt by JCU to discredit his work! They cannot do that without a lot of truth coming out. So, they chose the coward’s way, and lied.
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“Interesting signature line from a comment on the Devuan news & announcements forum:
“Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.”
I’d say that sums it up nicely 😉 ”
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2018/06/07/w-o-o-d-7-june-2018/#comment-96448
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15 Jun: Globe&Mail: PCs will end Ontario cap-and-trade program, Ford vows
by Shawn McCarthy & Justin Giovannetti
Ontario’s premier-designate Doug Ford is moving quickly to kill the province’s cap-and-trade program while preparing to battle Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over carbon taxes and climate change.
Once sworn in, the new Progressive Conservative government will immediately issue the required one-year notice for withdrawing from the carbon-allowance trading system in which it participates with Quebec and California, Mr. Ford said at a news conference on Friday.
His government will then work on legislation to dismantle the climate-change plan put in place by the outgoing Liberal government that imposes an indirect levy on carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of gasoline, diesel and natural gas…
However, the premier-designate gave no indication as to how he would regulate greenhouse gas emissions, if at all, or how he would deal with companies who have purchased about $2.8-billion in credits to comply with the existing regulations.
“In Ontario, the carbon tax’s days are numbered … they’re gone, they’re done,” Mr. Ford said, speaking at the legislature on Friday morning…
Backed by Alberta’s United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is pursuing a court challenge against the federal plan to impose a carbon tax in provinces that don’t have their own levy, whether direct tax or cap-and-trade system.
“I will be directing my attorney general to use all available resources, to use every power at the government’s disposal,” Mr. Ford said. “We will officially challenge the federal government’s carbon tax on Ontario families, because the cap-and-trade carbon tax does nothing for the environment, all it does is hurt small businesses and hurt families,” he said…
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-pcs-will-end-ontario-cap-and-trade-program-fight-ottawa-on-carbon-tax/
15 Jun: AFR: Turnbull government’s $2.5b Emissions Reduction Fund fights on for another year
by Mark Ludlow
The Turnbull government’s $2.5 billion Emissions Reduction Fund is unlikely to be topped up any time soon, after the latest auction delivered only $90 million worth of contracts, leaving more than $250 million in the kitty.
While some in the industry sector expected the ERF – which was the centrepiece of the Coalition’s Direct Action climate change scheme – to be wound up after it was superseded by the National Energy Guarantee, it is expected to survive as a more niche fund to help the agricultural sector reduce carbon emissions.
It was hoped after the first few auctions the fund would entice big industrial users to bid for contracts, but the results of the ERF’s seventh auction, released on Friday, showed it was predominantly used to reward farmers for planting trees.
Of the 32 contracts awarded by the Clean Energy Regulator for 6.7 million tonnes of abatement at an average price of $13.52 per tonne, 29 were for growing native forests or plantations, otherwise known as carbon farming.
The other three contracts were for a smart lighting upgrade project, a carbon soil and irrigation project, and installing more energy-efficient equipment at Rio Tinto’s Alcan Gove bauxite mine and alumina refinery in the Northern Territory.
Total abatement contracted under the ERF is now 192 million tonnes, with an average price per tonnes across all auctions at $11.97…
‘No transparent price signal’
Melbourne-based carbon consultancy RepuTex director Hugh Grossman said most big companies were still keeping clear of the ERF finding because of the administrative complexity and low price for carbon abatement…
But Climate Friendly manager Josh Harris – who has helped facilitate carbon farming contracts across Australia – said the ERF now covered 5 per cent of Australia’s land mass and was an effective way of reducing carbon emissions as well as providing a new revenue stream for farmers and indigenous communities…
“The ERF is in stark contrast to Labor’s $15.4 billion carbon tax which increased power prices for households and businesses with little emissions reduction to show,” Mr Frydenberg said.
“Results from this latest auction will help ensure we meet our 2020 emissions reduction target which we are currently on track to beat by 294 million tonnes. It will also help meet our 2030 target.”
https://www.afr.com/news/politics/turnbull-governments-25b-emissions-reduction-fund-fights-on-for-another-year-20180615-h11f5q
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16 Jun: SMH: Liberal Party council votes to sell off the ABC
By David Crowe
The Liberal Party’s peak council has voted almost 2:1 to privatise the ABC after hearing calls from members to save taxpayer funds by selling the public broadcaster in the same way icons like Qantas were sold decades ago.
The overwhelming vote on Saturday morning was another display of the anger at the ABC in conservative ranks although no Liberals offered any detail on how the organisation could be sold and how much it would be worth
The vote came in a series of debates where federal council delegates, representing Liberal branches from across the country, also voted for an efficiency review into SBS…
The Institute of Public Affairs and others on the conservative side of Australian politics have stepped up their calls for the ABC sale in recent months, at the same time Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has lodged a series of complaints over its news coverage…
Council delegate Mitchell Collier, the federal vice president of the Young Liberals, said he had enjoyed ABC programs such as Bananas in Pyjamas during his childhood but he believed there was no economic case for keeping the broadcaster in public hands.
“High sentimentality is no justification for preserving the status quo,” Mr Collier told the meeting…
Mr Collier backed the motion, which said: “That federal council calls for the full privatisation of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, except for services into regional areas that are not commercially viable.”
“There are several ways we could privatise the ABC – we could sell it to a media mogul, a media organisation, the government could sell it on the stock market,” Mr Collier told the meeting.
***He also cited a recommendation from Institute of Public Affairs member Chris Berg that would see the ABC sold to a group of employees who would become shareholders…
Nobody rose from the federal council floor to speak against the motion…
In response, Communications Minister Mitch Fifield reminded the meeting that privatising the ABC was not government policy…READ ALL
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/liberal-party-council-votes-to-sell-off-the-abc-20180616-p4zlut.html
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speaking of theirABC, when will they cover this story?
behind paywall. seems it is by Graham Lloyd:
Long-term dominance of fossil fuels unchallenged
The Australian-14 hours ago
Global demand for coal and gas to generate electricity was back on the rise last year… BP economist Spencer Dale says “the failure of renewable energy to make an impact on the fossil fuels share of power generation is striking”…
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The failure of renewable energy to make an impact on CO2 is striking. $1.5Trillion a year to lower CO2 and no observable effect?
So what do they want to do, keep doing something which does not work. Most of the money is profit. What’s left achieves nothing at all.
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“The share of non-fossil fuel in 2017 is actually a little lower than it was 20 years ago, as the growth of renewables hasn’t offset the declining share of nuclear,” Mr Dale said. Wind provided more than half of renewables growth, while solar contributed more than a third, but growth in energy demand, coal consumption and carbon emissions had all increased, the BP report said.
Global energy demand grew 2.2 per cent in 2017, up from 1.2 per cent the previous year with 80 per cent of increased demand coming from the developing world. China alone was responsible for more than one-third of increased demand.
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Bananas in Pyjamas is widely believed to be an ABC program. It isn’t. It is BBC.
Whenever there is a threatened cut to the ABC, or simply a failure to pay them more and more, the bananas are threatened. Fine. Let other people buy the contract but they cannot and will not outbid the ABC who pretend they own it.
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had to copy from cached version, as I got a warning not to go to the website. this is a rare article on Financial Times’ Energy Transition Strategies Summit:
14 Jun: CurrentNewsUK: ‘Transition? What transition?’ Ex-BP chief Hayward doubts global renewables progress
by Liam Stoker (editor, Solar Power Portal)
Glencore chairman and ex-BP chief executive Tony Hayward has cast doubt over the worldwide energy transition, arguing that the penetration of renewables worldwide is being outpaced by the demand for growth.
Hayward made the comments during the opening session of today’s FT (Financial Times) Energy Transition Strategies Summit, pointing towards figures included within the Statistical Review of World Energy published yesterday by the company he led between 2007 and 2010.
Within this year’s review BP stated that the share of coal in the worldwide power mix stood at around 38%, precisely the same as its share in 1998, hinting towards a lack of global transition towards renewable energy.
The same report indicated that there had actually been an uptick in carbon emissions from energy consumption last year, rising 1.6% after little or no growth during the three years prior.
Speaking this morning, Hayward said that the race for transformation in the energy sector was “failing to keep pace” with the race for demand growth in the world’s biggest growing markets, particularly China.
BP’s statistical review, for example, stated that energy consumption in China rose by 3.1% last year. China has been the largest growth market for energy in each of the previous 17 years.
Joan MacNaughton, chair of the board at NGO The Climate Group was, however, more upbeat, dismissing last year’s China statistics as a “blip” before arguing that the general consensus was that China remains “on track” to meet its own emissions reductions targets.
And Hayward was markedly more upbeat about the energy transition’s progress in other markets.
“There are clearly places where the transition is happening,” he said. “It’s happening in Europe because there’s not much demand growth as the population’s not growing, GDP is not growing and there’s very aggressive government policy.”
“In Europe you can say by the middle of the century 50% of the energy will be from renewable forms. But outside of Europe it seems to me we have a very big challenge in terms of the race for penetration versus the rate of demand growth, and I think that’s something that will be with us.”
This, Hayward added, would cast new importance on the way in which existing fossil fuel generators operate, hinting towards new generation gas plants and carbon capture and storage.
“In my view the transition has to be at least as much about how we burn fossil fuels as it is about new sources of energy. We’ve got to get to the point where there is much more focus and support and policy directed at driving a lower carbon intensity of fossil fuels if we’re going to get anywhere close [to climate targets],” he said
https://www.current-news.co.uk/news/transition-what-transition-ex-bp-chief-hayward-doubts-global-renewables-progress
Financial Times: FT Energy Transition Strategies Summit
Riding the Next Wave of Industry Transformation
London | 14 June 2018
(EXPAND TO SEE ALL 38 SPEAKERS)
Overview
The FT Energy Transition Strategies Summit: Riding the Next Wave of Industry Transformation will explore the latest trends and issues impacting the global energy industry. Our stellar line-up of speakers from across the energy spectrum – oil and gas, power and renewable energy as well as financiers and investors – will trace the contours of the energy transition, and share insights into its impact and likely future direction…
Join us at this timely and authoritative platform to discuss the major trends transforming the global energy industry and the leading-edge strategies to adapt, thrive and prosper in the brave new world which is emerging…
https://live.ft.com/Events/2018/FT-Energy-Transition-Strategies-Summit
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Konstantin Rozhnov at ArgusMedia gives the only broad account found online so far:
15 Jun: ArgusMediaBlog: Are you ready to say goodbye to your car?
by Konstantin Rozhnov
“I am not against fossil fuels. I use them myself every day… They are some of my best friends.”
This is quite a bold statement — even if made in jest — from someone who argues that investors in fossil fuels are doomed as the world transitions to a lower-carbon future.
Yet this is exactly what environmental think-tank Carbon Tracker’s new energy strategist, Kingsmill Bond, told the FT (Financial Times) Energy Transition Strategies summit in London this week.
Carbon Tracker analyses how investments could be affected by a shift away from coal, oil and gas.
Neither Bond nor many other proponents of a speedier switch to renewables call for an immediate energy revolution. “We are not saying ‘let’s give up on all fossil fuels tomorrow’. It definitely is a transition,” says Carly Magee, a partner at investment firm Foresight Group in charge of raising and deploying capital in the renewable energy infrastructure sector.
For starters, there are still some significant technological riddles to be solved before renewable alternatives to fossil fuels become scalable and can provide power 24/7. It includes the need to store renewable energy reliably.
“I run an off-grid farm. I have wind, I have solar, and I have a good old backup diesel generator for those foggy days when there is no wind, and there is no light — normally around November,” BP chief financial officer Brian Gilvary says. “So I know what it is like to run an off-grid, 100-acre farm.”
And then there is an issue of balancing the need to meet growing energy demand around the world, namely in developing economies, and address climate challenges. There are as many as 1.5bn people without access to electricity, while the planet’s population is likely to increase by 2bn over the next two decades, Gilvary says.
“[In total] 3.5bn more people liking as much energy as you have today — and if they get as much as you have, forget about the Paris climate change targets… We have to get more efficient about it,” he says.
The oil and gas industry insists that the immediate focus should be on reducing carbon emissions, rather than hastily abandoning fossil fuels in favour of renewables. “The transition has to be at least as much about how we burn fossil fuels as about new sources of energy,” says Tony Hayward, trading and mining firm Glencore’s chairman and former BP chief executive.
Centrica chief executive Iain Conn sees energy efficiency and the use of gas as “crucial in this next phase” of energy transition.
So how can each of us contribute to improved energy efficiency? Take cars, for example. A much talked-about switch to electric vehicles might be not as straightforward as it seems. “We need to go into this with eyes wide open in terms of the issues that come with very large-scale battery deployment,” Hayward says. Glencore provides raw materials for battery makers.
“If you look at the energy that comes out of a barrel of oil, you have to move around 500lb of stuff… To create the same energy out of a battery, you have to move around 500,000lb of stuff — you have to dig the stuff out of the ground, ship it around,” he says.
“One of the things we start to think about is — should we actually worry about whether there will be enough resources to supply battery materials for electric vehicles for everybody to own one as we own gasoline-fuelled vehicles?” Investec Asset Management’s portfolio manager, George Cheveley, says.
“Maybe what we should be looking at is whether there should be a new system where cars are not personally owned and governments bring in regulations, whereby you declare a city autonomous and everybody has to use autonomous vehicles that are not personally owned, and utilisation rates go from 10pc or less to 95pc a vehicle,” he says.
Providers of these autonomous vehicle services would be delighted, of course. But it remains to be seen whether policy makers and consumers will be ready to embrace such an idea.
Meanwhile, oil and gas firms are focusing on cultivating optionality within their portfolios, to convince investors that they can thrive in the energy transition.
“We will look to invest — as we did 20 years ago — in renewable low-carbon opportunities. But the difference from the past will be — it will be anchored to our existing businesses,” Gilvary says.
https://www.argusmedia.com/en/blog/2018/june/15/are-you-ready-to-say-goodbye-to-your-car
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“We will look to invest — as we did 20 years ago — in renewable low-carbon opportunities. ”
In the crippling of South Australia with useless wind, batteries and giant disel and shutting down whole industries and even the one plastics recycler for the state, what has the impact on carbon (Dixode) been? Zero.
So keep going? Of course. As long as they keep believing and keep paying, we will keep spending. Cash has no ethics. Like the munitions industry.
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Sometimes a weapon can be useful. Wind turbines and solar energy…
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Death of Vincent R. Gray on 14th May, 96, British-born New Zealand chemist and climate change sceptic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_R._Gray
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/08/08/validation-of-a-climate-model-is-mandatory-the-invaluable-work-of-dr-vincent-gray/
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We have lost one of the original and one of the best Freedom Fighters I have heard of.
I can hardly believe that he did not turn all of this nonsense around on his own!
But he did not, So we have to carry on. We will prevail in the end, because, science is correct, when properly practiced.
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‘Rank-and-file Liberal members today called on the government to sell off the national broadcaster’s city operations.’ Oz
Wait a minute, isn’t that on the One Nation platform?
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Anyone here in the “down under” up for this?
https://www.yahoo.com/news/australian-supermarket-giant-says-yes-mass-nude-photograph-075347154–finance.html
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dogs but you lot are slow on the uptake. Seriously, this the best you have fo stoking the outrage meter this week?
“Professor Brodie was the target of some of Peter Ridd’s criticisms, but he still feels the search of the outspoken academic’s emails sends a “terrible signal” to the rest of JCU’s academic staff. “A lot of people will be thinking about what they wrote in email they thought were private to the people they were sent to,” he told 7.30. “We know already lots of people are now not using the JCU email system, it’s happening now.”
Use of the Universities email system is an issue that has been coming up for years. Usually in the context of IR and Unions communicating with members. The position is that if you use the email, the University can, if they chose, look at anything on the system they own. Nothing new and its not unusual to use other email for stuff. Union people do it all the time.
Funny, some people think they are “safe” if they use gmail from their work desktop.
Storm in teacup and really old news people.
01
JCU ‘s position basically boils down to this: you can’t criticise or contradict what another scientist or institution says, unless through a journal. So this site also needs to be shut down, because it criticises what another scientist or institution says somewhere. And don’t forget you can’t testify in the court system, or even go on the ABC to state your view, if it differs from the Ministry of Scientific Truth. Morons. (Sorry, saying that’s not allowed either)
You can see how something like North Korea comes about.
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