Now here’s a wish – cyclists change traffic lights to green

Posted on December 10, 2015 by groundswellbasscoast

In Aarhus, the city government wanted to encourage biking, and they found that, second only to poor bike lanes, cyclists weren’t biking because they didn’t want to be stopping all the time. Planners wanted to find a way to give cyclists the right of way, to indicate that they were a priority…In a pilot program launched earlier this year in Aarhus, the country’s second largest city, 200 cyclists got radio-frequency identification tags installed in the spokes of their front wheels so that, when they approached a particular intersection, trash can-sized sensors would detect the cyclists and turn the light green.

>more> Grist.org

Posted in Events local | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Labor puts brakes on port rail project that would take 3500 trucks off road

Posted on December 9, 2015 by groundswellbasscoast

Currently, 100 per cent of Melbourne’s imports and exports are transported by truck. How crazy is that? The port-rail shuttle could transfer more than half – some 3500 truck movements a day – The analysis found those truck movements could be replaced by 56 daily train trips between the port and the three suburban freight hubs. The $58 million rail shuttle would shift 1.4 million containers a year to and from the port, GHD predicts, and reduce heavy vehicle emissions by 23,000 tonnes. The port-rail shuttle project has been suspended despite having $58 million of state and federal money committed to it last year, dismaying businesses eager to see the huge transfer of container freight from trucks to trains.

Otherwise, how about saving the foreign exchange cost of all that dirty diesel and, especially, use electric train power from zero carbon sources? News yesterday was that Premier Andrews had signed off on Western Distributor, a road part elevated part tunnel, $5.5Billion. Looks like winner is Transurban, a big Australian playing tax haven antics as shonky as Microsoft & Co. Winner without competitive tender!! No doubt, with both Port and toll roads by private sector, chance for rail will be strangled. Can we really afford “efficiencies” of private sector any more? Costs go up and services fall apart leading to blackmail of taxpayers for subsidies. Let’s keep Port public. Surely much cheaper to borrow to get rid of level crossings  City wide?

>more> TheAge

Posted in Events local | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

CSIRO: one in three staff ‘seriously considering’ quitting, survey shows

Posted on December 9, 2015 by groundswellbasscoast

Date of original is 12 months ago, referenced here as budget is restored to CSIRO. Question is – how many staff already departed? How many brains full of ideas and innovation are gone? Is the trend of budget cuts now stopped? Perhaps craziest aspect was major surgery on CSIRO Forest Research, not so helpful for Black Saturday bush fire investigation, surely needed to help Green Army performance capturing CO2 in tree plantings and farmers with carbon in soils and… 80,000 regional jobs in Forestry are at risk.  Is uncertainty what we really need to stimulate ideas and innovation?

>more> TheGuardian

Posted in Events local | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

No reason for Australia to be nearly last on climate list

Posted on December 9, 2015 by groundswellbasscoast

CCPI Logo.thumbnailHow shameful is this for the country with most raw wind and solar on the planet, ranking 58th out of 61?

>more> ACFOnline

Posted in Events local | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Paris COP21: Climate talks may not matter, because coal and oil will be redundant anyway

Posted on December 8, 2015 by groundswellbasscoast

There’s concern in Paris – and elsewhere – about whether the deal negotiated at UN climate change conference will be strong enough to drive global decarbonisation effort that everyone recognises is needed…Tony Seba, a leading academic from Stanford University, says it doesn’t matter…He says plunging costs of technology will sweep away political inertia and resistance of vested interests. So much so that by 2030, he believes coal, oil and gas generation and usage will be all but obsolete…One thing that Seba and Musk do agree on is the need to remove fossil fuel subsidies, which some would suggest includes the lack of a carbon price. “If they achieve that, it’s a huge goal,” Seba says. “Some of these targets will be pretty irrelevant. 2°C is not a target. Zero emissions is a target. We cannot control 2°C, but we can control zero carbon.” ..“Solar has been doubling installed capacity for years. But it started from a small base, so you ask yourself how many more doublings do you need to get to 100 per cent?..“In the case of solar, all we need is 7 more doublings – and that could happen in 13 or 14 years…As Labor’s energy spokesman, Gary Gray once said: He, Macfarlane and former energy minister Martin Ferguson are likes peas in a bod. Ferguson is now lobbying for oil and gas industry, Gray is an enthusiastic supporter of the Carmichael coal project, and many other coal mines, Macfarlane looks like he is about to be deputy prime minister.

>more> RenewEconomy

 

Posted in Events local | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

If only the climate was as important as big banks

Posted on December 8, 2015 by groundswellbasscoast

“But while the public might ask impolite questions about why we need to build new coal mines if the world is going to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, no such questions are raised at events like the COP. It would be impolite, and undiplomatic, to call a “valued participant” like Australia a deceiving hypocrite. Knowing this, Australian negotiators work on the assumption that as long as they pretend to share the rest of the world’s objectives no one will call them out…It wasn’t easy to find a trillion dollars in the financial crisis. But when the stakes are high, history suggests we can do things that aren’t easy. And history suggests that leaders don’t need 40,000 people to help them make a decision.”

>more> CanberraTimes

Posted in Events local | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Transportation emissions could be cut in half by 2050

Posted on November 30, 2015 by groundswellbasscoast

Surely what we desperately need is drastic action on transport, perhaps the most effective measure, for us to recognise need for behavioural change? How sick is Minister Greg Hunt giving taxpayers money, to one selected leasing company, to reduce cost of leasing for “cleaner” tail pipe emission vehicles? He doesn’t accelerate adoption of Euro 5 or 6 but makes his own rubbery figures for vehicles to qualify. Finally, if they don’t already have enough subsidies, this is for business purchasers only!

>more> RenewEconomy

Posted in Events local | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Road to Two Degrees, Part One: Feasible Emissions Pathways, Burying our Carbon, and Bioenergy

Posted on November 30, 2015 by groundswellbasscoast

CO2Shotput_1024w

Here’s the graphic from an item at Skeptical Science which does the numbers on fussthe size of problem we face, even if CCS(carbon capture and storage) Can be delivered at all. We all know that carbon to landfill is a menace but, obviously, nothing compared with CO2 to atmosphere. Graph below shows where we’ve been with lower CO2 emissions and what the future holds with different RCP projections by IPCC. You need to be an incurable optimist to believe that we’ve lived up to expectations from our children that live up to the trust they’ve placed in us to take care of the planet.

>more> SkepticalScience

Posted in Events local | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Climate change rally: Tens of thousands gather in Melbourne ahead of UN talks

Posted on November 28, 2015 by groundswellbasscoast

6982514-3x2-700x467

Tens of thousands of people have gathered for a climate change rally in Melbourne, in one of the largest demonstrations of its kind. Rally organisers have estimated that up to 60,000 took to the streets, while Victoria Police said up to 40,000 were in attendance.

>more> ABC News

Posted in Events local | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Beyond Zero Emissions Welcomes ALP’s new ZeroBy2050 Commitment

Posted on November 28, 2015 by groundswellbasscoast

“Political parties are starting to see the reality that a global goal of 2 degrees or below means transitioning to zero emissions and beyond as quickly as possible. “So, while this announcement by the ALP is welcome, 2050 is some way off – 35 years – so we need clear transition plans to zero emissions by both Labor and the Government. “In our work with communities we know Australians are ready for real climate action – some are beginning to plan for 10-year transitions right now . They are characterised by the matching of effective policies with implementation on the ground.

>more> BZE

Posted in Events local | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment