Climate change and the consumer - news

Could this possibly provide a shortcut or will the pollies simply prefer a white Xmas?

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Having lived in Canberra for a year in the early 1980s, I remember well a hail storm in the southern part of the ACT (near Tharwa) when camping. We experienced a hail only storm (no rain but only hail) which lasted for about 15-20 minutes. Hail size was pea to golf ball and while the falling hail itself didn’t cause damage to our camp, the accumulation of the hail on tarps and tents caused some to collapse or poles to buckle. The ground all around turned white and there were 300mm (foot) high mounds of hail on the upwind side of the tents. Fortunately we had been dropped at the camp site by parents so there were no cars which could have been dented.

The temperature also plummeted during the storm as the cold front moved through. Before the storm was summer clothing, afterwards, one needed to rug up.

Whiile these natural phenomena are rare, they do occur from time to time.

The storm we went through was an interesting experience to say the leasr and one I have not experienced since.

It goes from bad to worse with CSIRO research being destroyed.

So taxpayers’ funds are to be used to buy out parasitic industries?

This might impact consumers a bit as well:

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Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the Coalition will not compromise “the strength of the economy” to manage rising environmental concerns as international authorities urge governments to do more to tackle climate change.

When you constantly portray a false dichotomy - either its the economy or the environment - and when you constantly mistake an opportunity for a liability - refusing to see that building a renewable energy economy would give us great step up - it is little wonder there is no progress.

Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second rate people who share its luck. It lives on other people’s ideas, and, although its ordinary people are adaptable, most of its leaders (in all fields) so lack curiosity about the events that surround them that they are often taken by surprise.
[Donald Horne]

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An couple of articles regarding the expected decrease in ozone depleting gases has actually increased.

I couldn’t resist including the second article featuring old mate following WH&S guidelines to the letter.

It appears that many Australian charities are not actually doing the right thing with the massive donations they have received whilst the persons affected by the bushfires continue to struggle.

Absolutely disgusting.

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Interesting ABC Canberra Facebook segue into the interaction between climate change and insurance.

Climate change, of course, increasing the likelihood of such damage.

One of the most pernicious tactics of global warming denialism is the pretense that individuals are solely to blame.

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This game is played out in many ways. One of the saddest is the propaganda that is fed to some coal miners. It goes along the lines of they have to all band together because the toxic virtue signalling loony greenies hate them and want to see them lose their jobs. Some suck it up and repeat it. It becomes real us and them stuff that generates a huge amount of pain all around.

Most of the genuine environment supporters I know would be quite happy for a plan that provided an orderly exit from coal mining rather than a collapse where many were unemployed. If only.

Driving a coal truck or similar is working for a living it isn’t making a policy or understanding it often. It is never about the choice (or lack of choice) in what work you do. It isn’t a lifestyle choice that prefers dust and smoke. It’s about doing a job that is available. The drivers are victims too in more ways than one.

It’s all about jobs, jobs and more jobs


About an industry that has some decent members but also has some who play at being the champion of the blue collar working man while trialling robot trucks to put him out of a job - if he hasn’t already been screwed with his pants on with an enterprise agreement and/or being forced to be casual. If you want compliant workforce begin by manipulating them into a state of high anxiety.

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I suspect that we still have this very wrong. Blaming coal mining for GHG by putting pressure on the individuals who work in the industry is a poor argument or position to start from.

Those who remember the Vietnam War protests, would have seen many young Aussies singled out because they obeyed the conscription laws. Even worse treatment on their return.It seemed all too easy to easy for those whose birth date had not come up to protest about Australia’s involvement.

It’s just as wrong today to target individuals, many of whom are either long time in the mining industry or have limited options in their part of Australia.
(I’ll note there is only so much room for those in the industry to move to Sydney or Melbourne and opportunities to take up merchant bankers positions based on truck driving experience. :upside_down_face:)

The big money in Australia is in coal fired power generation, distribution and retailing. I don’t see protesters targeting those industries or their workers.

Yes, fossil fuel usage has been a major cause of global warming. But so has the use of CFC’s and fertilisers and 
!

Although, we could all stop driving cars and walk or use public transport. Having the mains electricity cut off is another option that will shut down all coal fired generation. That’s if there are sufficient protesters out there willing to live on cold cans of baked beans and raw carrots? :wink:

I miss the focus on delivery of the alternatives.

A call to the anti coal team. Cold showers for everyone. How about ‘Earth Day’ turning everything off for 24 hours? Far more practical than picking on fellow Australians with a job, mortgage and family to support. These include the power station operators, lines men, etc and your local AGL sales rep as well as the miners at the coal face.

P.S.
On the other hand politicians are fair game, and need to lead or leave.

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Very well said.

I live in a coal-mining area. Coal industry workers feel besieged. That isn’t right. The focus is on stopping fossil fuels, which threatens the only jobs they have. It should be on jobs of the future.

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Obvious to some.

Although the commentary in “Hunter Renewal” is no more than a call for action, lacking the leadership of key members of the community. It is not a solution. To some it might be just another clever protest action, by those looking in from the outside.

Credit though for the issue being raised and expressed so directly.

Acknowledgement by governments of the concerns and issues raised by “Shut the Gate” in the Hunter Renewal proposal, is the same call for acceptance of climate change due to fossil fuel use and a need to significantly respond.

A highly unlikely outcome?

That would be “Lock the Gate”.

This kind of movement illustrates what I said upthread about environmentalists often supporting such exit schemes. Let us hope that if it gets to providing public funds that these are used to support and transition the workers to new new jobs not as a slush fund to improve the bottom line for recalcitrant boardrooms who decided to hold out until the bitter end. Given the perverse incentives to get bad decision makers out of trouble in the GFC I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting.

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Apparently not in the UK.

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Now the “Quiet Australians” are wanting some serious action on climate change.

This is the groundswell that I have felt was developing for some time, and whilst Governments are not going to take notice of the lunatic fringes and their ilk, the threat of conservative Australians now demanding action should be a very loud wake up call.

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When Morrison first used the term “Quiet Australians”, I wondered whether it’s supposed to be a description or an order.

Research into communicating the science:

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