Environment

Monsanto's greed exceeds itself

North Coast Voices - March 12, 2010 - 12:10am

Anyone who has been following the fortunes of biotech companies associated with genetically modified seed will recall Monsanto & Co's oft repeated claim that it's really in the business of feeding the world and not the simple pursuit of profit.

Once more in 2010 this monopolisitic multinational's actions give lie to the PR spin, as it is discovered trying to assert royalty rights over Cefetra's imported animal feed product made from GMO Roundup-ready soybean and accusing this company and others of infringing its patent.
The ruling mentioned below appears to be an interim opinion with the court's final ruling expected sometime later in the year.
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Bring out your e-waste!

North Coast Voices - March 8, 2010 - 2:47pm

Bring out your ~~dead~~ e-waste! Bring out your e-waste!

Heard that call from your local council sometime in the last two years? Then you are one of the lucky ones.

Responsible people are running out of room in their garages and sheds to safely store this waste, while local government often only pays lip service to policies on garbage, recycling, safe disposal and landfill.

Clean Up Australia Day founder, Ian Kiernan, has stepped up calls for national laws to crack down on e-waste producers, as almost 600,000 Australians rolled up their sleeves and got stuck into the annual litter bust. Read more »

SW Queensland awash

Larvatus Prodeo - March 7, 2010 - 1:50am

This image from The Brisbane Times shows the floodwaters in Roma. With a population of 6,700 Roma is the largest centre in the affected area. It’s on Bungil Creek and lies about 160km south of the Carnarvon National Park where the escarpment marks the northern limit of the Murray-Darling Basin. Read more »

Henry: We've only just begun (to properly value the environment)

Peter Martin - March 6, 2010 - 12:28am

As if he didn't have enough on his plate

Treasury boss Ken Henry has taken a swipe at the work of his own department as well as others on valuing the environment saying much of it is flawed and fails to give proper weight to the importance of retaining Australia's unique biodiversity.

Fresh from producing the as-yet-unreleased Henry Tax Review and in the midst of preparing the 2010 Budget Dr Henry told an environment conference in Sydney that the part of his Intergenerational Report that had received the least attention was the section on environmental sustainability. Read more »

Get Carter!

Larvatus Prodeo - March 4, 2010 - 4:52pm

All sorts of dark conspiracies are alleged at Quadrant.

Quadrant Online previously reported that the ABC had invited Bob Carter to contribute to an online debate on The Drum following their publication of a series of five articles by Clive Hamilton.

Left internet newsletters and blog sites were outraged that sceptics were to be allowed to comment on their ABC.

Professor Carter submitted his article, on James Hansen and the Hansenism cult, and the ABC has rejected his article – which Quadrant Online is privileged to publish. Read more »

UN Climate Review Red Herring

Labor View from Bayside - March 11, 2010 - 6:48pm

The United Nations is to review IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) processes. The IAC (InterAcademy Council) has been charged with this task.

It is not a review of the Climate science itself. It's about "quality control":

REVIEW'S TERMS OF REFERENCE
Analyse the IPCC process, including links with other UN agencies

Review the use of non-peer reviewed sources, and quality control on data

Assess how procedures handle "the full range of scientific views"

Review how the IPCC communicates with the public and the media

Scientists to review climate body (BBC 10 March 2010)

Let's hope it restores public trust.

The report, due in August, is a red herring. It's time for action not this distraction. Its results will be ignored or distorted by the climate contrarians. Read more »

GLOBAL CLIMATE EVIDENCE

Duckpond - March 7, 2010 - 11:42am

The recent observations made in Antarctica support the patterns observed elsewhere, and support the conclusion that human systems and effects are disrupting the natural systems.

Steve Connor reports in The Independent:

It is only when the warming effect of emitting millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from human activity is considered that it is possible to explain why global average temperatures have risen so significantly since the middle of the 20th century.

The study updates a 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and has discovered several new elements of the global climate which have been influenced by humans, such as an increasing amount of water vapour evaporating from the warmer oceans into the atmosphere and a corresponding increase in the saltiness of the sea. Read more »

Environment

More spite from the natural world

An Onymous Lefty - March 7, 2010 - 12:17am

Some think you’ll blame climate change. Others think perhaps it’s secret weather machines being tested BY TEH GOVERNMENT. What’s YOUR explanation for Melbourne’s recent flood of torrential downpours?

Environment

Climate change and climate science

Larvatus Prodeo - March 5, 2010 - 2:03pm

Jonathan Holmes’ piece on the Carter Drum brouhaha (see Phil’s earlier post for general discussion on this topic) contains many disturbing aspects. But there’s one bit that particularly caught my eye:

Climate change is a vast topic, with aspects that are political, and moral, and even religious, as well as scientific. Principal relevant views clearly include those that hold that the science isn’t settled, and even that global warming alarmism is a global green conspiracy. Read more »

Obama appointment of Medina as U.S. representative on International Whaling Commission indicates developing pro-Japan stance?

North Coast Voices - March 4, 2010 - 12:10am

President Obama's appointment this month of former Pew Institute director of whale conservation to the post of U.S. commissioner for the International Whaling Commission does nothing to bolster support for Australia's determinedly anti-whaling position.
In fact Monica Medina's views at the end of the day would seem to run parallel with the current Japanese push for limited commercial whaling in the Antarctic.

Limiting Japan's Whale Hunting
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