This just in from Elsa Evers at the Climate Action Summit in Canberra:
As the bus from Sydney circled the first roundabout into Canberra this morning, I had a sudden feeling of dread: ‘What if nobody turns up to Climate Action Summit?’
Of course, Australia’s climate action leaders are not the types to cancel at the last […]
Remember when trials of genetically engineered (GE) canola were conducted last year? Well, the results are in and the GE crops flunked.
GE canola yielded 17% less than non-GE herbicide-tolerant canola varieties in the independent trials of the crop. The results are consistent with trials for other GE crops, such as soy. Roundup Ready soy GE […]
Freshly inaugurated President Barack Obama has a new White House page detailing a huge range of his policies. So, what happens if we search for “whaling” in the Energy and Environment Policy section?
No results for ‘whaling’. But, the webpage helpfully asks: “Did you mean ‘dealing’?”.
It’s a pretty appropriate response given the wheeling and dealing […]
Kevin and Barack had their first conversation yesterday. As well as discussing the G.F.C. they also discussed closer cooperation on the climate crisis and agreed both countries should work closely together in preparation for the next United Nations meeting on the post-Kyoto framework in Copenhagen later this year.
There was no mention of them discussing how […]
It seems our Food Regulator is in the spotlight. Again.
Over the weekend, two Sydney Morning Herald articles reported on accusations that Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is failing to do its job. First, that it puts the interests of multinationals before consumers and public health.
Second, that the regulator is failing to require the […]
Momentum is building for the biggest gathering of climate action groups ever seen in Australia. At the Climate Action Summit in Canberra, grassroots climate groups will decide national campaigns and policy asks that will set the agenda for 2009 and help change our climate future. It’s history in the making, so come and be counted.
Download […]
Companies manufacturing genetically engineered (GE) crops not only have a reputation for tampering with DNA, but also for tampering with facts.
Well, the latest story going around the spin cycle is by Charles Miranda. It incorrectly states that a report by a United Nations expert panel of chemists and engineers claims we need GE crops […]
Some years ago, I interviewed Franny Armstrong about her inspiring, amazing docomentary film, McLibel. For the interview, Franny was in the UK and I was crouched in the narrow, dark hallway of my Sydney rental (the only phone line in the house). The line was crackly, Franny was talking 10 to the dozen and I […]
Whaling in Antarctic waters not only threatens whale populations – it also poses a huge risk to this particularly fragile, wild environment. Japanese whaling vessels have been known to refuel slap bang in the middle of these Antarctic waters: watch the footage.
Recently, Japanese whaling vessel, the Yushin Maru 2, was damaged in Antarctic waters and […]
End of the Line, the world’s first major documentary about the devastating effect of overfishing, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival yesterday.
The doco examines the imminent extinction of bluefin tuna, brought on by increasing western demand for sushi; the impact on marine life, resulting in the huge overpopulation of jellyfish; and the profound implications […]
When Kevin Rudd announced the 5% carbon emissions target in December, climate action groups organised creative protests with lightening speed. In Adelaide, they pelted ‘5% Kevin’ with shoes (a la the George Bush shoe pelt of 15 December). In Melbourne, activists sandbagged Martin Ferguson’s office against climate impacts. In Newcastle, they occupied the local member’s […]
What will be the most enduring legacies from the inauguration of Barack Obama? There is no way it could be community action on climate change, is it?
For weeks now, the real Obama administration – his website – has been spruiking to millions of ‘Barackers’, asking them to commit a day of community service as part […]
Earlier this week, we posted about Airplot — a Greenpeace UK intitiative to foil government plans for a third runway at London’s Heathrow Airport that will evict over 2000 residents and emit tonnes of emissions.
Greenpeace bought a plot of land on the proposed site together with actress Emma Thompson, comedian Alistair McGowan and Tory environment […]
Robert D. McCallum, Jr., Ambassador of the USA to Australia, was asked on ABC Breakfast yesterday how he felt about his country’s declining moral authority.
Steve Cannane, presenter of Summer Breakfast, topped and tailed the long interview with diplomatic questions but the middle was a series of tough questions about Iraq, WMD, Gitmo, torture. (It was […]
How do you stop a major airport expanding? Buy the land they want for the runway.
That’s what Greenpeace in the UK has done. They bought a plot of land slap bang in the middle of the proposed third runway site at Heathrow Airport, London. Their co-owners are TV impressionist Alastair McGowan, actress Emma Thompson and […]
Today was a blast from the past, when I presented a session of the University of Sydney summer school’s program on peace and the environment. They were a mixed bunch of post-grads from various continents and walks of life, including a Canadian Greenpeace activist who had tried to stop the berthing of a US […]
Crikey recently reported how Keith Windschuttle, the editor of the conservative magazine Quadrant, was taken in by a hoax intended to show that he will print outrageous propositions.
This month’s edition of Quadrant contains a hoax article authored by “Sharon Gould”, who purports to be a Brisbane-based biotechnologist.
The spoof article argues that, despite the […]
Australians love their whales. They might be surprised to know that this is not just the season when Japan’s whaling fleet goes to the Southern Ocean, it is also the whale watching season around Japan.
Australia’s last whaling Captain, Paddy Hart, went to Tokyo a few weeks ago, to try to convince Japanese people that […]
It’s been a lovely summer. I was camping for a couple of days near the beach at Meroo National Park on the NSW south coast. Long afternoon sleeps under shady eucalpyts… morning swims in the crystal clear ocean… slow cooked damper on the campfire. It was a great rest after a hectic year.
The turbulance of […]