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President Obama must do more
Yesterday afternoon at Georgetown University, President Obama plans to announce a series of "steady, responsible steps" to tackle climate change. It appears that the president will finally begin to make good on his climate promises, but to truly meet his obligation to future generations, this must be the foundation -- not the final act --…
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The climate change guilt trip
The battle against global warming should not be about judging people’s every choice. Originally posted on Los Angeles Times, 2 June 2013 A friend recently returned from a camping trip in the Sierra Nevada. His eyes shone as he described the opalescent sky, the vitality of wildlife in spring and the fun he’d had playing…
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Wanted: Polar explorers. No experience required.
In just over two weeks I will be standing on the frozen Arctic ocean, preparing to ski to the North Pole. I'll be wearing four layers of fleece and a special hat that someone knitted for me. In my pockets I'll carry some almond chocolate, an iPod, and a declaration of hope for future generations.
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Australian coal exports: a climate change boomerang
The Australian continent might be about 4,000 km wide from east to west, but even the far west coast cannot escape the winds of Cyclone Rusty and the alarming impacts of climate change caused by coal mining, such as the planned Galilee Basin project, in the nation's east.
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Arctic melting: The science behind the ice
Two of the scientists travelling with Greenpeace on the Arctic Sunrise are Dr Julienne Stroeve, a research scientist at the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC), and Nick Toberg, an ice scientist at Cambridge University. I asked them what research they would be able to do on the ice, and for some insight…
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Mega mine, mega catastrophe
When Minister Burke described the environmental assessment of Gina Rinehart’s controversial Alpha Coal Project as “shambolic”, he wasn’t joking. But now he has given his own rubber stamp to the project, revealing the profound failure of the regulatory system in Australia. Blogpost by John Hepburn The project is big by global standards, with a 30…
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Macken Sense: And the winner is….
Last week produced two powerful stories that define the perimeters surrounding the increasingly contested space in Australia’s economic and energy future. Just as history is written by the victors, there’s little doubt the future is in part created by the stories that prevail today – but which one will win the day? The first…