Low Impact

So pretty much all nations are coming around - climate change is a problem.  By and large, to greater or lesser extents, governments everywhere are beginning to take steps to transition to greener power sources, and to help their citizens shift to more efficient ways of doing things.

Which makes the fact that solar-powered clothes driers are banned in many parts of the US and even some pockets of Australia, all the more difficult to comprehend!

I should be more specific.  I’m talking about clothes lines - you know them: a line outside which you peg your clothes to so they can dry in the sun.  Its an invention that has been with us over a… Continue reading

With negotiations continuing in the current climate talks in Bali, the media reports seem to suggest a little more optimism than in the past. The usual negotiating games are being played, there’s a few uncooperative players, but in general there seems to be a feeling of progress being made.

Australia certainly started off strong but it has recently toned down some of the encouraging statements it was making, perhaps in response to the Opposition’s recent attacks.

Al Gore is heading over to Bali to give a talk to the delegates. At that talk, he will be presenting a petition signed by people all over the world, asking the participants to seriously push for real action:
I support Al Gore’s call for a visionary global treaty to be completed… Continue reading

I saw this story on the ABC News web site today in which Dr Brendan Nelson (Federal Leader of the Opposition) said that cuts of 25 to 30% of Australian carbon emissions by 2020 would “have [a] devastating impact on our economic development”. This was in response to reports that the Australian delegation to a working group at the United Nations talks in Bali has said that it supports cuts of 25 to 40 per cent for developed countries by 2020.

I found his statement pretty disappointing.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said that current research suggests that emissions will need to be cut by at least 50% by 2050 in order to limit the average global temperature increase to no more than 2… Continue reading