Low Impact

The “hot topic” in the press in Australia at the moment has been centred on what action the Government should take on the current soaring petrol prices. With petrol prices recently rising from $1.30 a litre to over $1.60 in only a few weeks, many Australian families are spending more and more on the family car.

The Federal Government is setting up a FuelWatch scheme to encourage better competition and allow motorists to find the cheapest price. The Opposition is suggesting lowering the excise currently charged on petrol by 5c per litre. Unsurprisingly, each side of politics is quick to point out why their plan is superior!

While both options might offer some minor… Continue reading

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

I came across Christopher Pearson’s recent article “Climate facts to warm to” today. In it, Mr Pearson takes the opportunity to strongly attack the concept of climate change and suggest that soon all manner of public figures will be rueing the day they publicly supported efforts to combat climate change and its effects.

His key assertion seems to rest on an interview with Jennifer Marohasy in which she states that global temperatures have plateaued this century.

That really got my attention. For global temperatures to have levelled out this last 7-8 years would be a noteworthy finding indeed. It wouldn’t necessarily mean that climate change… Continue reading