Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Archives for October 15, 2008

Jennifer Visits the Australian Parliament

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Stewart Franks, Bob Carter and I gave a presentation at Parliament House on Monday evening on Climate Change.  Professor Carter focused on global temperatures, I followed with some rainfall graphs for different parts of Australia, and then Associate Professor Franks explained why rainfall along the east coast of Australia is so variable and dominated by either El Nina or La Nina cycles back at least as far as 1660.

Our main message was that there is no climate crisis, but that climate change is a natural hazard.  

The event was organised by the office of Dennis Jensen MP.  Dr Jensen is the member for Tangney in Western Australia. 

Shadow minister, Nick Minchin, and former opposition leader, Brendan Nelson, both attended and are pictured with me at Parliament House on Monday evening.

World Food Day 2008

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Tomorrow is the United Nation’s “World Food Day” and the focus is on the pressing need for the world to adapt to climate change. But even before “climate change” became a political concern, the poor have been unable to deal effectively with drought, storms and flooding.

Now government programmes in the name of climate change have already had terrible results – more than US$ 11 billion worth of subsidies were used to turn food crops into biofuels last year. This contributed substantially to the rise in food prices that helped push 75 million more people below the hunger threshold.

There is a case for government to provide flood defences and other collective goods, but most adaptation will occur at a much more local scale and as such is best left to individuals.

In a new report, world-renowned agricultural economists Professors Douglas Southgate and Brent Songhen point out that farmers will likely adapt to global warming by switching crops, and adopting new technologies and farming methods – just as they have done for centuries. 

The launch of the report, Weathering Global Warming in Agriculture and Forestry by Douglas Southgate and Brent Sohngen (November 2008, International Policy Network), coincides with World Food Day and can now be downloaded here.

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A calf drinking from a nearly full farm dam: Photograph taken just south of Oberon, Central Tablelands, New South Wales (Australia) by Jennifer Marohasy, October 14, 2008. 

Canadian Election: Carbon Tax Cost Liberals Votes

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Liberal Leader Stephane Dion has lost the Canadian election: “The owlish professor-turned-politician defied two central political tenets in this election campaign: avoid overly complex policy and, above all, don’t even suggest new taxes.  His beloved ‘Green Shift’ attempt to tax pollution was lauded by environmentalists and 250 economists.  But on the campaign trail, it became more of a Green Albatross around Dion’s slender neck, forcing him over and over again in the face of a Tory advertising onslaught to stress that any new levies on polluting fossil fuels would be offset by income tax breaks.  In the end, Dion’s impassioned calls for voters to “go green vote red” weren’t enough. While the Conservatives were held to a minority government, the Liberals were leading or elected in just 74 seats, down from the 103 claimed in 2006.”  Read more here.

Financial Crisis Has EU Climate Plans in Crisis

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“The fallout from the financial crisis might be ready to claim another casualty: Europe’s ambitious plans to tackle climate change… Or, as Germany’s foreign minister said last week: “This crisis changes priorities.” And where Europe’s biggest economies lead, others follow. The British, French, and Italians are also all getting cold feet about imposing more-expensive climate legislation on European businesses. The British, dependent as an island nation on air travel, don’t want aviation included in emissions schemes. The Germans want an out for heavy industry… That contrasts with newfound enthusiasm for climate-change policy in the U.S., which seems more likely to pass Congress if energy prices keep falling. Both presidential candidates, if not quite both vice-presidential candidates, have plans to fight global warming.”  Read more here.