Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

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Weekend Reading & Listening

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GM cottonseed could feed millions
By Will Dunham
November, 20 2006

Scientists have found a way to use the cotton plant, long a source of fiber for clothing but inedible* by humans, to feed potentially half a billion people a year. Texas A&M University plant biotechnologist Keerti Rathore and colleagues reported they have genetically altered the plant to reduce the levels of the toxic chemical gossypol in cottonseed, making it fit for human consumption.

“It actually tastes pretty good. It reminds me of chickpea. It’s a fairly good-tasting seed,” Rathore said in an interview.

… The new-and-improved cottonseed could be ground into a flour and made into bread and other foods.

Read the article here: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N20300910.htm

[* In fact we already make vegetable oil out of crushed cotton seed.]

Intelligence of dolphins cited in fight against hunt
by Rick Weiss
November 20, 2006

A coalition of marine scientists has launched a campaign to halt Japan’s annual “dolphin drive,” in which thousands of bottlenose dolphins are herded into shallow coves to be slaughtered with knives and clubs.

…This year 21,000 dolphins can be killed, Fukuda said, of which 15,000 or 16,000 have already been killed.

Read the article here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/19/AR2006111901250_2.html?referrer=email

The good behind the bad and the ugly cane toad
by Richard Macey
November 22, 2006

THERE may be a surprise silver lining to the cane toad’s relentless march across Australia.
Research suggests cane toads may be an ally in the war against another pest, the mosquito.

Rick Shine, from the University of Sydney’s School of Biological Science, has studied cane toads for more than five years as they approached, then occupied, Fogg Dam, in the Northern Territory.

… Professor Shine said yesterday there was evidence Australia’s native wildlife was evolving, or at least learning to cope with the invader. And the toad could even offer benefits for human health.

His team found that mosquito larvae laid in water containing toad tadpoles produced insects much smaller than normal. This was important because smaller mosquitoes were thought to be less able to spread disease.

Read the article here: http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/the-good-behind-the-bad-and-the-ugly/2006/11/21/1163871403111.html

Nature and Religon
Michael Duffy interviews Walter Starck
November 27, 2006

Michael Duffy: In recent times, Counterpoint has talked about a number of environmental issues; mining, timber cutting in New Guinea, the proposed pulp mill in Tasmania. We’ve involved environmental activists in some of those discussions. You’ve heard from Greenpeace and the Tasmanian Greens. I suspect there’s a common theme linking all these campaigns and we’re joined now by a man who has some very interesting ideas on it…

Walter Starck: Thank you.

Michael Duffy: I know you like to distinguish between conservation and environmentalism. What’s the difference?

Walter Starck: Conservation is an earlier ethos which was aimed at trying to preserve and not overexploit the natural environment. But environmentalism is a more recent development and it has taken on many of the aspects of a religious crusade.

You can read the full transcript and/or listen to the interview here: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/counterpoint/stories/2006/1798342.htm

And finally…

What is the most green and ethical way to commit suicide?
By Ethan Greenheart
November 16, 2006

Dear Ethan, After careful consideration I have decided to end my life. Things haven’t been going very well for me lately, but more importantly I am keen to reduce my carbon impact on the planet. Like the average Briton I probably produce around 9.3 tonnes of carbon each year. I am 26 years old, and reckon I could live for another 60 years; if I end things now I will save a total of 558 tonnes of carbon, for which I believe future generations should be grateful. But I have a question: what is the most ethical way to commit suicide? I don’t want my self-destruction to be destructive to the planet!

Details here: http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/2100/

Pilliga Forest Burns

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Large areas of Pilliga scrub are burning right now in central western NSW with large koala populations threatened.

The forests were declared national park less than 18 months ago, with many timber workers losing their jobs*. At the time the timber workers warned that unless National Parks and Wildlife officers maintained fire breaks and control burnt the entire forest could convert back to grassland.

Today a new group, the NSW Private Native Forestry Group put out a media release about forests and fires with particular reference to the fires now burning in the Pilliga:

“With predictions that this summer will see the worst bushfires in the state’s recorded history, farmers and foresters are warning that further government restrictions on the management of forests on private land will dramatically increase the threat and severity of bushfires.

“It’s time the NSW Government knew what farmers and foresters have known for decades: sustainable management of forests reduces the risk of catastrophic bushfires,” said Andrew Hurford, forester and spokesperson of the NSW Private Native Forests Group.

“Farmers and foresters help to reduce the frequency and intensity of bushfires by managing dangerous fuel loads that accumulate on the forest floor before they become a problem. We also play a crucial role in maintaining fire trails so that firefighters can access remote areas quickly.

“Farmers and foresters are the best ‘frontline of defence’ against bushfires: we are the ‘eyes and ears’ of the forest, helping to put out fires as soon as they occur. It’s in our best interests to protect these forests from catastrophic wild fires,” said Mr Hurford.

Mr Hurford said that radical green groups would have politicians believe that the policy of ‘Fence and Forget’ is the best way to conserve native forests on private land: a theory that totally ignores the fact that Aboriginals actively managed Australia’s bushland for thousands of years.

“Just look at how this policy has been an absolute disaster for fire management in our National Parks. For example, in the last forty-eight hours, 100,000 hectares of the Pilliga Forest near Coonabarabran in Central West NSW has been incinerated,” said Mr Hurford.

“Today, over 8.5 million hectares of private land in NSW (an area larger than Tasmania) are able to be looked after and sustainably managed for timber production by farmers and foresters.

“Millions of hectares of native bushland and millions of dollars worth of rural infrastructure, such as fences and sheds, will be incinerated if radical green groups get their way on locking-up private forests,” Mr Hurford said.

In August this year, the NSW Government was forced by angry farmers, timber mill owners and workers to shelve its plan to introduce a ‘Code’ that would have seen 60 per cent of forests on private land ‘locked-up’ into de facto National Parks.

“Without private landholders, who will be left to safeguard bushland from fires?” said Mr Hurford.

The 2003 ‘State of the Environment Report’ for the Australian Capital Territory lists that nearly 6.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide were emitted into the atmosphere during the January 2003 Canberra wildfires: equivalent to 1.6 million new cars on the road for a year.

“The radical green policy of ‘Fence and Forget’ will lead to more catastrophic bushfires and more greenhouse gas emissions – the very thing governments are trying to prevent!” said Mr Hurford.

The NSW Private Native Forests Group is made up of timber mill owners, forest workers and farmers who harvest timber from private land. The Group is supported by the NSW Forest Products Association, Timber Communities Australia and Australian Forest Grower’s. Private native forestry is the long term and sustainable management of native forests on privately-owned land. The industry employs approximately 3,000 people and generates over $300 million for the NSW regional economy. Around a third of all native forests in NSW (or 8.5 million hectares) are on private land.

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* At the time I wrote several blog posts on the issue including:

Timber Communities and National Parks (Part 1), 21st April 2005
https://jennifermarohasy.com.dev.internet-thinking.com.au/blog/archives/000563.html

Pilliga-Goono Lockup Announced, 5th May 2005:
https://jennifermarohasy.com.dev.internet-thinking.com.au/blog/archives/000590.html

And I wrote about enviromentalism and the forests for On Line Opinion in June 2005:
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3535

How To Solve Perth’s Water Woes: A Note from Warwick Hughes

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Dear Jennifer,

I have enjoyed reading Mark’s articles at On Line Opinion entitled ‘Fired-Up Forests Have More Impact than Loggers’ and agree with much of what he says. But he must check his facts regarding thinning in Perth water supply catchments.

The Wungong catchment is only 3.8% of the area of Perth catchments. So it is incorrect to say, “Western Australia has been quick to take advantage… ”

This thinning is only a tiny trial, just a PR effort so the West Austraslian government water organisations can trumpet that they are doing something and most of what they say has to have spin “fine tooth combed” out before truth emerges.

The reality of what is happening in Perth water supply catchments can be seen in my graphic at http://au.geocities.com/perth_water/ scroll down to, “Graphic of Catchment Efficiency 1980-2005 showing disastrous falloff 1996-2005 after ceasing catchment management.” Click on thumbnail for a larger graphic.

It is perfectly clear from my graphic that the West Australian government is de facto decommissioning Perth catchments. If catchments had been managed post 1996 as they were before that date so as to keep yields steady, Perth would have enjoyed about 90 GL extra water per year on average. Equal to production from two Kwinana sized seawater desalination plants, which require an investment of about $500 million each now. That puts on scale the cost of catchment neglect.

This colossal bungling extends into other areas of water resources.

North of Perth a pine plantation at Gnangara suppresses the potential of the groundwater there by about 100 GL per year. With incremental water valued by investment required in seawater desalination, Govt claims that the pines are needed to support a proposed plywood industry is simply ludicrous. Timber can easily be sourced on the open market if anyone is of a mind to make plywood and the pines must have a negative net present value now in view of their manifest billion dollar damage to groundwater potential.

The Avon, Murray and Collie Rivers pass about twice Perth’s total water consumption each year but in a weakly saline state. Surely desalination of a small part of these flows would be cheaper and lower impact than seawater desalination and could take place away from the fragile and crowded coast. In fact a private company, Agritech has been valiantly trying to interest the government in a proposal to desalinate water currently wasted to sea each year from the Wellington dam near Collie. This proposal would be at no capital cost to government and would produce water at half government desalination costs and would I am told use gravity in the process thus cutting back greatly on electricity.

Perth is not running out of water, the water is running out of Perth.

The Ancient Romans were vastly better water managers than the West Australian government.

Regards, Warwick Hughes

How was the 2006 Hurricane Season?

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Following Hurricane Katrina and Al Gore’s movie ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ many have come to expect an increase in the number and intensity of hurricanes hitting the US coast each year as the so-called “climate crisis” intensifies.

According to the US National Climatic Data Center, over the 10 years to the end of 2005, seasonal activity in the North Atlantic basin was 13 named storms, 7.7 hurricanes and 3.6 major hurricanes representing an increase over the average of the preceding 25 years (1970-1994) of 8.6 named storms, 5 hurricanes and 1.5 major hurricanes.

Today, the 30th November marks the official end of the 2006 hurricane season in the US and this year, according to a recent press release from the National Center for Public Policy Research, the number of hurricanes was 38 percent below the number originally forecast by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The number of hurricanes that qualified as “major” – category 3 or above – fell 50 percent below NOAA forecasts and not a single hurricane made landfall.

“If we can’t depend on hurricane forecasts made one to six months ahead of time, how can we expect to depend on predictions about the behavior of hurricanes decades from now,” asked David Ridenour, Vice President of The National Center for Public Policy Research. “Those who claim that rising global temperatures would definitely lead to more intense hurricanes appear to be relying upon political science, not climate science.”

The 2006 summary at the US National Climatic Data Center simply states that the Atlantic season has been much quieter than had been initially forecast.

All good news.

Thinning Forests To Increase Water Yield

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“Despite being portrayed as a villain, timber harvesting in the form of thinning can substantially counteract the impact of fire regrowth on water yield. The benefits of regrowth thinning have been widely studied throughout Australia. In Melbourne’s catchments, strip-thinning trials have shown that up to 2.5 million litres a year of additional run-off can be generated from each hectare of thinned regrowth. A program of thinning the 1939 regrowth could add billions of litres of water to our storages.

Western Australia has been quicker to take advantage of thinning as a water management tool. Earlier this year, a $20 million, 12-year thinning program was initiated in a substantial segment of Perth’s catchment following four years of exhaustive public and stakeholder consultation. Every 1,000 hectares thinned is expected to deliver an additional one billion litres of run-off into the Wungong Dam a year.”

This is an extract from an opinion piece by Mark Poynter first published in The Age and just republished by On Line Opinion, entitled ‘Fired-up Forests, Have More Impact Than the Loggers‘. Read the full article here: http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=5213

New Coal Mine Not Given Go Ahead As It Will Produce GHG Emissions

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On Monday I read in The Australian that the NSW Land and Environment Court ruled Centennial Coal had failed to adequately consider the impact of greenhouse gas emissions from its proposed Anvil Hill coal mine in the Upper Hunter and so the approval it got from government for its environmental assessment is void. So at least for the moment the new coal mine is not going ahead. It has taken a couple of days for me to digest this information. The judgment is radical, if not surprising, and perhaps worth considering in some detail.

According to the judgment: “The area of land which constitutes Anvil Hill has a deposit of approximately 150 million tonnes of thermal coal. The proposed open cut mine will produce up to 10.5 million tonnes of coal per annum. The mine is intended to operate for 21 years. The intended use of this coal is for burning as fuel in power stations in New South Wales and overseas. There is an existing contract for sale of coal to Macquarie Generation, which operates the Bayswater and Liddell power stations. About half the coal is intended for export for use as fuel in power stations to produce electricity generally in Japan. There is no dispute that burning of coal will release substantial quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.”

At issue was whether the Director-General from the Department of Planning was legally bound to require greenhouse gas impacts of burning coal by third parties in environmental assessment of new coal mines … whether ecologically sustainable development principles were taken into account.

In deciding that the environmental assessment lodged by mining company Centennial Coal in respect of the Avil Hill Project was inadequate and therefore that the approval from the relevant government department was “void and without effect”, the Judge commented that:

“Burning coal to produce GHG [Greenhouse Gas] emissions in NSW will be conducted in activities subject to regulation under the EP&A Act. Overseas burning of the coal is also likely to be subject to overseas regulation. The release of GHG from power plants is likely to be subject to increasing regulation nationally and internationally. Technologies relating to GHG are developing and may change over the next two decades.”

“…The fact that an assessment of GHG emissions alone was required demonstrates that regard was intended to be had to the future impacts of GHG. The problem of climate change/global warming is an increasing problem which is recognised by the Director-General in taking into account the environmental concern about GHG emissions by requiring an analysis of these and that must include the effect on future generations.

“… ESD [Ecologically Sustainable Development] requires that there be integration of environmental and economic considerations in decision making about projects. The Director-General required GHG to be assessed in the environmental assessment and therefore clearly intended that it be taken into account.

“…The Applicant argued that while the decision is a subjective one reached by the Director-General it nevertheless raises a legal question. The Applicant’s counsel argued that the Director-General had to ask himself two questions in relation to the environmental assessment, (i) did the environmental assessment comply with the EAR [Environmental Assessment Regulation] and (ii) if not, can it be said that it generally complies with those requirements. As the environmental assessment provided did not contain a detailed analysis of GHG in conformity with the EAR it was clear that the Director-General did not ask himself the first question and he therefore fell into legal error.

“…Given the quite appropriate recognition by the Director-General that burning the thermal coal from the Anvil Hill Project will cause the release of substantial GHG in the environment which will contribute to climate change/global warming which, I surmise, is having and/or will have impacts on the Australian and consequently NSW environment it would appear that Bignold J’s test of causation based on a real and sufficient link is met. While the Director-General argued that the use of the coal as fuel occurred only through voluntary, independent human action, that alone does not break the necessary link to impacts arising from this activity given that the impact is climate change/global warming to which this contributes. In submissions the parties provided various scenarios where this approach would lead to unsatisfactory outcomes such as, in the Director-General’s submissions, the need to assess the GHG emissions from the use of ships built in a shipyard which use fossil fuels. Ultimately, it is an issue of fact and degree to be considered in each case, which has been recognised in cases such as Minister for Environment and Heritage v Queensland Conservation Council Inc and Another (2004) 139 FCR 24, by the Full Court at [53].

“…The Applicant’s Points of Claim challenge the Director-General’s opinion that the environmental assessment prepared by Centennial was adequate because he failed to take into account ESD principles, particularly the precautionary principle and the principle of intergenerational equity. … the precautionary principle—namely, that if there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation.

“… If the DG had adopted a sceptical approach to the climate change issue, and had declined to require the EA to address this (or to address downstream GHG emissions) because of this scepticism, and if in so doing he had failed to consider the precautionary principle, then there may be basis for legal complaint. That is not this case.

“…I also conclude that the Director-General failed to take into account the precautionary principle when he decided that the environmental assessment of Centennial was adequate, as already found in relation to intergenerational equity at par 126. This was a failure to comply with a legal requirement.”

Read the full judgment here: http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lecjudgments/2006nswlec.nsf/61f584670edbfba2ca2570d40081f438/dc4df619de3b3f02ca257228001de798?OpenDocument

I reckon, based on the tangle of legislation currently in place in Australia, that the judgement was inevitable. A real problem into the future is that governments (from both sides of politics) have enacted legislation based on environmental campaigning that is unreasonable. They have enacted legislation that is at core about stopping development including through use of the precautionary principle, rather than weighing up the costs and benefits of resource use.