Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

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Wise Men Excluded from Bushfire Royal Commission

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WE were all appalled by the death and destruction that was the Victorian bushfires early this year.  On Black Saturday nearly 200 people died.   The number of koalas incinerated probably runs into the thousands, the number of native birds dead in the millions.  

A Royal Commission was established with the Victorian Government promising an inclusive process with the broadest possible terms of reference.  Preliminary hearings by that commission begin today in Melbourne, but already many experts with local knowledge and experience have been advised their tesimonies won’t be heard; that they will not be given leave to appear before the commission.

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Obama Begins Regulation of Carbon Dioxide

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THE US Environment Protection Agency (EPA) yesterday issued its much anticipated ‘Endangerment Finding’ which makes six gases — carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride — officially recognised as a danger to the public. 

Many see this as the first formal action by the Obama administration toward the regulation of carbon dioxide emissions as part of his administrations commitment to fighting global warming.

The announcement is likely to now bring pressure on the US Congress to back emissions trading legislation which would require polluters to get permits for emissions, rather than letting the EPA set the rules.

“There is no longer a question of if or even when the U.S. will act on global warming: We are doing so now,” said a spokesperson for the Sierra Club.  

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