Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

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Why the ETS will not Succeed: Peter Lang

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JUSTIFICATION for Australia’s carbon-pricing scheme assumes there will be a global carbon pricing system with our ETS a part of it. This assumption is probably wrong. It is unlikely a global carbon pricing system will be implemented, let alone sustained for the decades or even centuries that would be required. Abatement cost Medium

Without a global carbon-pricing system, national or regional carbon-pricing schemes would be prohibitively expensive if they are to achieve the projected benefits and, therefore, would not be sustainable. The high cost means that a scheme like the one Australia has legislated is not viable, and even regional carbon pricing schemes like the European ETS will not last. The ‘ball-park’ analysis presented here suggests Australia’s ETS would cost $12 for every $1 of projected benefit, to 2050.

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Carbon Credit Market is Neither Free nor Worth Anything: Jo Nova

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THERE  is an entire cannon of western philosophical thought, dating back to John Locke and John Stuart Mills, that explains why the prosperity of a nation is not so much linked to its natural wealth, but rather the proper functioning of markets.Jo Nova

In On Liberty, perhaps John Stuart Mill’s most famous treatise published in 1859, he argues that:

“… the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant.”

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Open Thread

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“Freedom of thought is best promoted by the gradual illumination of men’s minds, which follows from the advance of science.”  Charles Robert DarwinJen with Darwin

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The image/picture is of a fellow pretending to be Mr Darwin with the real Jen, taken in the British Museum of Natural History a few months ago.

Definitions of Science: Double Standards from Australian Government

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The Australian legal system ruled on the definition of science some years ago, however, the Australian government is now pursuing the Japanese and their whaling program on the basis of an all together different definition, explains Charlotte Ramotswe.  

Dear Jennifer,

Australia has taken Japan to the International Court of Justice disputing a basis of its whaling program – that it is scientific. You wrote about this recently in the blog post “Japan Attacks Aussie Moralising on Whaling”.Minke whale

In the international court, it seems that the Australian Government has argued that what the Japanese are doing does not constitute “science”. What is this thing called science? The subject has preoccupied philosophers and historian and been the subject of many books including a classic by A.F. Chalmers.

Let’s face it: at least the scientific whaling program does generate a lot of data and publications.

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Peer Review Falters at the Altar of Conviction

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IT is perhaps easier to build the Great Wall of China than to convince a global warming devotee to reconsider their mistaken faith.

A man with a conviction is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point. So wrote, American social psychologist Leon Festinger in 1956.Bob on the wall

The human brain often struggles to discern fact from fiction, and even the cleverest scientist is susceptible to their own convictions. So if modern climate science is to provide a better understanding of how the dynamic, real-world forces that create weather and climate operate, rather than simply supporting the popular theory of dangerous global warming, then some discipline will be required.

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Menstrual Sanitation – An Environmental Issue

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“LIKE many other Western countries, my home country of Australia is reluctant to support development in all its forms,” writes Caroline Marohasy in an article just published by New Internationalist. In the article, entitled “Menstrual sanitation is not just a ‘lady issue'”, Caroline explains that…

“WE liberally support causes like AIDS or infant mortality prevention, but equally important issues like female hygiene and sanitation attract minimal attention.Screen Shot 2013-07-26 at 7.40.30 PM

Yet investment in projects that directly support women and girls is essential to reducing poverty. In 2012, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that ‘the greatest return comes from investing in girls and women. When they are educated, they drive development in their families, communities and nations.’

A single year of primary education correlates with at least a 10-per-cent increase in a woman’s wages later in life, with the returns on a year of secondary education estimated to be double that. Moreover, educating girls remains the single best policy for reducing fertility.

– See more at: http://newint.org/blog/2013/07/25/menstrual-sanitation-development-education/?1946526611352061#sthash.CBlt7MAF.dpuf

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The article was written by my daughter Caroline who has just spent 5 weeks in Kenya.

The photograph was taken by kyhm54 and is reproduced here under a Creative Commons Licence.