Don’t pin all your hopes on having just ousted Howard. Rudd and his henchmen could prove to have the very same corporate mates. East Gippsland is losing its forests as fast as Tasmania, relative to its size. Tassie has had a huge public profile for years, but is still unable to get rid of the …
It’s not workers vs the elite anymore; it’s environment vs business greed. What with temperatures rising, taps running dry, food becoming a valuable commodity – all coupled with peak oil – the economy, the environment and the voters are about to cop a serious body blow. It could be too late for changing governments’ priorities …
A report card on the Brumby Government’s progress of its environmental promises was released in early December 2007. It shows they can put a lot more effort into their work. Half of the Victorian Government’s environmental promises before the 2006 election have been broken or are at risk of being broken. The analysis is backed …
The umbrella group that lobbies on behalf of all Australian (and overseas) logging interests were officially invited along by Kevin Rudd to be part of the Australian delegation to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change in Bali in December. We hear that the CFMEU was there as well. The National Association of Forest Industries’ …
New research has found that meeting targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions may rely less on renewable energy than on the forests. As reported in the last Potoroo, forests seem to be the key to meeting Kyoto and post-Kyoto goals for reducing CO2 emissions. The findings, published in the British journal Energy Policy, could lead …
The push by farmers to have poison baits dropped from planes to kill wild dogs and dingoes has been successful. A three-stage government trial is currently going on and so far it has only shown that planes can drop baits accurately. But ‘can’ does not mean ‘will’. A senior scientist at the Arthur Rylah Research …
The logging industry is desperately grabbing for a lifeline as they slowly sink on the global wood market The price of the Aussie dollar and a global glut of plantation woodchips are both undermining the profits of Australia’s native forest logging industry. Most buyers want some sort of eco-certification to keep their customers assured. So …
The new Victorian Association of Forest Industries’ head is Philip Dalidakis. He’s not a Trish Caswell style environmentalist turned logging lobbyist, but was senior advisor to State Minister for Major Projects, Industry and Trade, Theo Theophanos, until taking this position in November. Interesting to keep in mind that Theophanos is a huge fan of burning …
New research has found that meeting targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions may rely less on renewable energy than on the forests. As reported in the last Potoroo, forests seem to be the key to meeting Kyoto and post-Kyoto goals for reducing CO2 emissions. ” Forests capture 11% of emissions. Renewables save only 5%.” The …
Can you believe this?! Victoria is the most ecologically damaged state in Australia but the Brumby Government recently reduced protection for remnant native vegetation on railway reserves. It’s our railway reserves that are chocka-block with the rare vegetation types from pre settlement days. They haven’t been grazed or ploughed. They get the odd burn, which …
