Here’s how the states can dodge Canberra’s renewable roadblock. Labor and the Coalition government have now agreed to cut the federal renewable energy target (RET) from 41,000 gigawatt hours in 2020, to 33,000 GWh – a reduction of almost 20%. This agreement has been hailed as restoring stability to the industry, after a year plagued with uncertainty and featuring two reviews. However, this is still a significant cut, particularly as the target is a significant part of Australia’s policy response to climate change. Meanwhile, Victoria has committed to restoring its own renewable energy target, the VRET, following other states in developing renewable energy policy. However a clause the federal legislation prevents schemes similar to the federal RET. How can the states get around this and support their industries? Read More here
Category Archives: Fossil Fuel Reduction
Why is oil and gas activity causing earthquakes? And can we reduce the risk? If you’ve been following the news lately, chances are you’ve heard about – or even felt – earthquakes in the central United States. During the past five years, there has been an unprecedented increase in earthquakes in the North American mid-continent, a region previously considered one of the most stable on Earth. According to a recent report by the Oklahoma Geological Survey, Oklahoma alone has seen seismicity rates increase 600 times compared to historic levels. The state has gone from experiencing fewer than two magnitude-three earthquakes per year to greater than two per day, the report found. Similarly, my home state of Texas has experienced a near 10-fold increase in magnitude-three earthquakes or greater in the past five years. Read More here
27 April 2015, Climate News Network: Well drilling has deep impact on Great Plains’ health. Loss of vegetation on North America’s vast rangelands as a result of a huge increase in oil and gas wells invokes memories of the 1930s Dust Bowl disaster. Oil wells and natural gas may have made individual Americans rich, but they have impoverished the great plains of North America, according to new research. Fossil fuel prospectors have sunk 50,000 new wells a year since 2000 in three Canadian provinces and 11 US states, and have damaged the foundation of all economic growth: net primary production − otherwise known as biomass, or vegetation. Brady Allred, assistant professor of rangeland ecology at the University of Montana’s College of Forestry and Conservation, and colleagues write in the journal Science. Read More here
20 April 2015, RTCC, Australia’s climate plans probed by UN partners World’s biggest emitters call out inadequate pollution-cutting targets in questions submitted through the UN: Australia has come under scrutiny for unambitious plans to slash greenhouse gas emissions. China, the US, Brazil and the EU have probed the country’s resolve to cut CO2 by 5% from 2000 levels by 2020 through its UN forum. That is just half the pace of US proposals, as almost 200 nations prepare to roll out pledges in the coming months towards a new global climate deal. And Climate Action Tracker estimates the country is on track for a rise of 12-18%, not even meeting its goal. Since prime minister Tony Abbott scrapped its main environment policy, a carbon tax, analysts say Australia will struggle to curb emissions. Read More here