3 October 2017, The Guardian, Voters back fracking bans despite pressure on states to drop them. Despite the Turnbull government’s insistence that state-based restrictions on unconventional gas extraction are putting Australia’s energy security at risk, twice as many voters support the bans as oppose them. A new poll, conducted by the progressive thinktank the Australia Institute, has found 49% of Australians support a moratorium on fracking for gas in their own state, while just 24% oppose it. It also found 74% of Australians support an increased renewable energy target in their own state, demonstrating support for state-based renewable energy targets is largely unchanged since March 2016. The Australia Institute survey of 1,421 Australians took place between 17 and 26 September. It asked voters if they supported or opposed their state governments implementing a moratorium on fracking for gas and an increased renewable energy target. The poll ended last week just as the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, wrote to the New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, and the Northern Territory chief minister, Michael Gunner, asking them to lift their “blanket moratoriums” on new gas production and warning they were putting Australia’s energy security and industries at risk. Read More here
Tag Archives: Local Action
3 October 2017, The Guardian, Catholic church to make record divestment from fossil fuels. More than 40 Catholic institutions are to announce the largest ever faith-based divestment from fossil fuels, on the anniversary of the death of St Francis of Assisi. The sum involved has not been disclosed but the volume of divesting groups is four times higher than a previous church record, and adds to a global divestment movement, led by investors worth $5.5tn. Christiana Figueres, the former UN climate chief who helped negotiate the Paris climate agreement, hailed Tuesday’s move as “a further sign we are on the way to achieving our collective mission”. She said: “I hope we will see more leaders like these 40 Catholic institutions commit, because while this decision makes smart financial sense, acting collectively to deliver a better future for everybody is also our moral imperative.” Church institutions joining the action include the Archdiocese of Cape Town, the Episcopal Conference of Belgium and the diocese of Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino, the spiritual home of the world’s Franciscan brothers. Read More here
21 September 2017, The Conversation, Sustainable cities? Australia’s building and planning rules stand in the way of getting there. Australia’s building and land-use policy settings fall well short of what’s needed to make meaningful progress toward creating sustainable cities. You will find environmental sustainability goals and objectives in government strategy documents. But our newly released review of building and land-use planning policies around Australia has found New South Wales is the only state without serious gaps in legislation and enforcement. Research shows a large percentage of new dwellings in Australia fail to meet even minimum building requirements when checked after construction. There is little legislation and enforcement, with the notable exception of NSW’s Building and Sustainability Index (BASIX). This means neither building codes nor state planning systems are achieving sustainability goals required for a low-carbon future for cities and buildings. Sustainable cities are among the UN Sustainable Development Goals. At present, Australia ranks 20th on progress toward these goals. So how important is the built environment to Australia’s ability to achieve these goals? In fact, it’s a significant contributor to anthropogenic climate change. The built environment accounts for around 40% of worldwide energy useand one-third of greenhouse gas emissions. In Australia, the residential sector is responsible for 12% of final energy use and 13% of emissions. Read More here
4 September 2017, One Step Off the Grid, Community retailer Enova to buy and sell rooftop solar power, Australia’s first community-owned energy retailer, the Northern Rivers NSW-based Enova Energy, will soon offer customers locally generated rooftop solar power, as part of its goal of producing enough renewable electricity to meet all of its customers’ needs. In a statement released late last week, the company said it would now purchase excess rooftop solar generation from its customers, as well as from local community solar farms and gardens, to sell on to other customers who wanted access to solar power, but could not generate it themselves. The new scheme, which Enova says could meet just under half of existing customer requirements, comes less than two months after the retailer boosted its solar feed-in tariff by 33 per cent, to 16c/kWh. “Using solar supplies such as (the new 18kW system on our own office rooftop in Byron Bay) ….we can now supply locally generated renewable energy to people who don’t own their own solar panels,“ Enova said in a statement late last week. “Enova can meet approximately 40% of existing user requirements with this locally generated renewable energy.” The retailer said that it was also introducing new energy plans to allow customers to access the community generated solar. Read More here