Eco online

A time to unite

Anyone who has attended meetings will know — the greater the number of people, the less chance there is of obtaining an outcome.
Therefore the outcome of Copenhagen should come as no surprise. Governments from wealthy countries know that voters are easily swayed by economic arguments. Poorer countries want more for their people. While we all [...]

The Clean Industrial Revolution

The Clean Industrial Revolution
Growing Australian prosperity in a greenhouse age
Author: Ben McNeil
The race is on to find ways to reduce our impact on the environment. Ben McNeil shows us how we can make the most of our natural advantages and how Australia businesses can benefit economically when adapting to the new environmental realities.
Description
“A passionate and [...]

Local action starts as Copenhagen talks continue

The climate was on everybody’s mind as low clouds created hot and humid conditions on the Sunshine Coast today. But it wasn’t only local weather patterns being discussed. As the Copenhagen climate conference enters its second week, thousands of Australians took to the streets around the country for the 5th annual walk against warming.
On the [...]

Remove solar hot water from renewable energy target

By Ian Christesen
The Federal Government’s chop and change approach to renewable energy policy is causing uncertainty and the stalling of cleaner energy projects.
Everyone knows that solar hot water is not a renewable energy source however Minister for Climate Change and Water, Penny Wong has included solar hot water and heat pumps as part of the [...]

It’s Crunch Time

By- Tony Kevin
When I began a year ago to write my book Crunch Time, the Rudd government had just whittled Garnaut’s recommended 25 per cent Australian emissions cut by 2020 down to a meaningless 5 per cent cut. Through 2009, the emissions trading scheme (ETS) negotiations built in increasingly lavish subsidies to big coal energy polluters. [...]

What Rudd and Wong should take to Copenhagen

By Ken Hickson
There’s a new emissions plan in the wind for Kevin Rudd and Penny Wong to take to Copenhagen.
A water-tight commitment to reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent by 2020 – much better than the pitiful 5 per cent – which will appeal to the Tony Abbott-led conservative (and sceptical) Coalition, [...]

Mid winter update

Inside this edition

World Environment Day Festival news
Outrage over Sustainable Planning Bill
Latest Group Profile – PAGE
Eco Adventures – A tale of two mountains
Carbon, climate and koalas
Eco watch – clean coal
Exploring the past – climbing Mount Coolum in 1927
Whales and eco tourism
Other articles
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For our Queensland readers: [...]

People Advocating Green Energy

The Sunshine Coast Environmental Council (SCEC) is the umbrella organisation of more than 50 community groups. In this issue of ECO, we feature the group PAGE and its work which, if successful, will encourage the State government to get serious about climate change and revise their whole strategy of power generation and distribution.
The latest community [...]

A complex clock of acronyms

As the Australia Institute rightly points out: “ If a clock can’t keep accurate time, it is pointless describing how its cog wheels mesh together”.
That’s their way of describing the complex structure created around the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET) and its inability to measure the amount of renewable energy being produced around the country.
The [...]

Green jobs are the key

How many times do green groups need to shout if from the roof tops? Roof tops that could easily be covered in green, clean energy.
Clean energy and energy efficiency industries will create more than 28,000* new jobs by 2020, according to ground breaking economic modelling released today by the Clean Energy Council (CEC).
CEC Chief Executive, [...]