Millionaire takes on mining sector | Ipswich Politics | Local Politics in Ipswich. THE anti-mining lobby in Ipswich has received a massive boost with high profile multi-millionaire Graham "Skroo" Turner joining the fray. Mr Turner, tourism executive, Flight Centre managing director and one of Australia's richest people with a fortune listed at about $365 million, is heading the campaign against coal projects. He stands to be personally affected, with his Spicers Hidden Vale resort at Grandchester in the mining firing line. But he said hundreds more landholders, businesses and conservationists feared the impact of proposed coal mine projects in the region between Ipswich and Toowoomba. As reported in the QT, OGL Resources Limited plans to reopen the 675 hectare Ebenezer coal mine near Rosewood next year. The company has obtained a Mineral Development License to mine a further 9202ha of privately-owned land, known as the Bremer View Coal Project, in a move which opponents believe will devastate the region and the local koala population.
Ipswich jobs listed daily. Coastal ecosystems suffer 100 fold decrease in capacity to store carbon. The carbon sink capacity of urbanized river estuary and coastal environments to mitigate climate change has reduced by 100 fold according to scientists from the University of Technology Sydney. The Scientists used core samples from Botany Bay in Sydney to reconstruct the sedimentation changes in the past 6000 years, highlighting the changes in the ecology. The plant samples in the sedimentation changed as rapid industrialisation occurred around Botany Bay during the 1950s. "We have effectively gone back in time and monitored carbon capture and storage by coastal ecosystems, finding a 100-fold weakening in the ability of coastal ecosystems to sequester carbon since the time of European settlement.
This severely hampered the ability of nature to reset the planet's thermostat. " said Dr. Peter Macreadie, University of Technology, Sydney Chancellor's Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Radiocarbon dating was used to examine a chronology for the sedimentation cores. Sources: WA government rejects Central West Coal mine. The Australian Greens Party and conservationists have hailed a decision to reject a coalmine in Western Australia’s mid-west on grounds it could endanger wildlife and contaminate ground water. Western Australia state Environment Minister Bill Marmion has said he will back the Environmental Protection Authority’s (EPA) earlier recommendation to reject the proposed Central West Coal mine south of Eneabba. The decision is not binding, and Mr Marmion still needs to consult with other authorities on whether the mine will go ahead or not.
Central West Coal had planned to mine and supply 75 million tonnes of coal to the proposed Coolimba Power Station, also south of Eneabba, about 280 kilometres north of Perth. However, the EPA recommended to the state government last February that it reject the proposal, saying it posed an unacceptably high risk to wildlife in the South Eneabba and Lake Logue nature reserves. Kyogle Council says no to CSG | Lismore Politics | Local Politics in Lismore. THE Kyogle Council has joined a growing chorus of local governments to impose a moratorium on coal seam gas operations on land they control. The council voted unanimously on Monday to impose a moratorium "on any seismic testing, exploration drilling or other road reserve disturbance by the CSG industry on council-owned infrastructure or infrastructure under Kyogle Council control".
But importantly, the council also specifically ruled out any "disturbance" by coal seam gas operators of the Lions Rd, north of Kyogle. Coal seam gas company Metgasco would need access to the Lions Rd to build a proposed pipeline which would deliver gas from the company's Casino gas fields to south-east Queensland. The decision also seeks to prevent the establishment of "drilling camps" on council-controlled land.
It also makes clear the council "opposes completely" any coal seam gas operations on prime agricultural and high-conservation value land. Metgasco was not available yesterday to comment on the decision. Queensland's desert channel rivers protected. QUEENSLAND'S CHANNEL COUNTRY will be permanently protected, the state government has announced. The protection covers the Cooper Creek, Georgina and Diamantina rivers, in the heart of the desert channel country in north-west Queensland. The Western Rivers Alliance, a coalition of regional organisations, graziers and conservation groups, hailed the decision as "momentous for western Queensland. " The Act follows almost three years of local negotiations, largely driven and shaped by the leadership within western Queensland's local governments.
In terms of the positive benefits, the region's natural environment will improve, filling Lake Eyre and safeguarding water supplies for local graziers, the government says. 10 million acres of Queensland protected Angus Emmott, from the Australian Floodplain Association and a third-generation grazier from Noonbah Station in western Queensland, says the "protection of these rivers is ground-breaking, and a great reassurance to graziers.
" Marmion strikes down coal mine in Marg River. The company driving a proposed coal mine in West Australia's internationally-renowned wine region is looking into its options after the bid was rejected by the WA environment minister. Environment Minister Bill Marmion on Wednesday rejected Vasse Coal Management's proposal to develop a coal mine north-east of Margaret River due to environmental risk concerns. The Minister backed Environmental Protection Authority recommendations made earlier in the year, which warned there would be significant impacts or risks from the proposed mine in Margaret River on the Leederville and Sue aquifers. Five appeals to the EPA recommendations were made, which Mr Marmion will now have to take to the WA planning minister before the rejection can be finalised.
Advertisement ''Margaret River is a unique region with important environmental values which should be protected. Vasse Coal Project joint venture partners Vasse Coal and South West Coal engaged LD Operations to manage the approvals process. Much angst over wind turbines is just hot air. Standing out ... wind turbines have plenty of opponents. Photo: Rob Homer This year South Australia drew more than 20 per cent of its electricity from wind turbines, while in Victoria the Baillieu government all but gutted the industry by requiring two-kilometre set-backs from houses, ruling out new turbines in vast tracts of the state. As the O'Farrell government considers whether to follow Victoria or South Australia, it is timely to look at the culture of complaint that is hell-bent on demonising wind energy. The British Acoustics Bulletin has just published what is now the 10th independent review of the evidence on wind farms causing annoyance and ill health in people.
And for the 10th time it has emphasised that annoyance has far more to do with social and psychological factors in those complaining than any direct effect from sound or inaudible infrasound emanating from wind turbines. Two factors repeatedly stand out. Advertisement Yes No Total votes: 2508. Would you like to vote? Bush Santa. Woodside 'seeking alternatives' to James Price Point. Woodside Petroleum to delay Browse LNG project. The company said in a statement that it and its partners would seek amendments to its Browse Basin retention leases, including conditions relating to readiness for a final investment decision. Woodside wants a final investment decision, due by mid-next year to be extended into the first half of 2013. “While the joint venture has to date met the schedule imposed by the retention lease conditions, the variation would allow time to better evaluate the outcomes of front-end engineering and design work and the results of the tender processes for the developments major contracts,” the company said in a statement.
Earlier this month, Woodside said it didn’t expect the $30 billion project would be delayed by problems with a processing hub. A court recent decided that the compulsory acquisition by the WA government of land for a processing hub was invalid. However it has been reported that a construction camp at Broome and a $100 million road have been delayed. AUSTRALIAN MINING - This is the real story. Help end 'Battery Sheep' farming | Take Action. Fix acid oceans by dumping alkali in them? Forget it - environment - 15 December 2011.
Suggestions that we can dump large amounts of alkaline chemicals into the oceans to prevent their acidification seems dead in the water. A study shows it would cost trillions of dollars. As humans spew more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, it is taken up by the oceans, turning them increasingly acidic and threatening ecosystems around the globe. Some have suggested a simple solution: large-scale artificial alkalisation using chemicals like quicklime. Richard Zeebe and François Paquay of the University of Hawaii in Honolulu decided to see if this was realistic. Three-ocean problem For this, they used a model of how carbon cycles between the atmosphere, ocean and sediment. His team modelled the coming 500 years assuming we continue emitting greenhouse gases at roughly the same rate as we have on average over the past century. When this article was first posted, it incorrectly stated that the model found that about 1000 tonnes of quicklime per year would be needed More From New Scientist.
Snowmageddon: What's behind extreme winter weather - environment - 16 December 2011. Adapting to our Warming Planet. Air Date: Week of December 16, 2011 stream/download this segment as an MP3 file Images from the Nature Conservancy Coastal Resilience Project - The Branford Harbor in Branford, CT. The image on the left is a 2020 conservative scenario without any storm surge; the image on the right is 2080 with a category 3 Hurricane (The Nature Conservancy Coastal Resilience project.) More dramatic floods, hurricanes, cyclones and wildfires, increases in global temperatures and higher levels of precipitation are consequences of climate change. In order to survive these environmental shifts, communities need to adapt their behaviors, says Frank Lowenstein of The Nature Conservancy. Transcript GELLERMAN: Scientists say it's nearly certain temperatures are going to be higher, and now the question is: Can we adapt to a rapidly climate changing world?
LOWENSTEIN: Thank you very much, Bruce! GELLEMAN: So, what does the world that we need to adapt to look like? LOWENSTEIN: Yes, yes, stronger hurricanes. Links. FOT 3 Episode 5: Australia. Support Sea Shepard Saving Sea Animals. NSW Premier threatens Orica will lose license. The New South Wales premier, Barry O’Farrell, has threatened that troubled chemical company Orica will lose its licence if it fails to comply with environmental laws following yet another leak at one of its plants. At the weekend Orica finished cleaning up a corrosive acid leak at its Port Kembla plant on the NSW south coast, the third since August. “They will only get their licence, they’ll only continue to keep their licence, if they are able to abide by the state’s environmental laws,” Mr O’Farrell said in Sydney. The premier added that the chemical company would have to work hard to restore confidence.
“Orica will have to do an enormous amount in order to restore public confidence in NSW,” Mr O’Farrell said. Meanwhile, it would continue to face the toughest environmental laws in Australia, he added. However, the company admitted it had indefinitely delayed the restart of one. CSG debate abounds with questions, uncertainty. Australians could be sitting on enough coal seam gas (CSG) to meet the nation’s energy needs for the next 120 years, create more than 20,000 jobs and attracting $40 billion of investment. Accessing the resource might cause earthquakes, contaminate ground water and see industrial wells sprouting up in suburban gardens. Speaking at an Australian Science Media Centre online briefing, Dr Peter Stone said the CSG industry was riven with uncertainty. According to Dr Stone, director of the Gas Industry Social and Environmental Research Alliance, Australia’s proven and probable reserves of CSG would be capable of producing enough heat to boiling 150 Sydney Harbours.
Dr Stone added that if “possible” reserves lurking under the surface were considered then Australia was looking at enough gas to meet current energy needs for about 120 years. He said that s the world moved to a green economy, Australia could be looking at a hefty financial return. Sovereighty Day - National Day of Action - Occupy Australia. Cabarita beach cleanest in NSW | Lismore Environment | Environmental News in Lismore. THEY'VE done it again. Following hot on the heels of their multiple Northern Rivers Clean Beach Award wins, the Cabarita community has won the top state award and state Community Partnership and Action Award for their efforts in preserving the pristine beauty of Maggie's Beach, south of Norries Headland. Maggies Beach has been named the overall winner of the program for 2012.
"NSW beaches are the envy of the world and none exemplifies this as much as Maggie's Beach and that is greatly due to the efforts of the Cabarita community," CEO of Keep Australia Beautiful Peter McLean said. Mr McLean presented the awards to the community at Cabarita Beach on Wednesday, with local MP Geoff Provest and mayor of Tweed Shire Barry Longland commending the hard work and insight shown by locals in their challenge to sustain the coastal ecosystem. "They are ensuring the future of this unique and beautiful beach for generations to come," Cr Longland said. The Dark Side of the Turkey Industry. PETA Prime | peta2 | PETA Kids | Report Cruelty to Animals Join Sign in Home Features Video Action Blog Issues Living Shop Interactive Media Center About PETA Donate Now Videos Investigations + Most Popular Vegetarianism Skins PSAs peta2 + peta2: General + peta2: Animals in Entertainment + peta2: Vegetarianism + peta2: Companion Animals + peta2: Animal Experimentation + peta2: Skins + peta2: Investigations + Featured + Graphic Celebrities + Comedy + General/Animal Rights + Animals in Entertainment + Companion Animals + Animal Experimentation + Viral More Sharing Services Recent Popular Related What To Say to Someone Wearing Fur Peggy and Lucy Rescued From Bunny Magic!
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EPA finally acknowledges fracking dangers. (NaturalNews) The Environmental Protection Agency on December 7 released its first report linking fracking to water contamination. The report identified fracking as the source of poisons, including the carcinogen benzene, in the groundwater of a central Wyoming community.Pavillion, Wyoming is a small community of 174 people located on the Wind River Indian Reservation. The town sits in the middle of the state's huge gas patch which companies such as Encana Oil & Gas, Noble Energy and ConocoPhillips have turned into drilling fields. Since the mid-90s, more than 200 gas wells have been drilled near the small town. Approximately ten years ago, members of the rural community also observed new illnesses in local livestock.
Although the chemical levels did not exceed drinking water standards, the EPA felt there was cause for concern and advised Pavillion residents to use alternate water sources. Sources for this article include: Deal Reached in Durban But Scientists Say it Won't Avert Catastrophic Climate Change. Air Too Dangerous to Breathe: How Gas Drilling Can Turn Rural Communities Into Industrial Wastelands [With Photos] KIngs Forest Rally. Animal Dreaming: The Symbolic ... - Scott Alexander King. Australian Exceptionalism | Pollytics. Godsmouse.com by Uli Schöberl 2008.
Coral sea paradise faces ruin from mining. "No Coal for Christmas" - Santa joins Quit Coal campaigners in Bourke Street Mall, Melbourne... Australian Geographic – the best images and stories about Australia - Journal, Society, Outdoor magazine, Education - geography, photography, wildlife, adventure and science. Broome Communtiy NO GAS Rally Dec 2011.wmv. Metgasco hits back at council bans | Lismore News | Local News in Lismore. Fracking fracas looms - National Rural News - Agribusiness and General - Political. Your Likes.