What dirty corrupt greedy madness is this?...

It comes from a government that relies on what comes out of the ground to try and balance their books and coal plays a big part of that. Before COVID hit that same government bought many boxes full of thousands of coffee cups with "Back In Black" printed on them, but they never got their books back in the black so all those cups are gathering dust now (they were asking $25ea for cup that cost them less than $5ea and some reports suggest that they bought 30K of them, though the party is staying tight lipped on the real number).

Hopefully this incompetent government will be gone in the upcoming elections this time (or they'll get themselves another new leader for them, nah, they've done that 3 times now and I doubt that that trick will work for a 4th time). And the funniest part about it all is that they're now trying to use some of the opposition's policies on climate change that they blasted left, right & center during the last elections.

And evidence to back that up


A last-minute switch at an international conference left some leaders in tears, but Australian politicians are praising the change.

And evidence to back that up

A last-minute switch at an international conference left some leaders in tears, but Australian politicians are praising the change.

Is there any way that we can get a message across to the political classes, globally?

Something along the lines of:

"You are responsible for operating the government of a nation-state. You have been given trustee responsibility, by your citizens, for the land of that nation-state, for the minerals beneath it, the waters around its coastline, and the air above its surface. You have not been given any equivalent responsibilities, or rights, on, below, or above any other land mass. If you allow any noxious substance to escape your own air-space, and enter the sovereign air-space of any other nation-state, this will be regarded as a hostile invasive act of war."

"You're going to need a bigger wall."

money bribes, hot air talk walks.

money bribes, hot air talk walks.

... And even the blah-blah-blah gets watered down yet further into yet longer term precipitous uselessness:


Greta Thunberg: ‘COP26 even watered down the blah, blah, blah’


All a game of the politics of the Titanic?...

BUT!

This is in the real world? Right?


All on our only one planet,
Martin

ps: I can't believe this video clip is from sooo long ago, and yet still, the message remains the same...

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
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Blue Sky and Breathing Fine. Real Fine.

Until a Construction Loader Came By and I Sucked in Some of Dat Nasty Exhaust.

And As USUAL Neighbors Sucking and Exhausting CIG Smoke Into Air.

Other than dat. Breathing Fine. Real Fine.

You?

Yin

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May we All have a METAMORPHOSIS. REASON. GOoD JUDGEMENT and LOVE and ORDER!!!!!

Background noise, is a lab rat loose?

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The world of denial moves onwards:


COP26: The truth behind the new climate change denial
wrote:

... climate change denial is now more likely to focus on the causes and effects of warming, or how to tackle it, than to outright deny it exists.

The 'd-words' v the planet

We've looked at some of the most viral claims of the past year, and what the evidence really says...

Covid denial to climate denial: How conspiracists are shifting focus
wrote:

Members of an online movement infected with pandemic conspiracies are shifting their focus - and are increasingly peddling falsehoods about climate change...

This ever increasing denial phenomena is looking too 'orchestrated' to be merely just 'grass-roots' randomness...

Is this all part of a new Marketing playbook that has evolved and developed since the dirty days of Big Tobacco and Big Oil playing dirty to kill people with new Marketing 'methods'?

Or is this 'merely' a 'side effect' of Marketing and Propaganda moving into social media?


How can anyone know what to think??!


All on our only one planet,
Martin

See:

How social media is helping Big Tobacco hook a new generation of smokers

How Big Oil Lost Control of Its Climate Misinformation Machine

Oil Executives Deny Misinformation on Climate Change, Despite Evidence

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
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Now...

This is something that I never expected to see from a group of diehard Petrol-heads...

Especially not from the Jeremy Clarkson spin-off lost-in-their-own-fumes Petrol-heads...


See and believe?

Why are almost all modern engines 2.0-litres? {Epilogue...}

The (skipped) first 10 minutes gives the best explanation I've seen for why 500cc per cylinder is an optimum sweet spot for size/power/efficiency. All good fun!

... And then, there is lots of enthusiasm about peak torque and fun-to-drive then leading into: What comes next for powering your hot wheels... And how quickly.


Quite a surprising turn in the road! Will there be riots?

All on our only one planet,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
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Mr Abbott is running more than 50 plug sockets to power the lights, but a friend, who worked with him when he was homeless, has offered to cover the cost of the electricity.

Wouldn't it have been more sensible to put that money into the charity?
Climate change? What's that?

Alarming cracks in ice shelf of Thwaites ‘Doomsday’ glacier could accelerate sea level rise.

One of the largest glaciers in Antarctica, known as the “Doomsday glacier”, is experiencing dramatic changes and this could have serious consequences for sea level rise in as little as five years.

Scientists are warning that a huge ice shelf, which juts out over the water and is part of the Thwaites glacier, is at risk of breaking off within years.

The glacier is the size of Britain and holds enough water to raise sea levels by 65cm.

It is so large that scientists in both the United States and United Kingdom identified it as the most important glacier to study to understand sea level rise within this century.

This week, alarming findings from the work of scientists who are part of the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration was presented at the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting.

They believe the ice shelf could be at risk of collapsing in as little as five years and if this happens it could accelerate the melting of the glacier.

The glacier already contributes 4 per cent of annual global sea level rise and if it melts, then sea levels could rise by several feet.

“The glacier in its entirety holds enough water to raise sea level by over two feet (60cm),” Professor Ted Scambos, a senior research scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) has previously stated.

“And it could lead to even more sea level rise, up to 10 feet (3 metres), if it draws the surrounding glaciers with it.”.......

Ancient Aliens Mentions SEA LEVEL Rises and Sinkings Throughout History. And Pre-History.

NOT a HuWoMan Made Thang.

HuWoManity Will DEAL with It and SURVIVE.

NO Worries Matey

NO SEA LEVEL FREAK OUTs

SMMMMMMMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTHHHHH Sailing Baby!!!!!

Yep

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May we All have a METAMORPHOSIS. REASON. GOoD JUDGEMENT and LOVE and ORDER!!!!!

Unbelievable...

Australia resorts to using the "Drug dealers excuse" as a lame excuse for expanding their corrupt pollution:


The teenagers and the nun trying to stop an Australian coal mine
wrote:

When eight teenagers and an elderly nun in Australia teamed up for a climate case, they won, in a historic judgement. Their case has now been appealed by the country's government. If the final verdict swings in their favour, it will have ramifications not just for Australian law but for climate cases world-wide...

... Justice Bromberg did not, however, grant them an injunction to prevent the expansion of the mine. In his view, the court didn't have any evidence that Sussan Ley would actually approve the extension, and any injunction would be pre-emptive.

Yet in September Ms Ley approved the extension of the Vickery coal mine, as well as three others since then. The government is also appealing the decision in the Sharma case...

... The government used a "substitution argument" as one reason to approve Vickery, says the lawyer representing the Sharma case, David Barnden. "It's the argument that if this particular coal project didn't go ahead, it wouldn't make a difference to the total amount of emissions because effectively the market would fulfill that demand. That's otherwise known as the drug dealer's defence - it's the idea that 'If I don't deal drugs then somebody else will.'"

For Sister Brigid Arthur, the minister's decisions since the success of their case are "quite provocative"...

Time to uncover and follow the trail of money...?

This gets even more ridiculous when considering that Australia has an excess of natural resources that can be used cleanly and sustainably to quickly become the richest nation on our only one planet... And for the good of our planet and profitably so!


All lost in the greedy world of politics and corruption?
Martin

---

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Ya.....well.............
If every enviro-warrior on the planet would quit wasting their time trying throw a wrench into everything they see as evil, and instead use their energies to further the projects that are environmentally beneficial, they might actually make some difference. Of course it is much easier for them (and their political allies) just to throw stones at what they perceive as harmful to the planet or their political agendas rather than instead doing what they can to foster progress on alternative sources of energy. Their efforts are misplaced.

Once alternative energy sources become plentiful and economical enough (and I do believe at some point they shall) the simple economics of the commercial energy cycle on this planet will turn it in the direction they wish it to.

And trying to force the use of technologies that are not yet ready for large scale energy production will simply siphon money away from the productive further development of those technologies.

Trying to tear down what is in place before replacement technology is available and trying to cripple world economies in the process is not productive for anybody on the planet.

---

"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

... And trying to force the use of technologies that are not yet ready for large scale energy production will simply siphon money away from the productive further development of those technologies.

Trying to tear down what is in place before replacement technology is available and trying to cripple world economies in the process is not productive for anybody on the planet...

Very good points... Except...

The wider world includes this additional artificial conundrum:


Exploring the TRUE cost of ditching fossil fuels


I never realized the sums were so huge to mindlessly keep burning our planet to ever greater pollution!!

Which then really does beg the question of how the fossil fuels are still expanding(!) despite in reality never being able to pay any profit...

Is there some 'very strange financial accounting' going on...?


All on our only one planet,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

well sald

Continued Denial in action:


Climate change: Huge toll of extreme weather disasters in 2021


Arctic heat record is like {the} Mediterranean...


Alaska 'Icemageddon' warning follows heat record
wrote:

The coldest US state of Alaska has recorded its hottest-ever December day, amid an unusual winter warm spell.

Temperatures soared to a record 19.4C (67F) on the island of Kodiak on Sunday - almost seven degrees warmer than the state's previous high. But elsewhere in Alaska temperatures have been plunging to record lows. In the south-eastern town of Ketchikan, temperatures dropped to -18C (-0.4F) on 25 December - one of the town's coldest Christmas Days in the past century.

The weather extremes have prompted warnings of an "Icemageddon" from authorities, as torrents of rain and snow have left ice as hard as cement coating the roads...

Climate change: Hurricanes to expand into more populated regions
wrote:

... At present, these cyclones - or hurricanes as they are also known - are mainly confined to the tropical regions north and south of the equator.

But researchers say that rising temperatures will allow these weather events to form in the mid-latitudes.

This area includes cities such as New York, Beijing, Boston and Tokyo...

Really?

All that ain't so??...


All on our only one planet,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

And yet, we still have the corrupt politics:


Climate change: Storm clouds gather after COP26
wrote:

2021 was a momentous year for climate change.

As well as a host of extreme, destructive events influenced by rising temperatures, the past 12 months have seen unprecedented political engagement on the issue, culminating in the COP26 summit in Glasgow in November.

Progress was undoubtedly made and the overall thrust of the meeting was towards more rapid action on a whole host of measures to curb emissions.

But there are now growing concerns...

COP 26: The teenagers suing 33 countries
wrote:

... After seeing the damage caused by wildfires in their home country of Portugal, André Oliviera, his sister Sofia and their friends are determined to make sure that leaders who pledged to reduce harmful emissions are forced to act...

Does it really need our children to rise up and riot for a positive healthy change?


All on our only one planet,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Greed again steps in to halt progress.

California is about to stumble in the climate fight.

..What California does matters on both the national and international stages

Among many initiatives, one particular incentive helped the state reach and then surpass Schwarzenegger's goal - and that incentive is about to be taken away.

A little-known but powerful state agency, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), recently issued new rules for the future of rooftop solar and batteries in California. Simply put, if their proposal is adopted, it would jack up electricity bills for rooftop solar owners to double or triple what they are now. In addition to cutting the "net metering" credit that solar users get paid when they sell their power back to the grid, the CPUC is also proposing a $57 monthly fee for people who install solar....

Maybe the California Public Utilities Commission should be listed as an environmental terrorist group and disbanded. ;-)

Everybody as far as I can tell everybody has got it wrong. The correct way to account for home solar is a 3 part billing. The first part should be an infrastucre fee for thhe home owner pays for the lines and transformers he uses. The power company should buy the surplus at a wholesale rate not at an inflated retail rate. If the home owner has to draw off the grid it should be at retail. Nothing else makes economic sense.
If for political reasons society wants to incentivise home solar a tax rebate wouldbe equitable.

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Everybody as far as I can tell everybody has got it wrong. The correct way to account for home solar is a 3 part billing. The first part should be an infrastucre fee for thhe home owner pays for the lines and transformers he uses. The power company should buy the surplus at a wholesale rate not at an inflated retail rate. If the home owner has to draw off the grid it should be at retail. Nothing else makes economic sense.
If for political reasons society wants to incentivise home solar a tax rebate wouldbe equitable.

{Federal solar tax rebate 26% IIRC}

And that structure is exactly what the investor owned utilities want, but the PUC wouldn't allow. The reason is under such a rate structure the real cost of producing electricity would come into play and the cost of infrastructure and overhead also comes into play. Their hand has been forced.

A solar customer that consumes only a handful of kW a month would pay a dollar or five for the power, nickle for what they sell at wholesale but perhaps 150 dollars for the grid connection and overhead. Its not cheap to have the number of employees needed to maintain the lines and someone has to pay for all the grid interconnect lines, etc.

Bills now are more like 0 for the power and 5 for the lines (Have a friend with solar, his annual bill was about $25.00 - obviously not sustainable. [electric bill only]) as it is only very recently that the utilities have been able to charge separately. Their solar customers are going to get shocked and the non-solar customers may see some savings as they will no longer be in the forced subsidy business.

PG&E and their burning down of California has forced the reckoning as they must have cash to clear the brush and quintuple the number crews doing it because they are so far behind. PG&E can't raise the power rate to cover their court judgements, but they can raise the infrastructure charge and will. Once they show that part of the bill isn't generating undue profits the PUC allows it. Yes, PUC sets the maximum profit a investor owned utility can make!

The era of getting paid to go solar is over, now the full cost of the system will be on those who install it. As always, if it doesn't make economic sense, drill baby drill. It isn't enough that there is a way to reduce carbon, that way must be less expensive than burning carbon.