Zero Waste Australia

Claims that an emissions trading Scheme will drive up the
price of food and other basics are exaggerated, the federal government's chief
climate change adviser says.

Professor Ross Garnaut addressed some 1200 people in Brisbane
today as part of a national tour to discuss his draft climate change report,
which recommends an emissions trading scheme be phased in by 2010.

An Interesting interview with Ross Garnaut Reporter: Annie Guest

We sat in chairs dipping down towards the river, facing a Yarra
obscured by a geometric lattice-work of steel and glass amid the winter
gloom of a late afternoon in Melbourne. The motion to be argued in the
recent Deakin Debate at Federation Square was “that climate change is
the only issue”.

Greeting to all,

Today, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance's joint report with Eco-Cycle and the Global Anti-Incinerator Alliance (GAIA) is being released on this United Nations World Environment Day.

For international readers, the emissions trading scheme (EMT) is basically an attempt to bring the economy in line with environmental imperatives; to set real prices that include the environment in the ‘bottom line' of businesses; and to make sure that the market helps achieve a quick transition to a sustainable economy.

This post makes a couple of quick suggestions regarding how to quantify emissions in Australia's agricultural industry.

TVA's energy audit program is booming (at least compared to last year) thanks to a promotional program by the agency and local utilities. According to KUB spokeswoman Jennifer Fern, 3,137 customers have completed the audits January to June this year compared to 125 customers for the same period in 2007.

Australia's oil imports have collapsed under the weight of higher prices and changes in consumer behaviour.

Trade figures released yesterday show just 1.6 billion litres were imported in May, well down on the long-term average of 2 billion litres per month.

May volumes were down 28 per cent on those imported a year earlier.

The change gives heart to those who have claimed the higher prices that will flow from Australia's planned emissions trading scheme will cut greenhouse gas emissions.

VICTORIA - A majority of British Columbians oppose the B.C. Liberal government's carbon tax, a new poll reveals.

Ipsos
Reid has found that 59 per cent of those polled are against the new tax
- set to begin July 1 with a 2.4-cent-per-litre increase in the price
of gasoline - with just under half of the respondents saying they
oppose it "strongly."

Opposition to the tax is greatest in the Interior, followed by the Lower Mainland and then the rest of mainland B.C...

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Enviance, the leading provider of Internet-based, on-demand systems
for the management and automation of environmental, health and safety
(EHS) compliance activities, today announced that the U.S. Army has
implemented the first real-time greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting and
management system at the Fort Carson military base. Developed in
conjunction with National Defense Center for Energy and Environment
(NDCEE) to strengthen the environmental, energy, and transportation
management of Federal agencies, the Enviance System allows Ft. Carson

Jotun Paints, one of the world's leading producers and suppliers of paints and coatings, has celebrated ‘World Environment Day' by hosting three competitions that promoted water and energy conservation under the patronage of Dubai Municipality. As the only paint manufacturer that is a member of the Emirates Green Building Council, Jotun Paints has been advancing environmental causes through its adoption of massive waste recycling programs, which resulted in the reprocessing of 926,492 litres of waste water and 47,721 litres of waste solvents in 2007.