Pacific Magazine - Marshall Islands Declares State Of Economic Emergency

While over the past three years a big alternative energy push has led to nearly half of the remote outer atoll homes getting donor-funded solar units, the state of emergency has ordered government agencies to redirect their alternative energy efforts to the two urban centers to help get people off costly electricity supplied by the government’s diesel-fired power plants.

The Cabinet has called for an fast-tracking a study on the feasibility of ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) as an alternative to using fossil fuels for power generation, while also ordering the cost-cutting measure of parking government vehicles immediately after work to end the current practice of workers using government vehicles for personal needs after working hours.

Gawler Environment and Heritage Association - Climate Change, urban development, peak oil and Gawler East

Below a number of details of conservation events in Adelaide in next few weeks. This will be vital to developing a strong environmental response to current development issues. Peter Newman is a real expert on sustainable development/planning so a great opportunity.

SMH - Origin Energy 'one of safer bets': CEO

Origin Energy Ltd is one of the safer bets in the market, CEO Grant King told Sky News' Sunday Business program. Australia's second largest power retailer rejected a $13.7 billion takeover bid from BG Group Plc on Friday, citing increases in its coal seam gas reserves and valuations for the sector.

FT - Coal-seam gas wars

Otago Daily Times - $2 million in five-months to prospect for coal-gas reserves

L&M Mining expects to start a five-month $2 million above-ground seismic testing programme which could include up to eight test drilling holes in its search for coal seam gas in Western Southland this month.

Peak Energy - The Linear And The Exponential

One skeptic of sorts is Freeman Dyson, though he makes more sophisticated arguments around the cost and methods of mitigation than the average anti-global warming loon ranting about broken hockey sticks. Freeman had an interesting review of a pair of books about climate change (Nordhaus' "A Question of Balance: Weighing the Options on Global Warming Policies" and Zedillo's Global Warming: Looking Beyond Kyoto) recently in The New York Review Of Books - The Question of Global Warming. Its is a long article worth reading in its entirety. ...

Kevin Kelly has a review of Dyson's review up at The Long Now Foundation, looking at how exponential change can alter the "is it cheaper/better to take action now or later" question - Where the Linear Crosses the Exponential. Again, its worth reading the whole piece.

Crikey - Fighting global warming -- now where's that magic bullet?

None of the proponents of geosequestration argue it is a magic bullet, but it has attracted serious government support. The Otway carbon capture demonstration project has received tens of millions of dollars in support from the federal and state governments, and the Federal Government is providing $50m to support another demonstration project at Biloela in Queensland.

Earlier this year, Resources Minister Martin Ferguson announced the introduction of a regulatory framework for geosequestration, and a tender by the end of the year for sea-bed carbon capture projects. And Ross Garnaut in releasing his draft report last week cited carbon capture as one of the key technologies that could ease the impacts of an emissions trading scheme on the coal-based power industry.

Crikey - Coming clean on geosequestration technology

Crikey - What Australians really think about climate change

SMH - Drought relief bill to soar, say scientists

AUSTRALIA will experience severe heat waves almost every year and droughts more often and over wider stretches of the country during the next three decades - with serious implications for how taxpayers help affected farmers, a group of scientists says. ...

In yesterday's report the scientists also predict that climate change will result in sharp increases in the number of regions facing years of exceptionally low rainfall in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and southern Western Australia by 2040.

ABC (Inside Business) - Implications of the Garnaut report

ABC (Inside Business) - Australia's history of climate change

The Age - Origin Energy 'one of safer bets': CEO

Origin Energy Ltd is one of the safer bets in the market, CEO Grant King told Sky News' Sunday Business program. Australia's second largest power retailer rejected a $13.7 billion takeover bid from BG Group Plc on Friday, citing increases in its coal seam gas reserves and valuations for the sector.

The Age - Stay out of politics, Libs tell Garnaut

The federal opposition has refused to fall into line with economist Professor Ross Garnaut's plan to tackle climate change, and told him to keep out of politics. Prof Garnaut last week released his draft report on how Australia should tackle climate change - a broad-based emissions trading scheme to be introduced in 2010, including petrol.

The Age - 65% of NSW drought-declared

The most drought-ravaged areas of NSW have received the cruel double blow of worsening conditions and a looming locust plague. And consumers are facing the prospect of further price hikes, with a failure of winter crops likely to increase the cost of food.

The big dry extended its grip across the state this month, with a further 2.3 per cent of NSW slipping into drought, taking the total drought-declared area to 65 per cent. Of the rest, 20.9 is considered marginal, with a mere 14 per cent - largely along the coast - deemed satisfactory. Primary industries minister Ian Macdonald said June was a "horror" month for the southwestern region, where just 10mm of rain fell in some parts.

ABC - Drought, locusts threaten NSW crops

frogblog - ‘I stood there with my mouth open like an ape’

Indeed you would. A senior council planner from the Nelson City council is being ‘dealt with internally‘, after he or she chose to cycle to a building site to inspect a resource consent application rather than drive. Apparently cycling was ‘not appropriate’. Interestingly the Nelson Mail article reports that the time wasting journey was probably about 12 minutes as a fast bike ride but the cyclist in question probably went slower than that.

frogblog - They don’t have to win, they only have to confuse

Mark Lynas at the Guardian quite tidily summed up yesterday the current hit and run tactics of climate change deniers ... Interestingly he then goes on to use poll data to refute, at least in Britain, the myth that concern about climate change is a middle class luxury, and that poor people have more immediate things to worry about. It turns out that poorer people are more likely to prioritise the environment over the economy.

Inhabitat - TESLA Announces New 225 Mile Range Sedan

Tesla Motors just announced plans to start building the Model S - an electric sedan with a 225-mile range - in the Bay Area with plans to get the five passenger vehicles on the road in two years time.

Peak Energy - World Bank Report On Biofuels

Peak Energy - Ethanol Plants Shutting Down In US

Peak Energy - Sunrise In San Diego

Peak Energy - Portsmouth's Green Stadium

Peak Energy - Short Takes