Zero carbon by 2030

Lyn Hovey on March 17, 2022

Imagine waking up and not being ashamed of your country!

We live with ever increasing anxiety about species extinction (possibly including our own), environmental degradation, catastrophic bushfires and floods, deaths from heat stroke and a government that fails to act on the emergency. To survive, we will probably have to actively remove and safely sequester a significant fraction of the existing greenhouse gas from the global atmosphere, and possibly also enhance Earth’s reflectivity enough to reduce the amount of heat it captures from solar radiation. These goals will be hard to achieve, but let’s begin with the comparatively easy task of completely stopping human generated greenhouse gas emissions, i.e., zero carbon emissions from human activities.

Zero carbon by 2030 is a reasonable aspiration, especially in Australia.  We have the knowledge and the resources for a technological transition.  All we need is the political will. If we can do this, then we’ll know whether we have to do the other things also, and by then we should have a government able and willing to take leadership on these jobs as well.

Big necessary decisions must be made to advance Australia’s part in the Paris Agreement, including withdrawing public money and government support from fracking the Beetaloo Basin; closing down the giant new offshore gas field of the Scarborough-Pluto LNG project in W.A. and stopping the Adani coal mine and others in the Galilee Basin in Qld.  Serious social disruption will occur without a blueprint for future industries and jobs. 

The declaration of a Climate Emergency and the contingencies that flow from this will guide an economic transformation.  Just as radical change happened with the declaration of the war economy, shifting perspectives made the impossible seem possible. We cannot imagine how fast change can happen as we are used to the spin, obfuscation, rorting, incompetence, reliance on the market to find solutions and the privatisation of government decisions via outsourcing to big donors in contemporary government.

Setting aside the debate about the necessity of the limits to growth and a whole systems approach we need to elect a new Federal Government who can work with a cross bench to shift public opinion as fast as is politically possible.

Many industries and communities are writing blueprints for the future.  One comprehensive plan that will inspire hope and creative action in people who seek election at the 2022 Federal Election is The Million Jobs Plan by Beyond Zero Emissions.

by Beyond Zero Emissions, June 2020

The Million Jobs Plan: A unique opportunity to demonstrate the growth and employment potential of investing in a low-carbon economy

Read the entire document….

The publisher, Beyond Zero Emissions is an internationally recognised energy think-tank, that shows through independent research and innovative solutions how Australia can thrive through a transition to a zero-emissions economy. The plan aims to create employment, modernise our infrastructure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

It proposes nation-building, transformative projects that can upgrade the economy, modernise industry, reskill the workforce and deliver a different future – economically and socially. The Plan includes case studies for coal industry regions.  The Plan aims to make Australia more prosperous, fairer and more resilient, with local jobs that are lasting, secure, well-paid and backed by safe and fair working conditions. Their research shows that this is entirely achievable.

Some of its key points include –

  • 70% of new jobs to be created in regional areas
  • Australia wide transmission line upgrades with government and private investment
  • renewable energy industrial zones and zero carbon community initiatives
  • Australian made manufacturing creating new supply chains
  •  Building mass scale renewables to electrify industry and drive the development of zero emissions metals, green hydrogen, steel and aluminium
  • electrify public transport including regional trains and buses
  • energy efficient social housing and the creation of new standards to drive net-zero energy housing
  • technology to boost local building material production through government procurement policy to prioritise local, lower embedded emissions
  • the creation of a renewable hydrogen sector to meet emissions free ammonia for use in the production of fertilizers
  • investing in the circular economy with resource recovery and waste recycling, from raw material extraction to end-of-life
  • revegetation of 27M hectares in 5 years, replanting to achieve carbon neutrality
  • regenerative agriculture as well as wetlands regeneration and biodiversity protection
  • investing in training and upskilling the workforce
  • a green stimulus package to foster research and development and jobs in education

We applaud the many people who have put their hands up to stand for election in 2022 to collectively advance Australia’s contribution to solving the existential crisis we currently face.

For information on how to make your vote count to elect House and Senate representatives in your electorate who will put action on climate change at the top of their to do list, our Traffic Light Voting System will give you information about the various candidates and show you how to make the most of your vote.

 Finally, a comprehensive analysis of the science of the state of the planetary emergency is essential reading.

Featured Image: Climate Sentinel Editor, based on an image by Kirsten Gillibrand from her campaign as a Democratic candidate in the primaries for the US Presidential Election in 2020. Source: via Wikimedia Commons.

Views expressed in this post are those of its author(s), not necessarily all Vote Climate One members.

Sea levels are rising now. Here’s some evidence

Climate News Links on March 17, 2022

The North American Coastal Plain loses nearly 700 km² of wetland forest a year (and more on the Pacific Coast) from rising salt water levels

© Provided by WNCN RaleighSea-level rise creating ‘ghost forests’ in North Carolina

by Rachel Duensing, 16/03/2022 in 17 News WNCN Raleigh

Sea-level rise creating ‘ghost forests’ in North Carolina: Imagine a forest the size of Raleigh and Durham. Now imagine a forest that size dying every single year.It’s an unfortunate reality that’s happening right now across the North American Coastal Plain, including part of our backyard here in North Carolina.

Featured Image: Atlantic white cedars dying near the banks of the Bass River in New Jersey.
Credit: Ted Blanco/Climate Central / https://assets.climatecentral.org/images/made/9_13_16_upton_BassRiver-27_720_404_s_c1_c_c.jpg / From: ‘Ghost Forests’ Appear As Rising Seas Kill Trees, by John Upton, Climate Central

Views expressed in this post are those of its author(s), not necessarily all Vote Climate One members.

French election campaign demos a major issue for Oz

Climate News Links on March 17, 2022

France’s presidential election campaign highlights the dangerous absurdity of candidates’ reluctance to “look up” to see the global climate emergency

Protesters urge governments to act against climate change and social injustice at a rally in Paris on March 12, 2022. © Benoît Tessier, Reuters

by Romain BRUNET Follow | Benjamin DODMAN Follow, 16/03/2022 in France 24

Climate can wait: French election campaign ignores ‘humanity’s greatest challenge’: It’s a key preoccupation of the French and the greatest challenge to our planet – and yet the subject of climate change has all but vanished from France’s presidential campaign, sidelined by the war in Ukraine, a lack of media exposure, and candidates’ own reluctance to broach the subject.

Featured image: Climate emergency – The oceans are risking. Melbourne was part of the global climate strike on March 15, 2019, drawing an enormous crowd estimated at 40,000 people, the vast majority school students. After welcome to country and some speeches at the Old Treasury Building the march wound it’s way through CBD streets, down Collins Street and up Bourke street, then down to Treasury Gardens. It was a highly energetic march with the roar of chanting calling for coal, don’t dig it, and for climate action now. . Attribution: Takver from Australia, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons / https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/The_oceans_are_rising_and_so_are_we.Climate_emergency–Melbourne_climate_strike–IMG_4246%2833509327348%29.jpg/1200px-The_oceans_are_rising_and_so_are_we.Climate_emergency–Melbourne_climate_strike–IMG_4246%2833509327348%29.jpg?20190416115510

Views expressed in this post are those of its author(s), not necessarily all Vote Climate One members.

Is Scotty using climate disasters to distract us from fighting the root cause?

Climate News Links on March 16, 2022

We’ve argued previously that Scotty from Marketing has become a past master at distracting us from effective action against climate change to protect his patrons in the fossil fuel industry

‘Australia is getting hard to live in because of these disasters’ says Scott Morrison; protestors in Lismore believe they have identified a root cause. Photograph: Yaya Stempler/The Guardian

by Jeff Sparrow, 16/03/2022 in The Guardian/Opinion

Is battling back-to-back disasters distracting us from fighting the climate crisis? As floods follow fires, we need to hold our leaders’ feet to the flames – or, for that matter, to the water. Environmentalists once saw abstraction as the biggest obstacle to climate action. How, they wondered, could one focus the public on the distant future? Today, we confront the opposite problem, with the very immediacy of the crisis generating a strange paralysis.

Featured Image: “It’s ok. I saved the valuables”.The Cathy Wilcox@cathywilcox1 on Twitter, via Know Your Meme

Views expressed in this post are those of its author(s), not necessarily all Vote Climate One members.

As Earth warms climate catastrophes begin to cascade

Climate News Links on March 16, 2022

A case in the Florida Panhandle demonstrates how damages from increasingly frequent extreme weather events can overlap to increase damages

Satellites captured the tree loss from Hurricane Michael in 2018. This is where fires were burning in 2022. Forwarn/USDA Forest Service

by David Godwin. 11/03/2022 in The Conversation

How a hurricane fueled wildfires in the Florida Panhandle: The wildfires that broke out in the Florida Panhandle in early March 2022 were the nightmare fire managers had feared since the day Hurricane Michael flattened millions of trees there in 2018. It might sound odd – hurricanes helping to fuel wildfires

. But Michael’s 160 mph winds left tangles of dead trees that were ready to burn.

Featured image:Using satellites, the Florida Forest Service mapped the damage to timber in the Panhandle. Florida Forest Service / via The Conversation article.

Views expressed in this post are those of its author(s), not necessarily all Vote Climate One members.

Arizona’s water crisis may warn Australia’s drylands

Climate News Links on March 16, 2022

Australia lacks huge reservoirs to support cities and towns in dry areas. A Phoenix neighborhood is doing it tough without a reliable supply.

Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

by Jake Bittle, 10/03/2022 in Grist

How the West’s megadrought is leaving one Arizona neighborhood with no water at all: Thanks to Colorado River cuts, hundreds of residents on the outskirts of Phoenix are “the canary in the coal mine.”

Featured Image: Like Arizona, Brisbane is suffering conditions of prolonged drought. Unlike, Arizona, they actually promote conservation. (1757417609).jpg / Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/1757417609/ / Author: cogdogblog / License: Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication / Via Wikimedia Commons

Views expressed in this post are those of its author(s), not necessarily all Vote Climate One members.

If insurers won’t insure, should govt subsidize risks?

Climate News Links on March 16, 2022

As the costs to insurance companies to cover climate risks skyrocket, insurance becomes unafordable. Should governments subsidize high risk policies?

Lismore was inundated during the floods.

by Jess Davis, 11/03/2022 in ABC News

Should the federal government step in to keep insurance affordable after the floods?: As communities look to rebuild from the devastating floods many are concerned they will no longer be able to afford insurance, with calls for the federal government to step in and help.

Featured image: Floods in Brisbane also caused widespread damage.(Supplied: Jared Cassidy)

Views expressed in this post are those of its author(s), not necessarily all Vote Climate One members.

Extreme weather costs will hurt insurance co’s and you!

Climate News Links on March 16, 2022

Payouts for increasing damages from floods, wildfires, and winds hurt the insurance companies. They must choose to not insure the risk or recover costs from customers

Lismore locals clean up after their town was again inundated, this time by record flood levels.(AAP: Jason O’Brien)

by Michael Janda, 12/03/2022 in ABC News

Insurers brace for rising flood damage amid climate change, and they warn you should too: As New South Wales and Queensland clean up after what are likely to be the costliest floods in Australian history, insurers have a stark warning — prepare for things to get worse, especially along the east coast.

Featured image: Lismore floods regularly. This picture of the town is from the 2017 inundation.(ABC North Coast: Ruby Cornish) from the article.

Views expressed in this post are those of its author(s), not necessarily all Vote Climate One members.

It is up to us to decide who governs us — climate warriors or humbuggers

William P. Hall on March 15, 2022

“This is coal” 09/02/2017 via David Marler on Youtube
“We’ll keep on mining coal” 09/09/2021 via The Guardian

We need to treat the climate emergency as a global war we are on track to lose unless we can focus our efforts on the only task that matters – reversing global warming. If we fail here no other tasks matter — our species risks extinction no matter how we arrange the deck chairs on the burning ship — and the risk continues to rise the longer we delay action.

William P. Hall

The climate emergency has two possible outcomes

BUSINESS AS USUAL

Risk runaway warming to a hothouse earth and extinction

RECOGNISE THE EMERGENCY

Mobilise to the max & work to become good stewards of our precious blue planet

There is no planet B

VOTE CLIMATE ONE to heal our planet

It is time for Australian citizens to reclaim our government from the puppets of the fossil fuel industry.

These humbugging puppets have been working for several years to keep their immensely rich patrons safe from any economic harm from actions to stop and reverse the global warming that has been changing our climate to allow ever more, and more deadly extreme weather events.

It is time for Australian citizens to replace the puppets in our Parliament with independent people or parties who are publicly committed to put action to fight the growing climate emergency at the top of their agendas if elected. As our name states, Vote Climate One has been established to help you elect these kinds of people in your individual electorates.

Welcome to our updated and “election ready” site!
Please check it out!

Home

Home explains what we are about and who we are.

Traffic Light Voting

Traffic Light Voting, explains how our system will help ensure that your vote will count maximally towards electing ‘climate friendly’ representatives in your house and senate electorates.

Climate Heroes

Climate Heroes explains how you can help in a very big way to put our voting guide in everyone’s hands in your electorate and help us to make the guide as accurate as it possibly can be.

Political Parties

Political parties discusses the roles political parties have played in Australia to bring us to the present state of general inaction relative to the worsening climate emergency, and what we know about their stances relative to solving the emergency.

Electorates

Electorates tells you what what we know about each candidate in each individual federal house and senate electorate, and shows you how we have ranked them in relation to their party or public stances on prioritizing action on the climate emergency.

Once the election is declared and the ballot papers laid out by the Electoral Commission, we will provide printable copies of the form so you can mark your preferences before you go to the polling booth to save you time when you are actually voting.

Climate Sentinel News

Climate Sentinel News is where we most differ from all other election-related web-sites. Here is where we present a curated collection of daily news items and scientific reports providing the concrete evidence relating to global warming and climate change that underlies our concerns for the futures of our families.

If you are unsure about the real importance of climate change and actions to control it, this information will keep you up to date with the latest scientific knowledge and continuing evidence from the daily news. This keeps telling us (1) we face real problems from climate change, and (2) that with the proper government, we may actually be able to make the world safer from it.

If you agree with us that we need a very different kind of government that can go beyond ‘business as usual’ there are some very positive things you can do to help spread the message

Basically our problem is that we are a purely volunteer outfit. Any funding we can raise goes to our Climate Heroes program to support posting and letter-boxing our paper Voting Guide in marginal electorates. However, the Web campaign is also critically important to reach possible swing voters in all electorates in hope that we may swing a few surprises here as well to remove some of the worst special interest puppets from their normally very safe seats.

The internet (Web) is truly remarkable in that social media has the power to circulate ‘interesting’ news to an exponentially growing market as fake news publishers all too frequently demonstrate. This doesn’t even have to be paid for if readers want to share the item.

We think VoteClimateOne’s Climate Sentinel News and/or our Traffic Light Voting System might be circulated in this same way. For example, if you find this post to be interesting enough to share with some of your friends, Google and other search engines will pick up on this interest and prioritize showing the post in other people’s search results over other, apparently less interesting stuff. There are some very simple things you can do in Facebook and Twitter to multiply this effect many times over.

For Facebook – when you receive a post from VoteClimateOne (like this one), (1) click the Like icon. (2) click the Share icon and then the Share now (Friends), write something in the comment saying why they should read the post and add some appropriate hash tags, e.g., #VoteClimateOne #AusPol #TellTheTruth #ScottyFromMarketing #WhereTheBloodyHellAreYou #AustraliaBurns #AustraliaFloods #ClimateEmergency #GlobalWarming. The presence of any one of these in YOUR comment to the item you are sharing will insure that this vote climate one post will be added to the posts indexed under that hash tag. And the more times this one post is shared by someone else also using the same hash tag, the closer this post will be to the top of the list someone sees when they do a search on the hash tag.

If everyone receiving a post from Vote Climate One shares only one post a day with all of their friends, within only a few days we will saturate the Web – especially if the hash tags are specifically Australian in context. Twitter works in very much the same way, but Paul Hosking, our Search Engine Optimization guru explains how this works in a video.

Views expressed in this post are those of its author(s), not necessarily all Vote Climate One members.

NB4 East Coast lows kill 21+ citizens — worse to come

William P. Hall on March 10, 2022

As long as global warming continues ever more extreme weather can be expected. Is our govt. doing enough to help mitigation & adaptation?

Jason O’Brien/AAP via The Conversation

by Barbara Norman, 09/03/2022 in The Conversation

The floods have killed at least 21 Australians. Adapting to a harsher climate is now a life-or-death matter:

The devastating floods in Queensland and New South Wales highlight, yet again, Australia’s failure to plan for natural disasters. As we’re seeing now in heartbreaking detail, everyday Australians bear the enormous cost of this inaction. It’s too soon to say whether the current floods are directly linked to climate change. But we know such disasters are becoming more frequent and severe as the climate heats up. In 2019, Australia ranked last out of 54 nations on its strategy to cope with climate change.

Read the complete article…

Featured Image: The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (2021) projects that ten year extreme weather events will become more common compared to the pre-industrial era. Based on data from Fig. SPM.6 of: Climate Change 2021 / The Physical Science Basis / Working Group I contribution to the WGI Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change / Summary for Policymakers. IPCC.ch SPM-23. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (9 August 2021). Source states: ● Hot temperature extremes over land – 10-year event – Frequency and increase in intensity of extreme temperature event that occurred once in 10 years on average in a climate without human influence; ● Heavy precipitation over land – 10-year event – Frequency and increase in intensity of heavy 1-day precipitation event that occurred once in 10 years on average in a climate without human influence; ● Agricultural & ecological droughts in drying regions – 10-year event – Frequency and increase in intensity of an agricultural and ecological drought event that occurred once in 10 years on average across drying regions in a climate without human influence. / Date: 29/20/2019 / Author: Femkemilene / Licensing: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International.

Views expressed in this post are those of its author(s), not necessarily all Vote Climate One members.