Judging by the news from the UK and USA in particular, it looks like the idea of a 'Green New Deal' is an idea whose time has come. Some discussions about a 21st century reprise on USA president Roosevelt's New Deal plan for recovery from last century's economic depression have been occurring with Friends of the Earth and with other interested groups about what this might look like in Australia and how to make it happen.
Fifth generation (5G) wireless technology, as the name indicates, is the next generation wireless communication network from 3G, 4G and 4G LTE. 5G will use the spectrum for the existing 4G frequency range (600 MHz to 6 GHz) and also the millimetre wave bands (24-86 GHz). Once fully implemented it would predominantly operate in the millimetre (mm) radiofrequency band which would allow much higher data transfer, as much as 100 times faster than 4G cellular networks.
There was no doubt that - given the opportunity - the ever-optimistic nuclear lobby in Australia would attempt to seize the moment and press the claims of their favoured technology to the parliamentary inquiry gifted to them by the federal government.
Speakers from across the Pacific Islands and Australia came together on the 11th October 2019 at The University of Queensland's Global Change Institute to discuss the specific human rights, including Indigenous rights, immediately challenged by the global climate crisis. The conference was initiated by the UQ Human Rights Consortium and Friends of Earth Climate Frontlines.
As part of the national drinking water project, Northern Territory (NT) data was added to the Australian Drinking Water Website in May 2019 (for details see https://water.australianmap.net).
If we stop and think about how our communities are setup with regards to mobility, we start to realise that we're doing it all wrong. Somehow over the last century our cities have slowly been overtaken and clogged by cars. The vast majority of vehicles in our cities are Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles. ICE vehicles run on petrol, diesel and gas. ICE vehicles produce nasty exhaust fumes which have been linked to a myriad of health problems (especially in children) including asthma, lung damage, cognitive impairment and even increase the risk of childhood cancers such as leukemia. ICE vehicles also cause noise pollution which has been linked with stress and depression.
Nuclear power is currently enjoying a flurry of interest in Australia. But those promoting nuclear power are almost exclusively from the far right of the political spectrum. They include far-right politicians from the Coalition and One Nation; the Minerals Council of Australia (who lobby furiously for clean nuclear and clean coal) and the Business Council of Australia; media shock-jocks and the Murdoch media; and the Institute of Public Affairs.
The Australian government is tearing up regulations that were put in place to protect us from potentially dangerous genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Very few human activities have no impact at all on the environment. From purchasing your morning coffee, to planning a 9 kilometre-long open-pit uranium mine on sacred Aboriginal lands, everything we do has consequences.
The Sixth Global Environment Outlook (GEO-6), the most comprehensive environmental assessment produced by the UN in five years, brought us both good and bad news. The environment has continued to deteriorate since the first GEO-6 report in 1997, with potentially irreversible impacts if not effectively addressed. But pathways to significant change do exist, and a sustainable future is still possible.
Thirteen journalists who were investigating damage to the environment have been killed in recent years and many more are suffering violence, harassment, intimidation and lawsuits, according to a study. The Committee to Protect Journalists (cpj.org), which produced the tally, is investigating a further 16 deaths over the last decade. It says the number of murders may be as high as 29, making this field of journalism one of the most dangerous after war reporting.
20 September, 2019 - Finally, it seems that the urgency of the climate crisis has become impossible for decision-makers - especially in the global North - to ignore. In the past few months, hundreds of local governments as well as a handful of national governments in the global North have declared a climate emergency.
