Who writes this rubbish in the Environment column of the SMH?

Pls read this - there will be a quiz afterwards.

Polar power: vast oil find in Arctic

(SMH website - 24 July 2008)

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/polar-power-vast-oil-find-in-arctic/2008/07/24/1216492601519.html

Is it a new oil find?

Sounds like it, doesn't it?

---

"The resources account for about 22 per cent of the undiscovered, technically recoverable resources in the world," the USGS said, meaning the estimated volume is not added to the world's known recoverable resources"

Is that: "NOT ADDED TO THE WORLD'S KNOWN RECOVERABLE RESOURCES "???

or

Is that: "NOW ADDED TO THE WORLD'S KNOWN RECOVERABLE RESOURCES "???

If it is "NOT ADDED", then what is the point of the story? It ain't "new oil".

---

"The majority of the undiscovered 90 billion barrels of crude oil, USGS experts estimate, are lying in Alaska, where 30 billion are hiding, Russia's Barents Basins, East and West Greenland and East Canada."

(These must be the "know unknowns" Donald Rumsfeld told us about).

---

"By comparison, US oil reserves stand at 22 billion barrels, and its production level at 1.6 billion barrels a year. Around the world, proven oil reserves stand at a record 1.24 trillion barrels. Production is stable but consumption, 30 billion barrels a day, is on the rise".

---

If any of this means anything, America has a reserve of 13.75 years worth of production (unlikely in the extreme)

But America's reserves are less than one days worth of international consumption - 17.6 hours worth to be precise.

The "new find" will last 3 days (90 Billion/30 billion consumption per day).

---

Who writes this stuff (or supposedly "edits" it for the Herald, as it is sourced from AFP) ???

Earth Hour is tokenistic nonsense

I am appalled at the way in which the large companies (and the ABC) have enthusiastically climbed upon the Bandwagon of Earth Hour. What? So the lights can get turned back on again, at 9:00pm on Saturday night? When they serve no purpose in being on.

It might look good as a "light show" for the Television and the Newspapers, but it is tokenistic, and a stunt.

It is good publicity for the marketing gurus of WWF, but they are flogging it as an ego trip for themselves (Earth Hour has "gone global"). It will do nothing for the planet. But it will do wonders for the CVs of the individuals in WWF.

Expect them to progress in Marketing, Advertising, and Politics and the other Trivial Arts of self-serving commercialism.

Denis Wilson

Pete - please keep a sock in it!

Peter Garrett has a big mouth. He also has big feet. Let's face it, he is a big guy. But when he opens his mouth and sticks both feet firmly inside it, you wish he would just "put a sock in it". What this about?

Garrett has taken the heat out of the Kyoto debate. Global warming is not that easy to solve, but Pete has opened his mouth, and taken the heat off Howard, who has spent the last few days squirming because of the leaked rumour that Turnbull had tried to get the Government to agree to sign the Kyoto Protocol.

The fact that Howard was (finally) defensive over the Kyoto issue was a remarkable breakthrough. And it was good for Turnbull (facing heat from Cousins, in Wentworth). But especially it was good for Labor to see Howard ducking and weaving under questioning from the likes of the ABC 7:30 Report host, Kerry O'Brien.

But by opening his mouth (Fools rush in ......) Pete has distracted from Howard's embarrassment, caused by the leaking of the Turnbull rumour.

So, the problem is not that he has been obliged to correct his own statement. It would have been far better if he had simply said nothing - leaving Howard still dealing with the Turnbull rumour.

North-west Passage opens

The "legendary" North-west Passage (in the top end of the Atlantic Ocean) has apparently opened up, thanks, presumably to global warming.
The Americans are non-believers in global warming, but that does not stop them from seeing this event as an "opportunity" for both a new arena for "strategic opportunities", and also for resource exploitation.You may read more about this, courtesy of the BBC Website.

Global Warming and carbon trading

John Howard, poor guy has been a denier of global warming all along through his 11 year reign in Australia.
Last week he suddenly announced that he was a "believer". and that a policy would be introduced (after the next election) to introduce a form of Carbon Trading, sometime after 2012. Well why would that be?
Perhaps it can be explained by the fact that George W. Bush was scheduled to make a remarkably similar announcement, from Washington, just a few hours later. And, remarkably, that statement was intended to be a policy to bind China, India and Australia - the other high rating countries on the Carbon emitting scale, which had not ratified the Kyoto Protocol.
So, Howard simply had no choice. He had to act, or get steam-rollered by his mate, George Dubya.
At least Dubya tipped off his little mate, or the latter would have looked even more stupid than he currently does.
By the way, the 2012 date comes from George's policy, and it is related to the expiry of the Kyoto Protocol, to which neither Australia, nor the USA are fully ratified participants. Where it the logic in that?

******
Ring,,,,, Ring.......
Hello? It's the middle of the night.
Who is it?
Hello?

G.W.B: "I'm going to announce that we
will have a Carbon Trading Scheme, next week".

J.W.H.: Next week?

G.W.B.: Next week?
Not next week, 2012 - pay attention!

J.W.H.: Sorry, Mr President. What that about 2012?

G.W.B.: "Oh, we will wait until this Kyoto Protocol thing,
which we do not follow,
expires,
before our new policy becomes effective."
Get it?

J.W.H.: Nope!
I've always said Global Warming was rubbish, and
Carbon Trading was bad for the economy.

G.W.B: It doesn't matter if you don't get it.
I need to do something,
to distract the detractors.

J.W.H.: Whaaa?

G.W.B.: I need something to take to the
G8 in Germany next week,
to look like I'm doing something.
Don't worry.
2012 is a long time away,
and we will all be out of office by then anyway.

J.W.H.: If you say so, George. Then that's all right then."

"Earth Hour" - Please explain!

The bullshit surrounding "Earth Hour" has left me bewildered. Well-meaning people have been sending me emails about this major event for weeks. For what? For businesses to turn off their stupid lights in the middle of the night, for one hour, and to then turn them back on again, afterwards - IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. What's the lesson learnt there?

The News.com.au (the Daily Telegraph's website) reported that:

"Australian actress Cate Blanchett, Labor MP Peter Garrett, Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore and federal Labor leader Kevin Rudd attended a function at Mrs Macquarie's Chair and watched the city skyline go dark."

It went on to describe the reaction of Sydney-siders to the event:

"People lined the harbour foreshore for the event, applauding as lights across the CBD and the harbour blinked out one by one.

"Many hotels provided candles to guests as they switched off and star-gazers made the most of the opportunity at Sydney Observatory.

"Pubs promoted dining by candlelight and a speed dating in the dark event and special skywalks were held at Sydney Tower, the city's tallest building."

*****

There's Sydney's true reaction for you - "speed dating in the dark".
An opportunity to try and grope a stranger in the dark, legitimately.

P...LEASE !!!
What was the best pick-up line, I wonder?
The Earth is f..ked, you might as well be too?

Financial tip tips me over the edge.

I start to wonder about my fellow man, when someone I have met once, and have written emails to on a few occasions, gets me so wrong, that he could send me the following email.
Names of persons and companies have been altered to protect the guilty parties.

Hi Denis
I am presently in Perth Wa looking at another Uranium company over here its
called Xxxxxxx1.
If u buy Xxxxxxx1 shares by friday next week u are entitled to a 1 for 3
share issue in Xxxxxxx1's next company at no cost to u in a Uranium company
called Xxxxxxx2 in the Northern Territory.
This deal is a bargain and in years to come will be worth heaps.
I bought about 45k shares in a company called Xxxxxxxx3 in January 2006 and
presently they are worth about 3.25 a share in january 2006 i got them for
the price of 33 cents a share.!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry i did not make the saturday night meeting, a big rain storm held me up
and ew other things happened as well.
How did the night go and more importantly did (Person A) front up to the event.
I will catch up with u when i get back from Perth on late sunday.
Gxxxx
p.s big write up in (NewspaperX) today about Xxxxxxx3, Xxxxxxx1 and
Xxxxxx4 it all looks good so far.

Frankly I was so gob-smacked by this seemingly well-meaning "tip", that it tipped me over the edge. I replied as follows:

Subject: Dear Prime Polluter.

Hi Xxxxx

Glad your investments are going well. Thanks for the tip.

Unfortunately, I am as poor as a church-mouse, and such proposals are totally beyond my ability to take advantage of.

---

As for whether I would ethically consider investing in a uranium mine, I will leave you to ponder, but you might find a clue in my re-wording of the Subject line in the email.

I know that coal and other petro-chemical industries are probably going to cause a catastrophic collapse of the earth's climate as we know it.

It's simple. All that CO2 will cause the temperature of the worlds oceans to rise to the point that the Oceans will start giving off CO2, (currently they act like a sink to absorb most of the CO2 we produce - far more than the world's forests absorb).

Once that happens, you will get a catastrophic melting of the polar caps, which will destroy the circulatory flow of ocean currents, which will cause the Gulf Stream to stop flowing. Europe and Nth America will be plunged into a mini Ice Age.

That will cause such Geo-political instability that world wars are inevitable.

The Ice Age might even be a really big one (like the last one, with 3km of ice over the top of Europe as we know it now. I am talking about something sufficiently huge and powerful to carve out the Great Lakes of North America. Serious stuff.

These events appear to occur quite suddenly (in geological terms, maybe over 100 or so years). So, start knitting your booties and gloves now.

*****

Long after that catastrophe, any human life forms which might still exist (say in 40, 000 years time) as the earth starts to recover from the next Ice Age, those humans will still be dealing with the poisonous residue of the Nuclear Cycle which your Mining Company friends will have bestowed upon the earth.

Sorry - but that's how it will pan out. Just because you and I may not be around to actually see it all happen, does not mean that this is not a genuine ethical issue.

You can see that I am the wrong person to send this offer to - for several reasons. In a weird way, I am almost flattered that you did send it to me. "Thanks, but no, thanks".

---

Person A, who did turn up at the Launch, and the farewell party, is far more "Green" than I am. So, I doubt you would have much in common.

Cheers

Denis

Love to Grow: Grow to Love

JWH admits he was "wr, wr, wr,,,,,,"

In the words of the Sydney Morning Herald, PM like the Fonz: Labor

The issue was a question from Peter Garrett (photo) linking emissions and climate change.

The PM denied there was any link between the two issues.


The PM had denied this a few weeks ago, when inspecting the bushfires in Victoria. Speaking to the Press, on the site of the "fireground", he denied a link between global warming and bushfires (which led to my photo montage).

In fairness, today he came back into the House, and made a correction to the answer he had given to Peter Garrett's question. Seemingly the PM mis-heard the question, and that was supposedly why he denied any connection.

It led to some interesting comments, though, from a variety of supporters and critics of the PM.

"Labor's immigration spokesman Tony Burke said Mr Howard would never have made such a mistake two years ago...... "

Hmmm - Interesting.

Howard's "Weasel Words" on Climate Change

John Howard has used "Weasel Words" to suggest that Climate Change is not responsible for this year's unseasonally early and severe bushfires.

"Mr Howard said there was not enough evidence to suggest climate change had caused extra bushfires in Australia. "I don't think anyone could ever prove that either way," he said. The Age 16 December 2006

This is a man who cannot admit that he was ever wrong (and still is) about anything - even the simple observation that Climate Change is real.

Wikipedia provides a useful reference to Weasel Words, by the way, with a lovely definition of the meaning: weasel words suck the meaning out of a statement while seeming to keep the idea intact.

*****

Wake Up, John Howard. Sniff the air - it is full of smoke. At least, it is, everywhere except in Kirrabilli.

Climate Change is burning this country, right now. Admit you are wrong, and do something about the hard issues of Global Warming and fossil fuel consumption.

(There....... I didn't even mention the name "Kyoto".)