Questions on climate action raised at Wills Budget Forum
Peter Khalil MP with Shadow Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh MP at the Wills Budget 2018 forum
A few members of Climate Action Moreland attended Peter Khalil’s budget forum with guest speaker Andrew Leigh (Shadow Assistant Treasurer and a former Economics Professor at Australian National University).
There were a few questions on climate change, and Labor’s climate policy, raised in this wide ranging forum. And, no, we didn’t stack the audience to ask questions on climate. Climate action is one of the issues that does have a consistent high profile and is of great concern to many citizens of Moreland.
Here is the report by Climate Action Moreland convenor John Englart, and his specific question on the need to address the growing transport climate emissions through infrastructure funding.
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Is Moreland Council Fossil Fuel Divestment strategy on track?
2018 Report Card on the big 4 banks and fossil fuels – Market Forces
At the Moreland Council meeting on the 9th May a question was raised over the Council’s transactional banking services, and whether it was in accord with the Fossil Fuel Divestment Strategy (PDF) adopted in 2015 as a result of a campaign by Climate Action Moreland, 350.org and local residents.
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Cooling the Upfield Corridor – Our Submission
Here is the submission that CAM has made to the Cooling the Upfield Corridor Action Plan 2018-29.
Climate Action Moreland (CAM) is pleased to provide a submission to the Cooling the Upfield Corridor Action Plan. CAM has long campaigned on addressing the Urban Heat Island Effect as a very effective way of adapting to the continuing and ever increasing effects of rising temperatures, drought and more intense rain events. Over the coming decades, Melbourne is expected to experience hotter temperatures, and more intense heat waves. This is likely to cause disruptions to public transport, energy supply failures, huge discomfort to Moreland residents and a considerable rise in deaths and co-morbidity. Local government plays a very important role in reducing this vulnerability and the Cooling Upfield Corridor Plan is a vital step in the right direction. (more…)
Meeting with Peter Khalil MP on climate action
On May 1st, 2018 a delegation of four from Climate Action Moreland met with our Federal MP for Wills, Peter Khalil to talk about Labor Party policy and action on climate change. This report is based on our talking points.
Carbon emissions and footprint of different transport types
Comparison of carbon emissions, and footprint, by transport type. Chart by @ElliotFishman via @PTUA
While transition to Electric Vehicles is perhaps a part of the solution, the real need is to increase public transport quality, service and frequency, and increase cycling and walking infrastructure, to create environmentally friendly social urban environments where people want to work, live, and visit and live their lives.
Transition to Electric Vehicles is only a small part of the solution, even when these vehicles are 100% renewables recharged (ie not dependant on a largely coal based grid). Electric Vehicles still contain a substantial space footprint use in our urban environment.
We already have so many parking issues around the Moreland municipality that just changing to electric vehicles isn’t going to solve the many space and parking problems in an urban environment, whether it be in Brunswick, Coburg, Glenroy or Fawkner. We clearly need to think laterally to find solutions.
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Submission: National Energy Guarantee needs to enable energy transition
Climate Action Moreland has made a submission to the Energy Security Board on the National Energy Guarantee. Our criticism/suggestions revolve around: the need for Demand Response to be prioritised; no undermining or restrictions on state emission reduction targets; Voluntary action must be considered additional to targets; no offsets should be allowed for the electricity sector; Flexible Compliance – Limit the Carrying Forward of Over-achievement; and Setting Emissions Target as an Absolute Value vs Percentage.
The Guarantee was considered by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Energy Council at its last meeting in November 2017 which agreed that further development work and public consultation should be conducted.
We think, in it’s current form, the National Energy Guarantee will embed coal and gas fired generation and restrict the growth of renewables, holding back the energy transition.
We need a rapid transition of the electricity sector as this sector is more easily decarbonised than other sectors, and will also enable the transport sector to then be decarbonised through electrification and battery power.
Our submission follows:
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Study finds Heart attacks more likely due to extreme temperature variation
It is not only heatwaves that pose a health problem with global warming but extreme temperature variation and single extreme heat days is increasing the likelihood of heart attacks new research shows.
A study presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 67th Annual Scientific Session showed that heart attacks were more frequent with large temperature variations.
The study examined data from 30,000 hospital patients from at 45 Michigan hospitals between 2010-2016 and compared it to daily temperature variation extremes.
“Global warming is expected to cause extreme weather events, which may, in turn, result in large day-to-day fluctuations in temperature,” said Hedvig Andersson, MD, a cardiology researcher at the University of Michigan and the study’s lead author. “Our study suggests that such fluctuations in outdoor temperature could potentially lead to an increased number of heart attacks and affect global cardiac health in the future.”
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