Australian Government To Axe $5 Billion Of Climate Funding – Lydia Bradbury, Liberty Voice
The funding for all government programs related to climate change is set to shrink at an alarming rate, going from $5.75 billion this year to a scant $500 million in the next four years.
The fallout from the new government’s budget is still being seen in Australia, but it is already obvious that climate change is a loser when it comes to funding. Prime Minister Tony Abbott has long been skeptical of global warming and the science behind it, but with his new-found legislative power it seems as though he is looking at making that viewpoint into law. According to critics, there is no longer even the pretense of working towards limiting the effects of climate change as the government works to protect the interests of fossil fuel producers and businesses. Whether or not there is a real connection between big business interest and the new budget, Abbott and his cabinet have taken the axe to climate change research and are poised to fundamentally damage all scientific research in Australia in the process.
The funding for all government programs related to climate change is set to shrink at an alarming rate, going from $5.75 billion this year to a scant $500 million in the next four years. Additionally, the Emissions Reduction Fund which is meant to help lower greenhouse gas emissions in Australia is going to be reduced to only $1.14 billion. This was devastating news after Environment Minister Greg Hunt had gone on record promising to provide $2.55 billion to fund the program. Nevertheless, it is not only climate change programs that are feeling the pinch of the Abbott budget.
The Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Australia’s national science agency, will have $111 million worth of funding slashed over the next four years, which will affect an uncertain number of programs and a loss of tenth of the CSIRO workforce.
The outlook is bleak from the standpoint of scientists and researchers in Australia, many of whom will probably leave the country in order to find work elsewhere.
Read the entire story here: http://guardianlv.com/2014/05/climate-change-research-axed-in-australia/
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
How many climate scientists can you fit in a taxi? Five. Including the driver.
I hear billions are spent on this or that… but what does that exactly mean? Who is spending what and how? I see results but nowhere near the costs incurred. Those involved should be glad to provide concrete and detailed accounts of their expenses.
A graph of recent funding might look like a downward-pointing hockey stick. 😉
@ur momisugly HGW xx/7 11:28 am
Great post ! Should become a classic.
Two brilliant insights (and word pictures) for the price of one.
I was hoping for a redux of Mawson Ship of Fools. May not now.
The ship-of-fools made for such newsworthy hilarity as the Alarmists kept trying to downplay the growing sea ice “problem” in the Southern Ocean.
I doubt many of these displaced climate scientists will find work in another country. They are all silo builders and as such don’t welcome guests easily. Climate scientists, watch your friends and collaborators disappear when you start networking overseas. Gollum with the ring when the walls fell.
Steven Mosher says (May 18, 2014 at 1:23 pm): “In short, If one believes that the government buys science and buys the results it wants, and if one believes that scientists are only in it for the gold…”
…then one should keep one’s money out of the government’s figurative paws and invest it oneself.
There. Fixed that for ya. 🙂
Well done! Keep at it, Tony Abbott,
Finally, we have grown-ups, actual adults running Australia after the gross debacle of Gillard/Rudd. Common sense barely sees the light of day in politics but one has to hold one’s breath to see whether or not those newly voted-in senators will actually support this level of sanity without listening to the hysterics and raging of those slurping from the taxpayer’s trough for their millions. We shall see.
$4.5 billion in savings is great for a country like Australia.
Especially when that $4.5 billion was completely wasted. And even that wasted spending was just used to lobbied the government to waste a further $10 billion per year on even more useless wasteful climate change endeavours..
Absolutely ridiculous that this situation ever existed in Australia, never mind the total $358 billion wasted on green energy and climate change research word-wide last year, 0.5% of GDP.
Cut these guys off the public purse. Let them use their own money to further their own agenda.
Mosher, I will respectfully disagree. It is time for governments to stop funding research at the levels they have, and to stop trying to pick winners via subsidies. Time to end the corruption. Focus on adding value.
I’ve always said that once you cut off the money the supposed problem will disappear.
Hope the Senate is friendly to these sane gestures.
Great move by Tony Abbot. Lets hope that this is the beginning of a new leadership in the west and that Nigel Farage has the guts to do the same in Great Britain when he eventually finds himself in that position.
It’s a start, I suppose, but half a billion dollars is a lot of dosh for funding a problem you don’t believe exists. Perhaps if it is used to finance real Climate research. So anything with the above mentioned alarmist catch phrases, will be disqualified.
Eamon.
Mosher – are you all there?
Steven Mosher says:
May 18, 2014 at 1:23 pm
It would be far better to keep the budget intact and then fund better science.
For example: fund better observation networks. Fund updating the proxies. Fund all the science that skeptics say we need..
In short, If one believes that the government buys science and buys the results it wants,
and if one believes that scientists are only in it for the gold, then fund them to support sceptical
findings.
L
——————-
Throw more money at it ?
there is a joke in my neighbourhood that the Govt has taken a few billion from Big Climate & handed $20 billion to Big Pharma, but that is another story.
tens of billions over their lifetime being spent on the still-problematic F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, which has bipartisan support, is also considered by some as money wasted as well, given the promises to cut back on spending. btw the UK is being warned as well, plus Reuters reported recently that “Italian lawmakers favour halving spending on F-35 jet” because of the poor state of that country’s economy:
18 May: UK Telegraph: Ben Farmer: RAF’s £70 million F-35 fighter ‘may be
cancelled because of poor performance’
Many fear that the F-35’s stealth technology has already been overtaken by
sophisticated new radar
Britain’s long-delayed £70 million stealth fighter may have to be cancelled
because of its poor performance, according to analysis by a senior US Air
Force officer…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/10838453/RAFs-70-million-F-35-fighter-may-be-cancelled-because-of-poor-performance.html
anyway, cutting back on so-called Renewables might not be enough to stop spending in that area if the following report today turns out to be the tip of the solar iceberg!
19 May: Australian: Ean Higgins: Fire risk as solar firm goes belly up
A QUEENSLAND company that sold allegedly faulty circuit breakers that caused at least 70 burnouts in rooftop solar panel arrays has gone bust, leaving tens of thousands of homeowners at risk of electrical fires.
Advancetech, based on the Sunshine Coast, went into receivership on Friday, only four days after Queensland Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie ordered the immediate recall of 2
Installation of rooftop isolators are compulsory in some states, and hundreds of thousands of solar rooftop arrays were installed under state and federal schemes. Most of the Avanco isolators, designed to automatically break the circuit and shut down solar panels if they become overloaded, were sold in Queensland, but some were also sold in other states. The NSW government is expected to issue a press release today advising of the Queensland recall and receivership.
A spokeswoman for NSW Fair Trading said “there have been approximately 57 incidents of varying degrees of severity in Queensland and up to 13 failures in NSW”, and it is understood some of the fires caused wall and ceiling damage.7,600 Avanco-branded DC solar power isolators imported and sold by the company…
“Though the recall is a mandatory recall imposed by Queensland it … is considered to have national effect,” she said. “The Queensland Electrical Safety Office … is understood to be investigating options for action against company directors.”
NSW Fair Trading assistant commissioner John Tansey said: “Advancetech has done some corporate tap-dancing on Thursday and Friday.”
Mr Bleijie said the Avanco branded isolator “was found to have an internal fault that can lead to overheating and fire’’…
The ESO also issued a recall notice for PvPower-branded DC isolators, sold by DKSH.
DKSH advises of the recall of its isolator on its website and includes a form for electrical contractors to claim the costs of replacing them with another brand.
When The Australian repeatedly rang and emailed Advancetech, starting during business hours on Friday, calls immediately went to voicemail. No response has been received and the company’s lawyer, Michael Green, declined to comment…
A homeowner in Wagga Wagga, NSW, Martin Loy, had a fire on his roof in early March caused by an Avanco isolator, which was detected almost immediately and put out by the fire brigade. “A number of other residents have the same problem and they could have fires which could lead to their houses burning down,” he said.
Mr Loy couldn’t understand why Advancetech or the NSW government had not contacted every affected installer and homeowner to warn of the danger
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/fire-risk-as-solar-firm-goes-belly-up/story-e6frgczx-1226922007890#
MSM manages to keep a lid on most problems with Renewables, but here are a couple of pieces which suggest too many cowboys were unleashed upon an unwitting public in the rush to save the planet from CAGW:
Feb 2013: Business Standard: Dutch roof fire warning for 650,000 solar panels
Press Trust of India
The Hague, Feb 19 (AFP) Hundreds of thousands of solar panels are at risk of setting roofs on fire because of an electrical fault, Dutch authorities and media warned today, with 15 roof fires already reported in Europe. Now-bankrupt Scheuten Solar Systems has reportedly sold at least 650,000 of its “Multisol” panels in Europe and 15,000 in the Netherlands. “These solar panels have a faulty electrical connection which constitutes a fire hazard,” the Dutch Food and Goods Authority (NVWA) said in a statement. “People who have these dangerous solar panels on their roofs are advised to disconnect them in a safe manner,” it added. The problem is with the connection between the panel and a junction box at the back which could cause an electrical spark, damaging the box and causing it to smoulder. “The sparks could jump onto the roof and cause a fire,” the NVWA said…
Based in the southeastern city of Venlo, Scheuten Solar Systems went bankrupt last year and since then at least 1,000 damage claims have been lodged with the company’s receiver, the paper said. The fire hazard can be neutralised by repairing or replacing the junction box, the paper said. However, the NVWA warned that “at this moment there’s no good way of fixing it,” and urged users to have the panel disconnected by professionals…
http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/dutch-roof-fire-warning-for-650-000-solar-panels-113021900410_1.html
2 pages: Sept 2013: Gannett Media: Daily Journal: Rooftop solar panels challenge firefighters
Efforts to combat the blaze were hampered in part by some 7,000 solar panels on the roof of a 266,000-square-foot warehouse…
“The panels obstructed us from doing any roof operations,” Delanco Fire Deputy Chief Robert Hubler said. Officials said they feared the panels, which remain charged even after being disconnected, posed electrocution dangers.
And they do, says Ken Willette, division manager for public fire protection at the National Fire Protection Association. They also present several other challenges, such as preventing roof access and hindering the ability to provide roof ventilation.
The panels also can add weight to the roof and contribute to a potential collapse, said Paul Sandrock, chief fire marshal for Camden County and director of the county’s fire academy.
The center of the roof at the Delanco meat-and-cheese distribution center caved in during the blaze, fire officials said. If proper codes and procedures are followed, Willette added, “then there’s a minimal risk of collapse due to the weight of the solar panels on the roof — (but) still a potential.”
Solar panels have been a concern in the fire community for about five years, according to Willette. In June, the Solar Energy Industries Association ranked New Jersey No. 2 for solar energy installations during the first quarter of 2013, behind California…
The Division of Codes and Standards, Kramer said, has issued a directive telling local construction offices to notify fire services of permits for solar installations.
Willette said no national standard guides state and local methods of approaching solar panels during fires…
As the economics surrounding solar energy improves and its presence grows, he added, there should be a discussion about developing standards…
“People put them on roofs because of space restrictions,” Sandrock added. “And that’s what we’re up against.”
http://www.thedailyjournal.com/article/20130907/NEWS01/309070016/Rooftop-solar-panels-challenge-firefighters?nclick_check=1
jimmi_the_dalek says:
May 18, 2014 at 2:07 pm
That might be vaguely interesting if you had some clue as to either what I did or what you were faffing off about. Next time you feel compelled to write a word or two of your [trimmed] nonsense in response to me, kindly shut up.
[Not needed. Mod]
Eamon Butler on May 18, 2014 at 5:41 pm
@ur momisugly@@ur momisugly@@ur momisugly@@ur momisugly@@ur momisugly@@ur momisugly@@ur momisugly@@ur momisugly@@ur momisugly@@ur momisugly@@ur momisugly@
When I worked in Africa we called it “dash” not “dosh” and our government forbade us to provide “dash” to our workers… Presumably because that was Governent jurisdiction … Oh how many times I was told by locals that Canadians and Americans just didn’t understand how to do “business” in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East…. But then along came climate science and Governent Incentive Programs and I tried and tried to understand the difference…. Perhaps both need investigation. The latter being the more serious.
Isn’t there already a precedent in Australia for dealing with climate scientists?
Something where they send the scientist to a conference and then cancel the return flight, issue a backdated pink slip and revoke all job related credit?
There should be enough Australian soon to be ex scientists that a special conference could be held shipboard with Turney in charge near Antarctica, halfway.
I understand England and Europe still have open borders.
If any climate ex-scientists plan on entering the USA, I recommend the Big Bend area during July or August.
Those billions should be able to fund a one-year, week-long, world-wide holiday. This is spectacular news.
“Throw more money at it ?”
No, read harder
k scott denison says:
May 18, 2014 at 5:26 pm
Mosher, I will respectfully disagree. It is time for governments to stop funding research at the levels they have, and to stop trying to pick winners via subsidies. Time to end the corruption. Focus on adding value.
#######################
let me see if I can make it clear to you guys.
Today 5B is spent on climate studies. And most of you disagree with the output of the studies.
And most of you think that the answers are bought and paid for.
Examine 2 options.
Cut the 5B
Spend the 5B a different way.
Cut the 5B: well as the post argues these guys will just leave australia and go some other place.
Spend the 5B some other way. Lets see, how about some money to Jo Nova to help communicate the
skeptic climate message. How about money for archibald to do his sun non sense. Shit, they should use the money to fund Willis. How about fund somebody to redo Manns work the correct way.. Or money to fix the australian temperature record.. or money to do site surveys of all the stations. Or money to redo Cooks study.. the right way..or money to criticize Model outputs. or money to accelerate the CERN cloud studies.
See you guys need to be more diabolical/ creative
So maybe you dont spend the whole 5B..
But jeez how many times have people argue[d] that the science should be done differently.
You got the power. You got the money. spend it smarter.
[The mods vote for a pay increase from Mosh’s $5B… ]
I wonder if this change is mann made?