It was disappointing to have to leave the ABC. Budget cuts are something with which you can not argue, however.
As I counted down my last days, I was working on this story. I handed over all my leads to my colleague Sam, encouraging him to follow it up.
I was delighted that he did. And the story linked to here is the result http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2016/s4509432.htm
He was very kind to put my byline on the online version of the story. Thanks Sam!
Regional Forest Agreements are 20 year old agreements that were supposed to assure timber supply for foresters and help the environment. Both sides of that debate are not especially happy with how they’ve turned out. Particularly the environmentalists.
Despite this, the government has said it will roll them on for another 20 years without reassessing the details.
My story for Sunday night ABC 7pm news.
We went to film the bandicoots at the Cranbourne Botanic Gardens but couldn’t find one of the little blighters, despite Terry assuring us they are usually common.
So we returned on another day. Sean the camera man said: I’ll set up the cameras and if we just sit here quietly maybe they’ll come out.
Sean suggested sitting quietly would go well with a coffee and so I offered to get the coffee. And then I got lost on the way to the cafe. By the time I came back with his latte, Sean excitedly showed me 13 minutes of bandicoot footage he had captured while I was gone.
A GRAND NEW VISION for how humans can exist on this planet without destroying the lives and homes of the creatures with which we share it has been published by some of the most noted 
environmental thinkers alive today.
But the document, “An ecomodernist manifesto”, is likely to upset a lot of environmentalists working hard to save the planet. So much of their work is the entirely wrong way to bring about planetary salvation, according to the ecomodernists…
Read more http://www.abc.net.au/environment/articles/2015/05/18/4220842.htm
By the cheers, you’d think that the joint US-China announcement on climate change meant that it was mission accomplished. Job done. Sea level rise, ice melt, crop failure and natural disasters averted.
Of course, it’s nothing of the sort. It’s only the first step on a long, difficult road to fixing climate change. The significance is that they’ve taken that first step. After years of squabbling about who should go first, the USA and China have linked arms and tentatively made a start together.
A quick look at the World Energy Outlook, released this week by the International Energy Agency, illustrates just how rocky that road will be…
Read more http://www.abc.net.au/environment/articles/2014/11/14/4128016.htm
“ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT isn’t rocket science, it’s a lot more complex.” So said Nick Dexter natural resource manager at Booderee National Park on Radio National’s Off Track program more than two years ago.
Nowhere is that more apparent than the problem of feral cats. Scientists tells us that they are causing a new wave of extinction across the Top End; that they kill 75 million Australian animals every single day — more than 27 billion creatures in a year.
But the question of what to do is a lot more nuanced than “shoot ’em”.
Read more… here
IMAGINE THERE’S A bright young thing, fresh out of school. Let’s call her Brenda. She’s polished her shoes and worn a nice shirt to the interview and, she’s landed herself a job. Well done Brenda!
Now let’s imagine her starting salary is nothing excessive, but it should be enough to get by comfortably.
And for a while, everything is going well. Brenda is paying her rent on time, she’s putting food on the table, and there’s a little left over for a nice pair of new shoes.
But then, Brenda finds she needs a new shirt. She’s a bit short that month, so she pops it on the credit card. It’s OK, she’ll pay it off next month.
But then she would really like a telly. So she puts that on the credit card too. And she buys some new sheets on the credit card. And while she’s there, a nice set of bedside tables.
Soon, Brenda is racking up some serious debt. Brenda the Spender. But it feels so good to have nice things, and the credit card company doesn’t seem to mind that her bill only grows each month.
If you were Brenda’s parents, or bank, you might start having a word with her about her spending. Older, wiser folk know that living on a credit card is not a sustainable way of life. Many of us did it when we were younger but pretty soon found we were in financial trouble that took years to sort out…
Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/environment/articles/2014/08/04/4059150.htm
