All I Want For Christmas...

Last week, i talked about the publicity stunt at the ANZ in Brisbane. There is now a Christmas card you can send to the ANZ CEO. Just go to the action website to let the ANZ know what present they should give to the world they "live in".


There's also a time lapse video of the day they took the Christmas card photo.

2 Summer Tips for Hot Water

If yoyu're still on an electric hot water system here are two ways you can reduce your energy consumption over summer.

1. Adjust the thermostat down.
When the 'cold' water is already 30°C, there's not so much need for hot water in summer, so why not save energy [more info]

2. Turn the whole thing off
If you're going away for a while over summer, give the heater a break till you get back [more info]

Revenge Of The Electric Car

Sound like an action adventure doesn't it? Ten years after it they thought it was dead (Who Killed The Electric Car?) it's back and it's bigger than ever! This is the trailer that has just been released.


The movie is by the same people who did Who Killed The Electic Car, and follows the journey of 4 pioneers of the electric car revolution. It's an independent film, so if you want to see it, the best thing is to visit the movie website and enter your name and city under See The Film. They'll show the movie where there are people who want to see it, and let you know when it's showing near you.

Save Power

If you live in New South Wales, you may have seen these Save Power ads. The visual of the black balloons really drives home the point about how much pollution we create.


The Save Power website also has a whole bunch of tips for saving energy. (Not all of them are as obvious as the one pictured above.) And if you put in your postal address they'll even send you a free thermometer - which is handy for checking temps around the house (like the fridge and hot water) to check you're not wasting energy by over-cooling or over-heating.

ANZ - We Pollute Your World

I've written before on the clever wit of the Greenpeace people. This photo was taken by a friend of mine as she arrived for work in the ANZ building. Obviously a parody of the "we live in your world" campaign by the bank.


I guess Greenpeace are kind of making the point 'If you live in our world, how come you're so keen to fund the pollution of it?'. According to this short video of the event, even in this age of climate change ANZ fund coal projects 6 times more than renewables.

Green Tax Shift

I've mentioned my friend Stuart before. In recent weeks he's been working on this cartoon about the Green Tax Shift.


Two main thing i remembered from it...

1. We tax 'goods and services'. Wouldn't it be better to tax things that are bads and dis-services (like waste and pollution)?

2. Taxing pollution makes the planet-friendly choice the financially sensible choice. Companies will no longer have to choose between the planet and profits (we all know which they'd choose). When pollution is taxed, the way to make the best profit would be to minimise pollution.

Solar Credits Changes

Australian readers may have already seen the news about the Solar Credits program. It was always going to be phased out as solar becomes more affordable, but the first step now happens on July 1, 2011. In cash terms, it's about a $1200 reduction in the rebate.


If you're thinking of getting solar power, my tip is to get it before then. Even though solar power is getting cheaper all the time, it seems the rebates disappear just as fast. So it's just better to get right in, and start saving energy straight away.

Electricity Prices

Earlier this year I wrote about the increase in electricity prices. Since then (on July 1 to be exact) the price increased by another 13.3%. This makes the price now 54% higher than it was 4 years ago.


What does this mean?

1. Saving energy is even more worthwhile. Might be a good time to get the ClimateSmart guys in (if you live here in Queensland).

2. Things like solar might be worth another look. The same solar panel or hot water system that you were looking at 4 years ago will now give you savings 1.5 times as big.

3. People (or politicians) who try to scare us with 'a carbon price will mean power bills will go up 50%' are telling a half-truth. The half they leave out is that those kind of increases will also happen without a carbon price - as they have done over the last 4 years.

350 Earth Art

The people at 350.org had an idea to make Earth Art. They encouraged groups from around the world to do large-scale art on the theme of climate change.


This one is from a group of students in Mexico. It's the symbol for a hurricane as a reminder of Mexico's vulnerability to climate change - particularly the more frequent and more intense hurricanes.

You can also view the whole art collection, including one from Australia that is made from fire. Might be a comment on climate change bringing more severe drought, and hence greater chance of bushfire. Or it might just be because it looks really good. :)

Deciding About Climate Change

Found this on the New Energy News blog. So true!

New Zealand Smashing Australia

Another of my updates on how the rest of the world is tackling climate change. (Just in case you thought there was any chance of Australia leading in this area). Today we're looking at New Zealand.


Our friends across the Tasman, according to the Otago Daily Times, have recently hit 73% renewable energy. (Remember Australia is aiming for 20% ... in 10 years time).