PNG on the move

According to a report just released, 2000 PNG people may be the first in the world forced to move as global warming causes sea levels to rise.


In Papua New Guinea's Carteret Islands, storms and high tides already destroy crops and contaminate freshwater supply. Currently receiving relief supplies, it could still be a year before residents can relocate to the mainland.

Low-lying atolls in Kiribati, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and the Marshall Islands are also reported to be in danger of submersion because of global warming.

Victoria on the Move

Recently i reported the great rate at which NSW people have signed up for green power. But it seems Victorians have been even quicker to change to environmentally-friendly power, according to figures released today.


More than 157,000 Victorians have signed up - making Victoria the leading state in terms of people now using green energy. Queensland is in second place (Go Qld!) with NSW (despite being the most populated state) only the third quickest to start switching to the environmentally-friendly power.

It is estimated that in the last year, Victorians have cut greenhouse pollution by 188,489 tonnes. If you wanna add to the Queensland effort, check out earthschoice.

Greenpower Powers Up

2000 per week! No it's not the southerners migrating to Queensland. It's the number of NSW residents switching to greenpower, as a continuing surge of people sign up for the environmentally-friendly energy.

In 2006 (before the surge) NSW electricity users bought 285,000 megawatt hours of energy from renewable sources such as solar and windpower. The greenhouse equivalent of taking around 64,000 cars off the road.

During 2006, the number of 'green' customers had increased 68%, to a total of 68,053 customers. Imagine what it will be by the end of 2007!

Yet more evidence

Just in case we needed more data about climate change. With still one day to go in this month, it has been announced that Adelaide has just experienced the hottest February in 100 years.

The hottest day was 41°C on Feb 17, with a monthly average of 32.9°C. Adelaide also went without any rain last month for the first time since 1991.

Choosing a Car

OK, it's not every day that you buy a car. But if you are in the market for some new wheels, why not checkout the Green Vehicle Guide?

From the drop-down menus, you can select the vehicles you might be thinking about getting, and the guide will compare their fuel consumptions. It also gives them a greenhouse rating out of 10.

Earth's Choice

While it seems fairly simple, there appears to be some confusion about the way green energy works - in the earthschoice setup.

You can purchase renewable energy in $10 units. For every ten bucks, 330kWh of energy comes from renewable sources rather than from burning coal.

If you want, you can purchase more than 330kWh per quarter. In fact, for an extra $120 per quarter you can buy 3960kWh of green energy (woah!). Of course, this is waaaaay more than most people would ever use - unless you have a family of 10 ;)

The average household uses around 2600kWh. To upgrade that amount of energy would be around 80 dollars per quarter. But this is only if you are an average user. If you are a good energy-saver, that will save you money. The easiest thing to do is to look at the amount of power (in kWh) from your last power bill, and compare that to the table at earthschoice.

Ditch Globe - Help World

Frequent readers will be familiar with my enthusiasm for the Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs). They use about 20% of the power of traditional light globes (bulbs) and last around 6 times as long. While they are slightly more expensive to purchase, they save many times that cost over time. And of course, they require less power, which means less carbon dioxide.

Anyway, today the environment minister Malcolm Turnbull announced plans to introduce minimum energy standards for lighting, which would effectively make it illegal to sell the old style bulbs by 2009.

Of course, i give the Australian public a fair amount of credit. I'm sure that with the increase in environmental awareness, that by 2009 it would require a fairly stupid person to even think of buying an old-style bulb. Although having said that, people still buy cigarettes.

AFL Green

In other sports news, the Australian Football League (AFL) has announced that the league will be carbon neutral by 2009.

Over the next three years, the ‘AFL Green’ program will neutralise an estimated 120,000 tonnes of greenhouse emissions through investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency. [see AFL announcement]

A Manly Decision

It's almost that time of year again. We are just weeks away from the start of a new NRL season. Of course, i will once again be supporting my beloved Brisbane Broncos, as they embark on their 20th season.

As such, it is with mixed emotions that today i praise Brisbane's former arch-nemesis, the Manly Sea Eagles. As reported on NRL news, the Sea Eagles have joined forces with Energy Australia to make a positive move against climate change.

For every unit of energy used at the Sea Eagles' Brookvale Oval, Energy Australia will provide the same amount of electricity from a renewable energy project. And to promote green energy, Manly will wear green jerseys for their pre-season match against the Melbourne Storm.

For the record, it is estimated that the impact of 11 home games at Brookvale (using coal power) is equivalent driving from Sydney to Queensland and back 375 times.

My favourite quote came from Energy Australia's Retail General Manager Tim O'Grady, who managed at least two rugby league puns. “The Sea Eagles are taking practical steps to tackle climate change head on ... The Sea Eagles should be congratulated for taking this step - but also for going that extra yard". Do you reckon he meant it?

Hey True ... Green?

Ok, it may not roll off the tongue the same way as "True Blue", but this Australian book does provide many suggestions that we can use to help the environment.


It's one of those books that's as much pictures as words, so it's quite a light read - while still being very useful.

Of course, if you feel it's not worth twenty bucks to buy a book that you can read in less time than it takes England to lose a game of cricket, you can borrow a copy from your local library, and spend the 20 on some energy-efficient light bulbs (that's tip number 16).

A Proper Education

This video features a gang of young people breaking into local flats, in order to switch appliances off standby, change light bulbs for energy efficient alternatives, as well as other energy-saving measures.

“There was a lot of anticipation around this video and I was really keen to do something a bit different,” Prydz explains. I’d been reading so much in the press about climate change and global warming recently and felt it would be great to try and empower people to do something about it. It’s not making a grand statement. It’s just simply saying everyone can do a little and it will make a difference."

Check out the video

Save Planet - Win DVD

The wonderful people at the ACF are giving you the chance to win one fo ten copies of Al Gore's inspiring documentary "An Inconvenient Truth?"

It's one of those "in 25 words or less" type of games. Just write what you are doing to address climate change, and you could win a DVD. Entries close February 2.

Getting Kitted Out

I was on the Cool the Clobe website, and clicked to receive a free Climate Change Kit from the Australian Conservation Foundation. It recently arrived in the post.

The main feature was a booklet titled "Australia's Inconvenient Truth" which gave climate change information specific to Australia. The kit also included a bumper sticker, a fridge magnet with tips to reduce greenhouse gases, and a letter that one may send to a State Senator, to encourage action on climate change.

You can get your own Free Climate Change Kit from either through the Cool the Globe website or direct from the ACF.

What do you think?

It has come to my attention that the people at News Limited are doing a survey of people's opinions about climate change. If you would like to let them know your opinions, why not fill out the survey.

It's fairly easy to do, and hopefully it will help the media and governments know that people are concerned about climate change.

Is Campbell a New Man?

Brisbane's Lord Mayor is Campbell Newman. Until recently, i haven't really had any opinion (positive or negative) about him. However, he recently appeared on Sunrise, announcing Brisbane City Council's new O2 Project, which basically involves planting gazillions of trees in the Greater Brisbane area to help convert carbon dioxide back to oxygen.

When i went to the council website to look up the details, i also discovered that the Council has committed to reducing it's greenhouse emissions in line with Kyoto Protocol targets.