Month: July 2014

Trust, Context and Success

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Trust, context and success. If you consider Australia has, during July 2014, dumped the Carbon Price (renamed to Carbon Tax in the repeal legislation). Then read the Republicans of America do seem intent to introduce a Carbon Tax, you must ask what is the context and what is the success factor they seek for it to appeal and be persuasive for it to be trusted? The textbook stuff will read: In the main economists agrees a tax is the way to put downward pressure on emissions. It follows the Republican faithful don’t like quantitative emissions controls, caps on emissions, or subsidies. However, they do like market forces to organise an economic response. The selling point is that emission can be cut where the market finds it is easier and cheaper to do so. So, can we say they trust a tax to be more persuasive?

Also, how many of you are doubting that your electricity price will reduce in a meaningful way because of the Carbon Tax repeal? Do you not trust? A company known to us recently asked (a wildcard throw-in) during a energy contract dispute to say: Will XXXXXX retailer be discounting their claim for future losses – because the carbon price should not now be factored in. If asked why should they discount – you say because they have claimed future loss as part of the reason for the claim.  Then ask will they be required to show where this is calculated? Who will police the repeal? Trust us the umpire says!

Consider this, you expect the umpire is there to help you – the policy says if you have a problem, call. You phone to clarify where the discussion might be going. The umpire says; you have to consider the impact of what you are saying. Your head goes into explosive mode – you ask yourself where is the natural justice in being implied the victim is a trouble maker, where is the fairness in having your accounts being set in limbo for so long. Is it right for them to continue to affect your business in terms of personal stress and reputation? Then comes a response you don’t expect – the perpetrator asks for more time to influence the umpire. This example may be hypothetical but we are sure you all have had such moments!

To trust – is it context, sincerity or actions that determine that we do? We notice that some will dress especially to impress – at the wrong time, some will gaff at the wrong time, some will talk to an audience about a matter and not know the audience is well briefed on why your view is obsolete. Does it matter one little bit? A little bit of course – the like-minded will be impressed, and the faithful is impressed. However, no one outside the group is impressed and the feedback from outside that group is awful.

We prefer to define what we are talking about before sprucing the benefits of a position. You might notice we said – benefits. This is not a cost benefits discussion or evaluation it is just looking at the positions one might take.

Start with: Trust (the noun), a firm belief in someone or something, acceptance of the truth of a statement without evidence or investigation, the state of being responsible for someone or something.

Therefore if you do trust not seriously, you doubt that you can trust others, that you cannot name what state of trust you are in, then sadly you may have programmed yourself as an advantage taker. Note the word advantage, which is very different to opportunity in this context. If you only seek advantage it is more difficult to find success. However, if you take advantage through an opportunity you may be successful.

“Success is where preparation and opportunity meet.” Bobby Unser, racecar driver and Indianapolis 500 winner. Unser knew all about opportunity and using it to his advantage. But if he wasn’t prepared when the opportunity presented itself, he could lose the race. Unser is one of only ten drivers ever to win the Indy 500 more than three times, and was the first driver ever clocked at more than 190 miles per hour (306kph) on the circuit.

We are now noticing that preparation is equally, if not more, important than opportunity. However, you need to be prepared for opportunity. You prepare through education, self-improvement practices to be ready willing and able to respond to opportunity.

Trust, context and success come from opportunities. Opportunities come from inspiration and motivation. Simply identify where your trust should lay, the context of the framework setting, educate yourself in how to prepare and be successful – easy is it not? If only I did not doubt myself!

 

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Waltz with your innovation – 1,2,3 step

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What really goes wrong with the next step from innovation is a common question. The most probable answer is scientific reputation. Followed by you. Followed by your assistance choice. Think this: You have a really good solution for a problem you have identified. You put your energies into making it possible. So you go from inventor to innovation. Chances are it goes wrong at the next point – what is known as the valley of death in the leap to commercialisation. You spend vast amounts of money in relative terms and still no significant progress. There is plenty of talk and countless possibilities. However, there is very little progress.

Chances are you challenged conventional wisdom – first mistake. Someone else has something to lose. Chances are you have improved a widget – next mistake. It was someone else’s cash cow. Chances are you did not realise you have set a new standard, or at least the potential to change is recognised. This means you are causal to change. Have any of you ever thought that what you cause to change might not like to change?

Once you have spawned you idea and it is in front of your eyes, and you dream of the introduction to the market. We all think for the good mankind here it is, wonderful!

To have your idea move to being accredited it must be measured in some way. By what measure soon becomes a dilemma. Does it produce an electric current, does it produce noise, and does it produce gases and so on? This is where scientific reputation becomes important. Chances are you need some sort of national accreditation body give it a number of some sort. The most common delay to the introduction of your idea is proving it is a benefit. A couple of examples are the CSIRO writes of the promise of a particular technology, financiers have promised funds, buyers are prepared to place orders. But, you only now go to the EPA or some enforcement equivalent body asking for the merits to be rewarded with an exemption or sanction of some sort. Your mistake – market acceptance is not enforcement acceptance. Now considerable effort is needed to save your initiative. You may even need to change your design because of scientific reputation.

Will you accept the notion you must change? In an article, http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/235608 , JULY 15, 2014, Steve Tobak wrote: “As a veteran of Silicon Valley, I’ve had the distinct pleasure of working with more than my fair share of talented and innovative entrepreneurs. Sadly, some of their behavior was just dysfunctional enough to royally screw things up for themselves and their companies…… That’s not meant to be as irreverent as it sounds. I have always felt empathy for founders and their stakeholders. After all, it’s not as if I were some paragon of virtuous behavior when I was an executive, either. Nobody’s perfect……… Nevertheless, you can’t fix a problem until you face the truth. So whenever I have an opportunity to help a promising startup that can’t find its way or a mature company in need of a turnaround, it is difficult to watch them fail simply because those in charge aren’t willing to deal with their limitations…….. Any decent psychiatrist will tell you that on some level smart people do understand what’s really going on. They do have common sense. They hear what others are telling them. They know what they’re doing. So when they suppress it, bury it in their subconscious, hear what they want to hear – call it what you want — that, my friends, is a choice……….    I bet I know what you’re thinking. There are lots of reasons why startups fail. Yes, there are. I’m sure I’ve seen them all. But if you dig down a bit, the root cause of most of them is that their leaders choose not to see what’s staring them right in the face. Think about it. You find a reason and I’ll show you an entrepreneur in denial………. Lots of companies run out of cash. But while some can’t raise capital, you would not believe how many can and simply don’t. Oftentimes, their founders aren’t willing to give up a piece of the pie. They try to bootstrap a promising venture and end up starving it to death. Or they have too high a burn rate, aren’t willing to invest the time it takes to raise a round of funding, wait too long and run out of time……… It’s hard to imagine how many beneficial ideas, inventions and innovations never see the light of day because they offer solutions that don’t actually solve any real problems. Or they’ve come up with concepts, not products……… Lots of entrepreneurs are not in it for the long haul or for the right reasons; they think they can make a quick million or feed their egos. Some don’t think they need a unique value proposition or competitive differentiation. Others have holes in their strategy so big it would take a miracle to fill them.”

Co2Land org say there is another problem we should also mention. Be very careful with who you ‘are allocated’ to help with commercialisation – their motive may not match your own expectations. Example: You see a long-term relationship with your enterprise; they may see the need for you to make a company exit. Who is right – the right of the company or your association right!

So it is a three step, a waltz no doubt: reputation, you and your partnership choice.

Project Homeless awards ceremony

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Awareness projects are not all about protest, or colours, or training. Highlighting is crucial to understanding and this story deserves it place – Project Homeless awards ceremony

A partner of Co2Land org, Ecoprofit Management (EPM) is also a major partner with Screen My Shorts Inc.  Screen My Shorts are the festival organizers of project Homeless. To quote EPM: “This filmmaking initiative was purposely designed as a global event for filmmakers to participate, contribute and raise awareness whilst giving them opportunities to develop their craft. Their creative works then become a community resource for education, entertainment and inspiration. The principle sponsor of the initiative is Parramatta City Council.

The Project’s awards ceremony was held at Riverside Theatre, Parramatta on Friday, 11 July. With entries coming in from all around the world vying for $11,000 cash prizes, the films were of a very high standard.

Many of the films shown were emotive and thought provoking.

‘Being homeless seems not a pleasant experience, however, it is the purest expression of sustainability. In 21st century, sustainability is not solely about the environment, it’s also about human lives. A harmonic environment where nature and human co-exist is a Utopian dream. For environmental sustainability, of course we can apply all the kinds of R-methods (reuse, recycle, reduce, etc.) in construction; while for the human sustainability, we have to come up with solution which tackle both the physical and psychological needs so that they can live long in a healthy way.’ Reference: http://www.cloudscap.es/project/homelessness-new-expression-sustainability

The take away message for EPM is clear: people don’t choose to be homeless!

To view all the short film finalists, visit http://www.screenmyshorts.com “.

Co2Land org would like to add – people do not choose to victims, it is the feeling of being helpless that makes us victims.

The business opportunity of the century

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“Building the energy system of the second half of the 21st century is the business opportunity of the century. Recently, the countries that have most successfully capitalized on this have been the rapidly developing economies, particularly in Asia.” Source Christopher Field, co-chair, IPCC Working Group II.

Danger, danger! We are told we are open for business and Asia will follow? Are they having the last laugh, so what does economic participation agreements mean? We guess, nothing unless we are in sync with our neigbours because they are not denying climate change they are fearful of it and taking appropriate action. Also most interesting is, they address a ‘resilience framework’ – something that meaningfully reduces the probability of system failure. You might also note that squarely ties ecosystem, and economic systems as being inseparable. So why do we hear so much other nonsense as climate responses cost jobs – utter rubbish! Now consider:

“Singapore is taking steps to better adapt to the vagaries of uncertain climate patterns in Southeast Asia by embarking on a national study to understand the impacts of climate change on the country’s roads, drainage systems, power stations, and other infrastructure.

Officials from the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources and the Ministry of National Development shared on Monday that all ministries and statutory boards will participate in this study, which will examine how rising sea levels, higher temperatures and more intense rainfall and flooding could affect the city state’s physical infrastructure.

The initial findings are expected to be released by 2016, and will feed into Singapore’s ‘Resilience Framework’, a blueprint developed by the Singapore Government in 2012 to safeguard against climate change over the next 50 to 100 years.

The study was announced on Monday at the sidelines of an event organised by Singapore’s National Climate Change Secretariat and the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to share findings from the IPCC’s recently released Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) and its implications for Southeast Asia. About 260 guests from the public sector, as well as businesses, NGOs and academia attended the event held at the Furama Riverfront Hotel.

The findings of AR5 conclusively state that “warming of the climate system is unequivocal” and that it is “extremely likely” that human influence has been the main cause of observed warming since the mid-20th century.

The report stated that in most projected scenarios, global surface temperature is also likely to exceed the 2°C limit. Most scientists at the Copenhagen climate summit in 2009 agreed that exceeding this limit of global surface temperature rise would result in dangerous climate change.

Scientists from the report’s working groups on adaptation, mitigation, and physical science also added that key risks for Asia included urban and coastal flooding, and water and food security.

No-regret policies for emission reduction

Singapore’s Minister for Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan highlighted Singapore’s vulnerability to these extreme weather events and the importance of adapting to them as early as possible.

“We cannot take a positive outcome for granted. Even though we will do our part as a responsible member of the global community, we also have to adapt to climate change and make sure we are resilient in order to look after our own citizens in a warmer and more uncertain world”, he said.

However, there were uncertainties inherent in climate science, in the economics of climate change and in the political framework surrounding a global climate agreement that hampered global adaptation and mitigation efforts, added Balakrishnan.

For example, he said that it was “misaligned economics” that blocked the adoption of low-carbon technologies in a global economy that is overwhelmingly reliant on fossil fuels.

“This is what keeps us trapped in a high carbon trajectory”, he said.

To address this, Balakrishnan proposed three “no-regret policies” to achieve substantial emissions reductions; namely investing into research and development of low carbon and clean energy systems, mandating energy efficiency standards, and removing subsidies for fossil fuels.

Scientists from the IPCC speaking at the Monday event seconded the minister’s view that scaling up the low-carbon energy sector was necessary to limit global temperature rise. They added that the pursuit of clean energy also represented significant business opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors.

Christopher Field, co-chair of the IPCC working group on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability, said: “Building the energy system of the second half of the 21st century is the business opportunity of the century. Recently, the countries that have most successfully capitalised on this have been the rapidly developing economies, particularly in Asia”.

Jim Skea, vice-chair of the IPCC working group on climate change mitigation, shared that “there will be major changes in investment patterns in the energy sector if we are going to pursue climate change mitigation, and this provides enormous market opportunities”.

The panel of scientists identified three strands of scientific innovations in the energy sector as particularly promising. In the field of chemistry, developing better fuel cells, photovoltaic technologies and more efficient materials were raised as key areas that could drive clean energy forward.

Innovations in information technology such as smart grids and emerging biological research in increasing crop yields of biofuel crops were also identified as areas with high opportunity for investment.

While the potential for profit by developing new energy technologies prevailed in conversations about climate change mitigation, Katharine Mach, co-director of science of the IPCC Technical Support Unit, noted that there were business opportunities in adapting to climate change too.

“Adapting to climate change is largely about risk management, and risk is also one of the metrics that businesses are the most comfortable with. This focus on risk management is widely used in government and also in insurance and business”, she said.

“There are huge opportunities for businesses that adapt to changes in water resources and the weather extremes that will be playing out across the region”, she noted.

The scientists also expressed unanimous optimism that the world would collectively be able to meet the global challenge of climate change.

To illustrate that climate issues tended to pass through a cycle of initial denial and concerns about the high cost, followed by the gradual acceptance of evidence and political action, Skea cited the United Kingdom’s 1956 Clean Air Act, which was passed as a response to years of debilitating air pollution in London that took more than 12,000 lives. While the government was initially keen to downplay the severity of the smog due to economic pressures, it eventually introduced measures such as shifting to cleaner energy sources than coal and relocating power stations away from cities.

“Climate change is the biggest challenge of all because it is global. But I feel optimistic that the same pattern will be followed and that we will eventually deal with it”, he said.

Singaporean professor Wong Poh Poh, the coordinating lead author on AR5’s chapter on coastal systems and low-lying areas noted, however, that while new developments in science and technology were encouraging, the slow rate of political change did temper the his optimism somewhat.

The IPCC representatives shared that the process of putting together the next assessment report (AR6) would focus on addressing gaps in knowledge about Asia’s changing weather patterns and putting a number on the value of preventing catastrophic climate change.

This would be done by involving more environmental economists in the scientific process and ensuring that developing countries in Asia were more equally represented on the panel, said the scientists.” http://www.eco-business.com/news/singapore-steps-efforts-weather-future-climate-change/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=July+9+newsletter&utm_content=July+9+newsletter+Version+A+CID_a456bb2e4e5b7a34701ac945eeb190e2&utm_source=Campaign%20Monitor&utm_term=READ%20FULL%20STORY

So please will the real Greg Hunt stand up and say what he needs to say – I believe!

Financial Oppression

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As happens, we are seeing 2010 warnings reignited it was said: Give me an example. Try Real Power Systems v’s Wannon Water (2011). So what was the point? Financial Oppression was said.

That said, we looked for straightforward examples and it was not hard. However, Financial Repression also strung up at us at the same time. The difference? The later is the act of Governments to deliberately bring hardship provisions forward – but lets leave that for the politicians to argue why and why not. Is it happening? Have you done your tax returns yet? Read the 2014-15 budget provisions?

What is the bigger issue disturbs us more: That people want to give up, give in and forget there is a galaxy much bigger than us and is more amazing. Yeah OK it sounds really ‘Monty Python’ but why do we let it happen? Money, it is good and it is bad if not managed well. Then comes the argument it is about the resources. Corporations have almost infinitive resources, individuals tend to just despair and accept they do not have sufficient resources to fight.

Then comes another story, written as an enlightening and explanatory of how some we trust let us down:

“While sitting in Church this morning, I heard some very disturbing news that motivated me to write this article.

I am sure that the numbers are close to being the same all over the country. But, the disturbing thing about the news in church was the fact that the suicide rate was up to 15% and that was a dramatic jump from previous years.

The pastor talked about the reasons why. The bottom line to these “tsunami” of our society’s ills is credit and the economy. The majority of these people had credit issues and didn’t have the resources to pay their bills.

Let’s go way back in history. In the old world, I believe it was one of the great generals of history that eliminated debtor’s prison. His reasoning was that most of the debtors were farmers. If, they stayed in prison, then who would grow the crops to feed his army? Hmm. Well, that was a couple of hundred years ago and before the emergence of credit as we know it.

But, nevertheless, it was still credit. You borrowed, you owed, you couldn’t pay therefore you were punished. Have we come so far that we have become to retreat back to that same situation that prevailed hundreds of years ago?

I don’t think our politicians nor do our bankers realize the havoc, pain and hardship that the average person is under because of one issue alone. That, my friend is the cost of credit. If, you don’t think that your neighbor is worried about not having enough money to pay his bills, then you are living in “la la” land.

Lets take a look. I had written a previous article about the rule of “72” and how it impacts everyone. Time to explain it just a little more in depth. Lets just say that your, Mum has $10,000 and puts it into the bank. She is very happy because the bank represents security. In fact, if you tell her that she can make more by buying municipal bonds, she gets the “broom” out and comes at you.

So, here is Mum with her secured savings. Now, lets say that her friendly banker, with that “snaky” grin gives her a passbook for her to keep track of more money she puts into his bank. He offers her a (04%) interest on her money. Now, divide that (04%) into 72 and see what the number is. It is exactly (18).

Yes, that mean it takes (18) years for her ($10,000) to double.

Amazing that this is not taught in the higher universities in our county but everyone that has gotten his “masters in street finance” knows this.

Ask any bookmaker what the rule of “72” is and he will spit it out like “fire from a dragon”.

Now, lets just go into a different room. Lets say that you got a credit card. Now, lets say that because you were late on a payment, they jumped the interest rate to (36%). Yeah, it happens. But, here are some real shocking numbers. Listen up.

I am going to start with a basic small amount of ($300.00). This seems to be the amount that the average family started out with. Now, lets just say that you for some reason was either late or went over the limit. When you combine both of those problems, you incur a penalty of ($78.00) per month. Go ahead and add up both of the penalties.

Now, here is where the “hidden gun” comes into your life and virtually “steals your hard earned money” and they never pulled the trigger. If, you think that some petty thief that held up the local gas station to feed his family is a bad guy, and he only got ($50.00) lets put this in your pipe and smoke it.

Lets add up those late fees and the over limit fees for twelve months.

Hmmm. According to my calculator that comes out to be ($938.00) and when you add that on too the initial ($300,00) you now have a total owed of ($1,238.00)

Worried? You should be. This is what is happening and has happened to hundreds of thousands of Australians – and millions in my country of America. Now you owe at the end of one year ($1,238.00) and when you multiply (36%) annually, you now owe the credit card company ($1,682.98) at the end of only twelve months and you haven’t bought anything.

Here is where the tears turn into blood. Let’s jump ahead to the end of year two. Now, you might have gotten some phone calls but nothing that broke any dishes. But, at the end of two years, here is what you owe the company that gave you a ($300.00) credit card and never put up any money. They collateralized your signature. Anyway at the end of two years you owe ($2,288.85)

This my friends is the main reason why people commit suicide, politicians turn the other cheek because of the strength and influence of the lobbyists, the banking industry wants you to believe they want to help you, but when you fully grasp the mechanics of the “rule of 72” you either throw up your lunch, kick the dog, argue with the wife or get drunk.

But will this problem go away? Not unless you grab the bull by the horns and learn what to do.” Source – http://www.money-tips.com.au/articles/228/1/Financial-Oppression/Page1.html

Why write this? We started talking about Energy Retailers and how at least one does seem to practice ‘rule 72’ regardless of the morals. With relief we did not mention which bank but we all know their behaviour by recent publicity.

All about gas, coal has lost it

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It is all about gas. Coal has lost it, but it is a good distraction. Petroleum is a convenient price setter. Renewables are the future and the trick is to be to get the traditional utility models to take ownership. But what is the price?

World wide scholarly types have put forward a number of maps of energy analysis for, Japan and globally. Japan is topical because they are more likely to be a first tier part of Australia’s trade. 

The trade approaches call for model development for energy demand, costing, efficiency, and green house gas emission – We trust you noted that models needed included Greenhouse Gas emissions. Why? Because Japan for its energy security must consider its short and long selling trades on energy. Energy needs include considering an individual process basis including fuel cell technology, vehicle technology, internal electricity needs and the usage strata on all levels including regional or national levels with a multiplicity of competing energy processes.

That said, Japan is only one of our global partners with similar concerns. All must consider in their national interest what are some of the comparable energy pathways. Those pathways include: Coal importation, fuels used for electricity production, electricity use in either residential, commercial, and transportation sectors etc. In all these considerations the answers can change over time and some of the drivers will be the relevant technology needs, the gaps in sustainable delivery mechanisms to meet the demands and gaps in supply, and they must also consider the time frames needed to close each fuel supply type and substitute them.

Australia’s politics is sending up a big smoke screen – Coal is King. World prices and demand says something different something like ‘Coal is dead long live the Coal’ 
 We hear of ‘clean coal’ and then we hear it is a nonsense. What is certain is it becoming an undesirable fuel source. This is not saying unnecessary it is simply saying much less attractive on the world stage. Why, technology can now provide better fuel sources without the climate change consequences. So much so that at any price, coal is too expensive. Coal can be burnt, but needs processing to be useful for other purposes. The term embodied energy come to mind here. It means the amount of energy needed to convert may be higher than the value of the material compared to alternative process. Then there is gas! Gas can be used for its molecule – to make fertilizer for instance, to fuel your stove, boiler, it can be a by-product of another process such as syngas. Your waste can even be used to produce it. Gas can be processes or extracted to supply. But the choices are better, cleaner. Granted, not the best energy source, but far more sensible than relying on coal. Hence, the now is all about gas.

Then there is the markets that determine viability to produce. Despite what our Australian policy makers might be telling us – the truth is more than ‘real’, it more than to be affective it is about being effective. It is not good enough to be positioned well, you also need an effective agenda. Or, at least have you agenda smarter than the other guys. What is there to critique about our stance, now:

Carbon Tax – the UK, US Republicans are all active in thinking a Carbon Tax is good. It is a market mechanism that works. This flies in the face of Australia’s Environment Minister saying it does not – even though the evidence suggest Australia’s Carbon Emissions reduced 11% since the introduction of a carbon price. Even more perplexing is why the Australian government put forward to confuse carbon price and carbon tax. For instance in the legislation for clean energy was the term the Carbon Price. The ‘price’ included offsetting for a transition of industry to a low carbon future. In the repeal legislation is substituted the words Carbon Tax as meaning Carbon Price. The UK and US clearly think there is a difference between the two definitions.

An example of the critics is, on 9 July 2014, Lord Deben – a UK Tory and is noted from the Thatcher years to now as expert on the environment has issued a statement through the ABC saying the Abbott Government “appears to be more concerned with advancing its own short-term political interests” than dealing with global warming.

Also, on 7 July 2014, Solar Reserve chief executive Kevin Smith told the ABC’s Four Corners program the company had been deterred by a drift in policy and the planned scrapping of the carbon tax.

It was also concerned about the appointment of Dick Warburton, who doubts that carbon emissions are causing global warming, to lead a review of Australia’s Renewable Energy Target.

“That policy change pretty much took the life out of the renewable energy sector as far as large-scale projects for utility applications [are concerned],” Mr Smith said.

“Other markets around the world are advancing. Australia is going to get left behind.”

On Mr Warburton’s appointment, Mr Smith said: “Clearly that appointment was made because they want to move back towards conventional fuels, coal and oil.

“It’s pretty clear that the policy in Australia is now being centred around big coal. The coal industry clearly has rallied to move policy away from renewable energies because they view renewable energy as a threat and want to move back to convention coal.”

“Just think, these coal companies won’t be able to sell their coal overseas unless they get sequestration or offset commitments and the only way they can do that is if they have an ETS; they can’t pay for it unless they’ve got carbon credits.

“They’ve killed themselves. Coal is dying anyway, but they’ve killed themselves even quicker.

“The whole politics of climate change has regained a bit of ground.”

Then consider:

Palmer United Party’s commitment to keep part of the architecture of the carbon laws in place – the Renewable Energy Target, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Climate Change Authority – is a big win, and the reality is it’s driven by the market, ‘Newman’ says.

“That’s enough for now; we’ll regroup. We’ll get there.”

But do we really have to lose the ETS mechanism?

The suggestion Is then that the government cross benches are not happy:

This disaster started to unfold to vote for the ETS in 2009?

“A Victorian senator, Judith Troeth, a senior figure in the Liberal Party’s moderate faction, and a Queensland senator, Sue Boyce, crossed the floor to vote with Labor senators when the legislation was finally put to a vote,” reported the Sydney Morning Herald at the time.

Both these women are now gone. But maybe there are a few other senators willing to vote with their conscience.

It’s a time for bravery. There are Titanic shifts everywhere right in both the US and Australia and impressively they are from the conservative big end of town.

Last week was the think piece in the New York Times from the über-conservative Republican politician Hank Paulson, a former US Treasury Secretary, that ricocheted around the world.

It was based on a bipartisan report, Risky Business, that argued that global warming was no different to the global financial crisis and even more dangerous. And yet it was if the world was ploughing straight into a mountain, Paulson said.”

You might even note here – we are not talking technology, it is the passion of addressing the ‘real’ issues.

We wonder what would happen if you introduced the technology issues with wind-based electricity for water electrolysis for hydrogen production and the use of hydrogen in fuel cell vehicles, the use of biomass to produce biofuels for transportation. I bet the vested interests would do all they can to stop the innovation. Despite how short sighted it is to oppose.

To recap why we mentioned our agenda needs to be smarter. Consider this:

“LNG spot prices for Japan at 3-year low

TOKYO — Spot prices of liquefied natural gas for Japanese buyers have been hovering at the lowest level in about three years due to increased supplies and sluggish demand.

     Spot prices are about $11 per million British thermal units, about the same as immediately after the March 2011 earthquake in Japan. From February this year, the price has dropped about 40%.

     Supplies for Asia are increasing. An LNG project in Papua New Guinea, in which Exxon Mobil and JX Holdings have stakes, began production in May instead of the originally scheduled September or later. Now, more than 300,000 tons of LNG from Papua New Guinea flow into the spot market monthly. And shipments from Indonesia and Australia are also steady.

     In contrast, demand is not as strong. Ten Japanese power companies had 2.44 million tons of LNG inventories at the end of April, up 13% from a year earlier. With the temperature through May having been warmer than usual, these companies did not have to generate as much electricity as a year before.

     In South Korea, state-owned gas company Korea Gas piled up LNG inventories as the country restarted nuclear power plants. It is now asking such Japanese companies as Tokyo Gas and Chubu Electric Power to buy its excess.

(Nikkei)”

Danger Danger no doubt!