The Freedom Socialist Bulletin was overwhelmed by the response we received to our feature, Rebel Poets: Shaking Up the Status Quo, published last issue. We decided to publish some of the reactions from our readers who also shared some of their own writing. Pam Sidney is a rebel poet in the finest tradition. She is… Read more »
environment
Black Saturday lessons ignored, climate change brushed aside
Guilty as charged. Last issue, I argued that, at the root, the February 2009 fires in Victoria were the result of politicians’ fundamental failure to protect citizens from a well-known risk. That position has been vindicated by the masses of evidence produced at the Bushfire Royal Commission. Expert witnesses revealed a long history of treading… Read more »
History confirms criminal culture of denial: Killer Company — James Hardie Exposed
There’s a theme running through Matt Peacock’s book. It’s about a culture of denial, orchestrated by the board of James Hardie. Matt’s been involved in the fight against the deadly mineral, asbestos, for more than 30 years. My involvement isn’t quite that long, but there’s a relevant passage on page 41that particularly caught my attention…. Read more »
Union Eyes: Climate Connectors needs clarity and collectivity
An invitation from my union to join Union Climate Connectors and “raise awareness and action in workplaces and communities around Australia” sounded great. I requested an action kit. Organised labour has the collective power to put the necessary muscle behind the environment movement to tackle the big polluters and make a real difference on slowing… Read more »
Editorials
Rudd’s ETS: A lot of hot air! Climate emergency. Here’s a tip. You can safely ignore anybody who claims that the warming of the planet’s oceans and atmosphere is a fiction. If you accidentally click through to Andrew Bolt’s blog, hit the back button. There’s nothing to learn there. If you hear Senator Stephen Fielding… Read more »
The Rudd government and General Motors Holden: Fuelling the global climate crisis
Two interconnected images of the global environmental crisis: People crowd around an emergency food depot. The supply runs out — again. There are scuffles and then stones thrown. The crowd disperses only when UN forces fire over their heads. A camera pans across a scene of total devastation, focusing on a small reddish dot moving… Read more »
Bankrupting Dissent
The federal minister for destroying the environment, Peter Garrett, has made a series of outrageous pro-business decisions, including approval of the Gunns pulp mill near Launceston, the dredging of Port Phillip Bay and a desalination plant near Wonthaggi. All three projects pose considerable risks to the environment and have led to the formation of local… Read more »
A question of power
At the very sharp end of the climate change crisis is the energy question. Most of the planet’s electricity generation is derived from coal, and all motorised transport requires the consumption of fossil fuel or other organically derived material. Coal, oil, gas and so-called “biofuels” are all based on carbon. When carbon is burnt, it… Read more »
Despair is not an option!
Every night, a strange thing happens at Snowy Hydro’s Tumut 3 power station. Water that flows downhill from the Talbingo reservoir is pumped uphill for use the next day. The huge network of dams is nearly dry. It’s an excellent example of how a sustainable economy needs a sustainable environment. This country has neither. Unless… Read more »
The Victorian government must end the dangerous farce of privatised public transport!
Poorly maintained signals led to this derailment on 3 May 2007. No one was injured — this time. Melbourne’s most modern trains are a safety hazard. They should not be in service. One model, built by Siemens, has a fundamental brake problem that will only be fixed with a costly engineering retrofit. The other, built… Read more »
