24October 2013. Please add further miscellaneous comments to Miscellaneous comments from 24 October 2013
Comments made on the previous Miscellaneous comments page from 31 May 2013 can be found here.
If you have anything you would like to raise, which is likely to be of interest to our site's visitors, which is not addressed in other articles, please add your comments here.
Comments
Bandicoot
Mon, 2013-09-16 11:28
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Australian farmed puppies discovered in pet shops in Singapore
PostGrowthEra
Mon, 2013-09-16 17:01
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Africa's population is expected to double by 2050
nimby
Tue, 2013-09-17 16:59
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Business lobby supporting the East West Link
Sheila Newman
Tue, 2013-09-17 20:52
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Government in Australia amounts to promoting corporate business
Vivienne Ortega
Thu, 2013-09-19 12:40
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Decline in shark numbers impacting on coral reefs
Bandicoot
Thu, 2013-09-19 19:06
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ACT's plan to outlaw factory farming
Bandicoot
Sat, 2013-09-21 10:00
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Live export ship stranded in Fremantle
Vivienne Ortega
Sat, 2013-09-28 15:05
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Live exports and the Trans Pacific Partnership
Vivienne Ortega
Mon, 2013-09-23 10:23
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Fraser Island Dingo deliberately maimed by feral tourist
PostGrowthEra
Tue, 2013-09-24 10:18
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Coalition government in climate change denial mode
nimby
Wed, 2013-09-25 12:31
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Millennium Development Goals - 2015
PostGrowthEra
Wed, 2013-09-25 18:18
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Shorten backs a "big Australia" - ensuring Labor's fate
Bandicoot
Thu, 2013-09-26 09:08
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Australia needs a National Land Use plan:25% for wildlife
nimby
Tue, 2013-10-01 13:44
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Hunter Valley food bowl plan faces urban development pressures
Vivienne Ortega
Tue, 2013-10-01 18:04
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Stop a commercial kangaroo industry in Victoria
PostGrowthEra
Thu, 2013-10-03 10:30
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A government devoid of morals - by Jill Redwood EEG
Bandicoot
Sun, 2013-10-06 09:29
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Stop the Pilliga Forest coal seam gas mining
Farmers and environmentalists don't want CSG mining, but the government is likely to face a backlash from the minerals sector unless it acts.
Critics fear that fracking not only opens up cracks in the coal seam, but could also result in gas escaping into drinking water as it rises to the surface. It would be economically reckless and short-sighted for the supply of CSG to destroy valuable farmland, and compromise underground water supplies. There are fears from some landholders that the ban in Victoria will be lifted.
Coal seam gas is a fossil fuel that is almost entirely made up of the greenhouse gas, methane. It's feared that large tracts of farmland will become unavailable for food production, forests and native bushland will be cleared and fragmented.
According to the industry, developing new supplies is absolutely critical if Australia wants to put downward pressure on energy prices. However, the gas industry want to drill more and more wells to meet their lucrative export contracts, and our prices will be linked with the much higher Asian market.
If it comes to a choice of harvesting underground coal seam gas, until it expires, or the long term integrity of our land, food and water supplies, then it would be counter-productive to prioritise the former over the latter.
The Pilliga is a vast expanse of bushland, located between Narrabri and Coonabarabran in western NSW. This iconic area of public land is under threat from the largest coal seam gas project ever proposed for New South Wales.
The Wilderness Society has been most concerned about the possible impact on the Pilliga forest and Channel Country region of Queensland's Cooper Basin. The government is prepared to relax environmental laws, or "green tape", for gas exploration.
Pilliga forest home to many threatened species, including the koala, Pilliga mouse, superb parrot and southeastern long-eared bat and regent honeyeater. A new ecological study of the Pilliga Forest in north-west NSW has found it is a “Noah's Ark” or refuge for many bird and mammal species that are declining across Australia.
Santos says it believes its CSG operations in the Pilliga can supply 25 per cent of the state's gas needs. More than 54% of Australia is covered by coal and gas licences or applications, and its clear that mining companies are riding roughshod over our governments and local communities. Dead animal bones in the bottom of a coal seam gas wastewater pond, according to the Stop Pilliga Coal Seam Gas movement,
Stop Pillaga Coal Seam Gas
The NSW government gave approval for the drilling in the woodlands in eastern Australia under stringent environmental conditions. The NSW government is hoping that a successful development by Santos of its coal-seam gas development in the Pilliga Forest in the northwest of the state will both satisfy some of the state's energy needs and demonstrate that coal-seam gas is not as environmentally harmful as its opponents claim.
quark
Sun, 2013-10-06 23:27
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Pilliga threatened with CSG extraction
Bandicoot
Tue, 2013-10-08 09:39
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Petition to investigate the impact on the Melbourne Zoo
PostGrowthEra
Wed, 2013-10-09 11:10
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300 African migrants died on the way to Italy
PostGrowthEra
Tue, 2013-10-15 17:52
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Australia to be hit hard by climate change
nimby
Wed, 2013-10-16 11:14
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Drinking recycled effluent 'inevitable' in smarter Australia?
PostGrowthEra
Thu, 2013-10-17 10:18
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The Hon. Kelvin Thomson MP - Speech at the Fenner Conference
Bandicoot
Sun, 2013-10-20 16:24
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Dophin massacres in Peru to bait endangered sharks!
Bandicoot
Wed, 2013-10-23 08:58
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Shark nets in Australia killing Pacific sea life
Vivienne Ortega
Wed, 2013-10-23 10:28
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Help for wildlife in NSW - from Maryland Wilson
Dear friends throughout NSW
Injured and distressed animals that have survived the bushfires in the Blue Mountains are emerging from affected areas and seeking refuge. Greg Keightly, branch disaster coordinator of the volunteer organisation Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Services (WIRES) in the Blue Mountains, said the animals included ringtail possums, sugar gliders, birds, swamp wallabies, echidnas, lizards and wallaroos.
Mr Keightly said during previous bushfire disasters, animals had taken weeks to emerge, but the current conditions coupled with the destruction of urban areas meant that on this occasion injured animals had been seeking refuge immediately. He said the animals were distressed, had been badly affected by smoke and that many were suffering from burned paws and fused claws which had been melted by heat.
Mr Keightly said concerned people could make water available for animals in need, but stressed that shallow dishes of water should be used as deep vessels could lead to drownings.
He also reminded people to be aware of the risk that domestic animals posed to wildlife and urged them to keep dogs inside at night.
WIRES advises people to keep a cardboard box and towel in the boot of their car in case they encounter injured wildlife. It recommends that burned animals can be wrapped loosely, placed in a box, kept in a dark, quiet and warm place and offered water but not food.
Mr Keightly advised members of the public to immediately call the 24-hour local WIRES hotline on (02) 4754 2946 or 1300 094 737 if they needed to report a rescue.
He said the organisation ensures animals are cared for until their local habitat regenerates and they can be safely released back into familiar territory.
WIRES has established a Bushfire Appeal Fund to help injured, homeless, orphaned and disoriented animals.
ABC news: Animal victims of the Blue Mountain bushfires seek refuge
NSW Bushfire Emergency Appeal WIRES
24 October 2013. Please add further miscellaneous comments to Miscellaneous comments from 24 October 2013. - Ed