Jennifer Marohasy

WHAT was the most significant event of 2008 from an environmental perspective?  According to website grist.org it was the election of Barack Obama to President of the US. 
The story by Katharine Wroth and David Roberts lists the top 10 “green stories of 2008” with “Obamania” as number 1 on the basis: 
“[Obama] has already assembled a seasoned [...]

Democrat Barack Obama is the new President of the United States.   In his acceptance speech he promised to be a President for all Americans.    He made only one oblique reference to climate change speaking of our earth in peril.
Oklahoma Senator and Republican Jim Inhofe, the only outspoken climate change sceptic in Washington, won a [...]

Following an election last weekend in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), the major parties will have to negotiate with the Greens as they now hold the balance of power. The result is a huge win for the Greens; a party that continues to grow in power in Australia.  Read more here.

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion has lost the Canadian election: “The owlish professor-turned-politician defied two central political tenets in this election campaign:

Gordon Brown is poised to scrap a series of unpopular tax rises as part of sweeping changes to stave off a dangerous revolt over the rising cost of living which last week dealt Labour its worst electoral hammering in 40 years. Today the Prime Minister will respond to a growing suburban uprising by signalling moves [...]

The UK Conservative Party’s Boris Johnson, climate realist and member of Benny Peiser’s scholarly electronic network CCNet, has been elected Mayor of London, defeating ‘Red Ken’ Livingstone.
There are a hundred reasons why Boris Johnson should not be Mayor of London. But his dinosaur views on the environment alone are enough to show what a disaster [...]

Politics and environment, within the recent Cairns Regional Council ‘amalgamation’ election, reveal some interesting dynamics.
In the former North Queensland Shire of Douglas, amalgamation was overwhelmingly unpopular. Sentiment variously denounced the state government dictate as a death-knell for both the World Heritage rainforests of the Daintree and also the prestigious charm of Port Douglas.
In what [...]