Jennifer Marohasy

PETER Spencer has talked a lot in recent weeks about climate change and carbon sinks, but the root of his problem with government lies in the native vegetation laws that have prevented him from clearing – and farming – much of his land…    Read more here.

I am dismayed that so many people have been so easily fooled on the meat eating and climate change issue following the UN report.  The culprit is not meat eating but rather the excesses of corporate/industrial agriculture.  Read more here.

AN historic piece of legislation, The Carbon Pollution Reduction Bill, currently rests on the Senate table which, if passed, will have a huge impact on Australia’s economic and social future.  The legislation will next be considered on August 13th.   If passed what will this mean for the Australian environment?
It is generally agreed that the legislation is [...]

A SYSTEMATIC review of literature over 50 years finds no evidence for superior nutritional content of organic produce.
There is no evidence that organically produced foods are nutritionally superior to conventionally produced foodstuffs, according to a study published today in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Consumers appear willing to pay higher prices for organic foods based [...]

LAST week the International Whaling Commission (IWC) met on the Portuguese island of Madeira and agreed that climate change is a threat to whales.   A decision on the Danish proposal for Greenland to hunt 10 humpback whales a year was postponed.  Australia’s Environment Minister was there and told the meeting that whale-watching is a growing [...]

 WHY do so many environmentalists consider cattle something to be excluded from the Australian landscape? 
According to Ian Mott, a third generation landholder, they modify parts of the landscape but they do not destroy it.  In the following note, Mr Mott suggests modifications to government advice on the management of livestock in riparian zones. 

“IT is now more than 200 years since the great astronomer William Herschel observed a correlation between wheat prices and sunspots. When the latter were few in number, he noted, the climate turned colder and drier, crop yields fell and wheat prices rose. In the past two years, sunspot activity has dropped to its lowest [...]

Canada’s governor-general Michaelle Jean has sparked anger from animal rights groups by gutting a seal carcass and eating a piece of its heart.  Read more here.