Business Spectator - The old world ended at Copenhagen

It was of course technically illogical to focus just on coal, after all it was only 20 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. But it was already clear the market would kill off oil, with electric cars and / or peak oil. All the alternative NGO campaign targets were too complex and missed the key ingredients : a powerful enemy that can be demonised, a simple NO campaign and definable physical targets to focus on. The movement had learnt the dangers of diffusion by putting so much into Copenhagen for so little tangible result.

The Australian - Time to rethink, coal chief Keith De Lacy tells 'mate' Kevin Rudd

WHEN Keith De Lacy was treasurer of Queensland, a certain K. Rudd was the other can-do man in the then state government.

Now that the Prime Minister has come up in the world, Mr De Lacy has a message for him: the Australian coal industry was sold out in Copenhagen, and Kevin Rudd needs to drastically revise his climate change response.

These days, Mr De Lacy's main job is with miner Macarthur Coal, which he chairs. His concern after the failure of the summit in Denmark to secure binding international action on global warming is that the Rudd government's decision to persist with emissions trading will do more harm than good to export-exposed industries such as coal. "It (an ETS) will erode our competitive position, while it does absolutely nothing to reduce greenhouse emissions," he told The Australian.

The Australian - Energy where it's needed

TELL your average trader about an investment story in New Zealand and you're likely to get only a stifled yawn in response.

But look the success of several Australian oil and gas companies on and offshore in Taranaki province.

Energy is a big story across the Tasman. The hydro system, which has been the backbone of New Zealand's electricity grid, has been unable to keep pace with the demand. Droughts and consequent low lake levels have played their part, as has the environmental lobby battling plans to further degrade river systems with new dams or other generating projects.

Scoop.co.nz - NIWA says greenhouse gas methane on the rise again

The concentration of methane in the atmosphere is rising, according to measurements made by NIWA.

NIWA has today released measurements from its globally significant Baring Head station showing that southern hemisphere atmospheric methane increased by 0.7% over the two-year period 2007–08. While this increase may not sound like much, it is about 35 times more than all the methane produced by New Zealand livestock each year.

Online Opinion - Endgame: USA

This outcome is the collapse of the USA and the demise of the world’s largest economy and only superpower. I define collapse as a rapid reduction in the level of complexity; it does not necessarily imply a Mad Max-type scenario. The collapse I am envisioning is something along the lines of what occurred to the USSR, a collapse which very few saw coming.

By way of analogy, examining the potential collapse of the USA can be likened to building a bonfire. The fuel is being piled; all that is needed is a spark to light the fire. What should be remembered though, is that in the aftermath of fire is the opportunity for renewal. So let us have a look at the fuel, the potential fire starters and the opportunities that this bonfire could provide.

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So if we were to accept that the collapse of the USA was possible, even probable, what would be an appropriate policy response? How do we make the most of the opportunity for catagensis? The first step would be recognising that to adapt in a functional manner would require a high level of adaptive capacity within our society. This would enable us to re-configure our society without a significant decline in the critical functions required to maintain a stable society and reduce the risk of “synchronous failure,” the technical term for a Mad Max-type scenario. So how could we increase the adaptive capacity/resilience of Australian society? Some suggestions might be:

Stuff.co.nz - Economy squeaks ahead with oil

The oil industry is helping to keep the economy's head just above water, and while construction and manufacturing are still in recession, the overall outlook for next year and 2011 is better.

The economy remains on a slow grind out of the recession that began at the start of 2008, with some economists suggesting the Reserve Bank will keep interest rates low until the middle of next year.

But after a tough couple of years, the economy is forecast to expand about 2.5 per cent next year and close to 3.5 per cent in the following year, when the Rugby World Cup will be held in New Zealand.

ABC - The Climate Institute has backed calls for the Federal Government to reform its renewable energy certificate scheme.

The Climate Institute has backed calls for the Federal Government to reform its renewable energy certificate scheme.

The renewable energy developer, AGL Energy, says its planned 150-turbine wind farm at Macarthur, south of Hamilton, is threatened because the certificate's value has plunged.