Month: January 2020

“Let the Ski Resorts Burn!”

By Dr Tim Fatchen

It’s ironic that a former Olympic alpine skier should be the one offering a private bill on climate change when climate change has long been cited as a reason for removal of alpine skiing, at least in Victoria (“Independent MP Zali Steggall pushes forward with private bill on climate change” The Australian 9/1/20).

On Mt Buffalo, the small family-aimed Cresta ski area was burnt in December 2006.  Eminently defensible, the resort was intact when the then Department of Sustainability and Environment (now Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning–DELWP) ordered its crew to abandon it for a crew change an hour or more away in the valley.  On return of the next crew, the buildings were alight, and became a total loss. Continue reading ““Let the Ski Resorts Burn!””

Government by Enquiry

By Viv Forbes
20 January 2020

Politicians hide behind enquiries – their magic answer to all problems, especially bushfires.

Announcing enquiries give the impression of decisive action, they generate fees for armies of barristers, lawyers and bureaucrats, and provide momentary excitement for the media.

The proposed 2020 Australian Bushfires corrobboree will provide a grandstand for the Climate Rebellion Mob who will get starring roles on ABC/Fairfax. Big business will probably propose a carbon tax to fight bushfires while foresters and land owners will hardly be heard.

When the final report is ultimately delivered, the media will be off trumpeting some new climate “emergency” to scare the public. The expensive new report will be quietly filed with all the others. Continue reading “Government by Enquiry”

Time for Climate Sense

By Viv Forbes
23 December 2019

Svante Arrhenius (1859-1927) was a Swedish scientist who first claimed that the burning of hydro-carbons like coal, oil, gas, peat and wood may cause global warming.

In 1895 he calculated (incorrectly) that a doubling of the atmospheric CO2 concentration would lead to a 4-5o C rise in global temperature.

However, Arrhenius suggested that this increase could be beneficial, making the various climates on Earth “more equable” and stimulating plant growth and food production. Continue reading “Time for Climate Sense”

National Parks Breed Bushfires

By Viv Forbes
20 December 2019

Too many recent headlines say: “A fierce new bushfire is burning in the XYZ National Park. Nearby residents should prepare to evacuate.”

Neglected, overgrown, weed and log infested, un-grazed, unburnt, government-protected parkland is a danger to all neighbours. All it needs is a fire-bug, a fearful neighbour attempting a too-late back-burn, or a lightning strike, and a wildfire is inevitable, especially when the weather is hot, dry and windy. Wild-fires will not stay in their National Park. Continue reading “National Parks Breed Bushfires”

Brexit Done – Now for Clexit

By Viv Forbes
16 December 2019

Thanks to Boris Johnson, Brexit will now occur. And thanks to Donald Trump, the US will exit the destructive Paris Climate agreement. And the UN alarmists made little progress at the big climate-fest in Madrid.

It’s now time for Clexit (Climate Exit) – the great climate escape from all UN/IPCC alarmism and entanglements. Australia should join this rush for the exits.

Continue reading “Brexit Done – Now for Clexit”

Creating Bushfires

9 December 2019
By Viv Forbes

No one should be surprised that our bush is ablaze and our cities are smothered in smoke.

For decades now we have been locking up land, banning burn-offs and encouraging eucalypt fire-trees.

On a hot day, the blue haze on distant timbered hills is intensified by highly-flammable eucalypt oil vapour, waiting for a spark.

The Australian landscape of open forests and treeless grasslands was developed and maintained under an aboriginal regime of continual small fires. This was followed by planned cool-season burn-offs by European graziers.

But a few decades ago this safe black and white fire regime was replaced by green-worshippers who continually expanded the area of locked-up protected parks (now over 11% of Australia). Then they peppered private land with protected-vegetation fire hazards, and then hampered undergrowth clean-ups and burn-offs. Continue reading “Creating Bushfires”

A Message from Madrid – NO CLIMATE EMERGENCY

Media Release/Opinion Piece
7 December 2019

This week Clintel attended the Heartland COP 25 conference at the Marriott Hotel in Madrid. The hotel was full of champagne-drinking COP delegates who were clearly enjoying themselves (‘climate business model in action’). To be sure they were not disturbed by demonstrators, Clintel had a recording room somewhere at the back and we heard about its coordinates on the same morning.

Guus Berkhout was the first speaker at the event that was live-streamed from the Marriot Hotel. It was not an official COP25 event but a Heartland side-event with the aim to sound a different message to the world. Continue reading “A Message from Madrid – NO CLIMATE EMERGENCY”

Tempered by Fire

Tempered by Fire: Stories from the firefighters and Survivors of the 1961 Western Australian Bushfires is a book published by the Bushfire Front, edited by Roger Underwood, 2011.

See: https://www.bushfirefront.org.au/resources-2/historical-accounts/1961-2/

These 1961 fires razed four towns and wiped out hundreds of thousands of hectares of forests and farmland.

The stories are from people who fought these fires, were forced to flee from them, or who lost everything in their paths. Continue reading “Tempered by Fire”