When will the Australian Coal companies start providing some corporate social responsibility and mitigating the catastrophic global effects from burning their product? Residents in the Hunter region of Sydney have suffered perticulate pollution to their great cost in poor health for decades yet only in recent days has a system of perticulate montoring been announced by the NSW Government. Action to stop all particulates from coal power stations needs to accompany monitoring.

In this US article we see that a visionary Australian firm, Rotec, has set about making an agreement with the jeepney drivers’ association of the Phillipines and environmental officials that could result in the retrofitting of as many as a half million jeepneys with particulate capturing and recycling devices over the next few years.

This action will result in sizable reductions in particulates that cause great health damage and generate significant black carbon. We are advised that the retrofits will reduce particulate emissions about 70 per cent with significant health benefits to jeepney drivers and passengers and the residents of Metro Manila who will breathe cleaner air.

When can we hope to see coal station retro fits in all Australian coal power stations and Federal export rules for coal requiring retro-fits for overseas power stations? Given our status as the worlds biggest coal exporter, the sluggishness of our major parties to develop suitable local, national and international policies over particulates is symptomatic of the sorry state of political leadership in Australia today.

This may be of interest

"Two billion people worldwide do their cooking on open fires, producing sooty pollution that shortens millions of lives and exacerbates global warming. If widely adopted, a new generation of inexpensive, durable cook stoves could go a long way toward alleviating this problem."

http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2250

Carbon dioxide is colourless, so it is amazing that the US based Climate Institute colour codes the carbon that produces the CO2.

Even more amazing is the Australian Taxpayer through Aus Aid is listed as a donor of the Climate Institute.

Next, will we find that the Australian Government gets its climate change advice from the Australian National University, that was responsible for publishing the Green Carbon report? Will we find the taxpayer also contributed heavily to the Green carbon report?

"our status as the worlds biggest coal exporter"

We're number 1

yay!

Who cares if no one listens to us on anything because we're a nagging, finger wagging, "look at mwah!", over regulating nuisance at the fringe of world consciousness.

World's biggest coal exporter - we should build, you know, a big coal nugget to celebrate.

Yay!

Yet another disciple of the anthropogenic global warming religion, using alarmism to con politicians and the media, e.g. " Forest fires could be an increasing problem as warming produces more lightning strikes."; " the official markets under the Kyoto Protocol ... might ... help prevent climate change from spiraling out of control."

The ETS Debate. Has nobody got the GUTS to speak the truth?
When I was 16 the World had 1/3 of its present population. (SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH. 2 billion, now 6 billion) In another 50 years, 6 billion will be 18 billion..
By all means in the mean-time cut emissions and plant trees. However, there is only ONE true way to cut Pollution.
CUT THE WORLD POPULATION EXPLOSION of the World by restricting Families to a Maximum of TWO children per family.
Reward, with Tax incentives, any families with less.
Punish, by Tax hikes, and any other means, families with more than two.
Outlaw increasing GDP.
People=Factories=Pollution=Global Warming=CHAOS & Starvation= destruction of the World’s FAUNA & FLORA (OK! ANIMALS & PLANTS.)
Less people means less Electrical Generation, less Vehicles, less Hospital Patients, less Trees cut down, less Politicians required, less Bureaucrats required, less Mine Workers causing degradation and pollution. Fewer Infrastructures required, less Stress in our society.
WHAT RIGHT HAVE HUMANS GOT to KILL THE EARTH?