A regional waste facility or a local tip out of place? A nomospheric investigation of power and legal categorisation

What follows is a text of a presentation given to the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers in New York, 26 February 2012. ————————– Introduction I want to speak to you about a landfill, composting and recycling facility that was proposed, assessed and – after legal and political twists and turns – was [...]

A perspective on the climate negotiations at Durban

The path agreed upon at Durban is much the same as the path the world has been heading at least since Bali. We have known that the successor to the Kyoto protocol will be an ‘all-in’ agreement, with all nations taking on some responsibility to reduce emissions. Insofar as the nations within the UNFCCC all [...]

Dragging coal through the courts: an alternative emissions-reduction strategy

The bill creating the carbon price has passed through Parliament. However, the campaigning efforts of the environmental lobby will not pause. More than ever, the coal industry is in its sights, with court cases against XStrata in Queensland and HRL in Victoria now underway. Getting regional Victoria’s Hazelwood power station closed is a potential prize [...]

So much for a fair go: Kyoto protocol lets Australia offload climate responsibility

If climate change ever was in equal part a moral, economic and environmental challenge, then it is no longer so. Morality has fallen from attention. The economists have long dominated the climate change discourse. Ross Garnaut set Australia firmly on this course in 2007 and has reminded us of the priority we continue to place [...]