No carbon tax now: Baillieu

PREMIER Ted Baillieu has called on the federal government to abandon its carbon price legislation plan, saying it would increase business uncertainty in the wake of the slump in financial markets.

It is the Premier's first explicit call for a carbon price not to be introduced, following weeks of Mr Baillieu and state government ministers criticising parts of the scheme's design.
...
Mr Baillieu has estimated the scheme would increase annual energy costs at Victorian state hospitals by at least $13.5 million once it starts next July.

Turns out Nature, like Wall Street, is also bankrupt | Grist

If you thought it was just your pension fund that was in the toilet, you'd best break out the plunger, 'cause you've got an entire planet that will shortly be following it down the loo. Check out this infographic

Bats and Birds Face Serious Threats From Growth of Wind Energy - NYTimes.com

The American Bird Conservancy (ABC), an avian conservation group, observes that upward of 14 birds per megawatt of wind energy are killed each year, numbering more than 440,000. The organization projects the number will rise substantially as wind energy production increases.
...
turbines pose a unique threat to all birds, including endangered species, like whooping cranes, and raptors, like eagles, hawks and falcons.

UK shipping industry rejects EU's carbon reduction programme | Environment | guardian.co.uk

The UK's shipping industry has roundly rejected the European Union's emissions trading scheme, defying calls for shipping to be included in the carbon reduction programme.

Mark Brownrigg, the UK Chamber of Shipping's director general, told the Guardian: "The EU's emissions trading scheme will not work for shipping. It is not suitable. It is not a global system, and shipping is."

He claimed that if shipping were to be included, as campaigners have called for, that ships would simply refuel instead at non-EU ports.