As Prime Minister Abbott retreats into a Dorothy Mackellar-inspired climate myth, President Obama moves America forward by preparing the United States for the impacts of climate change

As the Australian Abbott Government reverses climate change policy, dismantles government departments/agencies implementing or advising on policy and creates bills to repeal the national carbon pricing system, US President Barak Obama moves to create a national Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

November 01, 2013

Executive Order -- Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change

EXECUTIVE ORDER

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PREPARING THE UNITED STATES FOR THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to prepare the Nation for the impacts of climate change by undertaking actions to enhance climate preparedness and resilience, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. The impacts of climate change -- including an increase in prolonged periods of excessively high temperatures, more heavy downpours, an increase in wildfires, more severe droughts, permafrost thawing, ocean acidification, and sea-level rise -- are already affecting communities, natural resources, ecosystems, economies, and public health across the Nation. These impacts are often most significant for communities that already face economic or health-related challenges, and for species and habitats that are already facing other pressures. Managing these risks requires deliberate preparation, close cooperation, and coordinated planning by the Federal Government, as well as by stakeholders, to facilitate Federal, State, local, tribal, private-sector, and nonprofit-sector efforts to improve climate preparedness and resilience; help safeguard our economy, infrastructure, environment, and natural resources; and provide for the continuity of executive department and agency (agency) operations, services, and programs.

A foundation for coordinated action on climate change preparedness and resilience across the Federal Government was established by Executive Order 13514 of October 5, 2009 (Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance), and the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force led by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In addition, through the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), established by section 103 of the Global Change Research Act of 1990 (15 U.S.C. 2933), and agency programs and activities, the Federal Government will continue to support scientific research, observational capabilities, and assessments necessary to improve our understanding of and response to climate change and its impacts on the Nation.

The Federal Government must build on recent progress and pursue new strategies to improve the Nation's preparedness and resilience. In doing so, agencies should promote: (1) engaged and strong partnerships and information sharing at all levels of government; (2) risk-informed decisionmaking and the tools to facilitate it; (3) adaptive learning, in which experiences serve as opportunities to inform and adjust future actions; and (4) preparedness planning.

Sec. 2. Modernizing Federal Programs to Support Climate Resilient Investment. (a) To support the efforts of regions, States, local communities, and tribes, all agencies, consistent with their missions and in coordination with the Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience (Council) established in section 6 of this order, shall:

(i) identify and seek to remove or reform barriers that discourage investments or other actions to increase the Nation's resilience to climate change while ensuring continued protection of public health and the environment;

(ii) reform policies and Federal funding programs that may, perhaps unintentionally, increase the vulnerability of natural or built systems, economic sectors, natural resources, or communities to climate change related risks;

(iii) identify opportunities to support and encourage smarter, more climate-resilient investments by States, local communities, and tribes, including by providing incentives through agency guidance, grants, technical assistance, performance measures, safety considerations, and other programs, including in the context of infrastructure development as reflected in Executive Order 12893 of January 26, 1994 (Principles for Federal Infrastructure Investments), my memorandum of August 31, 2011 (Speeding Infrastructure Development through More Efficient and Effective Permitting and Environmental Review), Executive Order 13604 of March 22, 2012 (Improving Performance of Federal Permitting and Review of Infrastructure Projects), and my memorandum of May 17, 2013 (Modernizing Federal Infrastructure Review and Permitting Regulations, Policies, and Procedures); and

(iv) report on their progress in achieving the requirements identified above, including accomplished and planned milestones, in the Agency Adaptation Plans developed pursuant to section 5 of this order.

(b) In carrying out this section, agencies should also consider the recommendations of the State, Local, and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience (Task Force) established in section 7 of this order and the National Infrastructure Advisory Council established by Executive Order 13231 of October 16, 2001 (Critical Infrastructure Protection in the Information Age), and continued through Executive Order 13652 of September 30, 2013 (Continuance of Certain Federal Advisory Committees).

(c) Interagency groups charged with coordinating and modernizing Federal processes related to the development and integration of both man-made and natural infrastructure, evaluating public health and social equity issues, safeguarding natural resources, and other issues impacted by climate change -- including the Steering Committee on Federal Infrastructure Permitting and Review Process Improvement established by Executive Order 13604, the Task Force on Ports established on July 19, 2012, the Interagency Working Group on Coordination of Domestic Energy Development and Permitting in Alaska established by Executive Order 13580 of July 12, 2011, and the Federal Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice established by Executive Order 12898 of February 11, 1994 -- shall be responsible for ensuring that climate change related risks are accounted for in such processes and shall work with agencies in meeting the requirements set forth in subsections (a) and (b) of this section.

Sec. 3. Managing Lands and Waters for Climate Preparedness and Resilience. Within 9 months of the date of this order and in coordination with the efforts described in section 2 of this order, the heads of the Departments of Defense, the Interior, and Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, NOAA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers, and other agencies as recommended by the Council established in section 6 of this order shall work with the Chair of CEQ and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to complete an inventory and assessment of proposed and completed changes to their land- and water-related policies, programs, and regulations necessary to make the Nation's watersheds, natural resources, and ecosystems, and the communities and economies that depend on them, more resilient in the face of a changing climate. Further, recognizing the many benefits the Nation's natural infrastructure provides, agencies shall, where possible, focus on program and policy adjustments that promote the dual goals of greater climate resilience and carbon sequestration, or other reductions to the sources of climate change. The assessment shall include a timeline and plan for making changes to policies, programs, and regulations. Agencies shall build on efforts already completed or underway as outlined in agencies' Adaptation Plans, as discussed in section 5 of this order, as well as recent interagency climate adaptation strategies such as theNational Action Plan: Priorities for Managing Freshwater Resources in a Changing Climate, released October 28, 2011; the National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy, released March 26, 2013; and the National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan, released April 16, 2013.

Sec. 4. Providing Information, Data, and Tools for Climate Change Preparedness and Resilience. (a) In support of Federal, regional, State, local, tribal, private-sector and nonprofit-sector efforts to prepare for the impacts of climate change, the Departments of Defense, the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, and Homeland Security, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and any other agencies as recommended by the Council established in section 6 of this order, shall, supported by USGCRP, work together to develop and provide authoritative, easily accessible, usable, and timely data, information, and decision-support tools on climate preparedness and resilience.

(b) As part of the broader open data policy, CEQ and OSTP, in collaboration with OMB and consistent with Executive Order 13642 of May 9, 2013 (Making Open and Machine Readable the New Default for Government Information), shall oversee the establishment of a web-based portal on "Data.gov" and work with agencies on identifying, developing, and integrating data and tools relevant to climate issues and decisionmaking. Agencies shall coordinate their work on these data and tools with relevant interagency councils and committees such as the National Science and Technology Council and those that support the implementation of Presidential Policy Directive-21 of February 12, 2013 (Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience).

Sec. 5. Federal Agency Planning for Climate Change Related Risk. (a) Consistent with Executive Order 13514, agencies have developed Agency Adaptation Plans and provided them to CEQ and OMB. These plans evaluate the most significant climate change related risks to, and vulnerabilities in, agency operations and missions in both the short and long term, and outline actions that agencies will take to manage these risks and vulnerabilities. Building on these efforts, each agency shall develop or continue to develop, implement, and update comprehensive plans that integrate consideration of climate change into agency operations and overall mission objectives and submit those plans to CEQ and OMB for review. Each Agency Adaptation Plan shall include:

(i) identification and assessment of climate change related impacts on and risks to the agency's ability to accomplish its missions, operations, and programs;

(ii) a description of programs, policies, and plans the agency has already put in place, as well as additional actions the agency will take, to manage climate risks in the near term and build resilience in the short and long term;

(iii) a description of how any climate change related risk identified pursuant to paragraph (i) of this subsection that is deemed so significant that it impairs an agency's statutory mission or operation will be addressed, including through the agency's existing reporting requirements;

(iv) a description of how the agency will consider the need to improve climate adaptation and resilience, including the costs and benefits of such improvement, with respect to agency suppliers, supply chain, real property investments, and capital equipment purchases such as updating agency policies for leasing, building upgrades, relocation of existing facilities and equipment, and construction of new facilities; and

(v) a description of how the agency will contribute to coordinated interagency efforts to support climate preparedness and resilience at all levels of government, including collaborative work across agencies' regional offices and hubs, and through coordinated development of information, data, and tools, consistent with section 4 of this order.

(b) Agencies will report on progress made on their Adaptation Plans, as well as any updates made to the plans, through the annual Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan process. Agencies shall regularly update their Adaptation Plans, completing the first update within 120 days of the date of this order, with additional regular updates thereafter due not later than 1 year after the publication of each quadrennial National Climate Assessment report required by section 106 of the Global Change Research Act of 1990 (15 U.S.C. 2936).

Sec. 6. Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience.

(a) Establishment. There is established an interagency Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience (Council).....

Read the rest of this Executive Order here.

Meet Tony Abbott - micro-managing control freak

This will not end well for Australia, the Coalition parties, Tony Abbott or Peta Credlin:

Prime Minister Tony Abbott's own department will more than quadruple in size by December 31 under a plan that comes alongside the Abbott government's plan to cut some 12,000 public service jobs over the coming two years, according to The Australian Financial Review.
The newspaper reported that the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet will grow from 552 staffers as of August 31 to about 2,250 staff by the end of the year as part of a plan to see the department take on expanded duties.
In addition, some 1,700 public servants will be centralised into the top central government agency from nine other government departments. The majority will come from Social Services.
The cost of the planned shake-up has not been disclosed, the AFR reported.

Another well-known head of government

who sought to control all government power

Metgasco Limited spits the dummy because it proceeded without a social contract with Northern Rivers communities and is suffering the consequences

There appears to be no end to the disinformation, excuses and complaints issuing from coal seam gas exploration, mining and wannabe production company Metgasco Limited.

This is the company’s latest in The Australian on 4 November 2013:

COAL-SEAM gas group Metgasco has called on the NSW government to compensate it for losses of millions of dollars after the introduction of new restrictions on drilling, which it says are "killing" the industry in that state.

Metgasco chief executive Peter Henderson also attacked the state Coalition government for failing to identify firmly which specific areas were off-limits to CSG wells in NSW.

"Nine months after the NSW government first came up with these knee-jerk (restrictions), we are still trying to work out where we can and can't drill," he told The Australian. "We have spent a lot of money in good faith and have established very healthy CSG reserves . . . Will the NSW government be compensating us?"

Last month, the NSW government confirmed laws, initially flagged last year, banning CSG wells within 2km of houses in urban areas.

Energy retailer AGL, which holds large exploration licences across Sydney city, and Metgasco were among the hardest hit.

Mr Henderson would not place a figure on losses from the new law but said "20 to 30 per cent" of the company's reserves were now "wasted".

The company had spent $77 million on exploration, suggesting losses from the new 2km buffer zone would be between $15m and $25m for Metgasco.

Metgasco's operations are centred in northern NSW and those reserves now off-limits are below the northern town of Grafton.....

Climate change denying according to Leunig

http://www.leunig.com.au/

Annual Report of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission

On average it only takes 11.7 days to register a charity in Australia, according to the first annual report of the Australian Charities and Not‑for‑profits Commission (ACNC).

New charities registered in 2012-13:

In 2012–13 the ACNC received 245 complaints or concerns about charities. Of these, 199 were resolved by the ACNC and 46 were still in progress at 30 June 2013.....

Of the 245 complaints or concerns received by the ACNC, 56 were escalated for investigation....

O'Farrell Government identifies parks, reserves and conservation areas in which recreational shooters will be allowed during a three year pest control trial

Robyn Parker MP Minister for the Environment Minister for Heritage 

MEDIA RELEASE

 Thursday, 31 October 2013

RESERVES IDENTIFIED FOR PEST CONTROL TRIAL

The locations of a three year scientific trial using skilled volunteers to boost pest animal control efforts in 12 of the state’s national parks and reserves have been announced today by the NSW Government.

Environment Minister Robyn Parker said the Supplementary Pest Control trial would be the first of its kind and the independent Natural Resources Commission will review the outcomes of the program in 2016.

“This trial will provide the first detailed scientific information on how volunteers can help reduce pest animals and protect native plants and animals,” Ms Parker said.

“Pest animals such as goats, pigs, deer and foxes cause damage to wildlife and agriculture and the NSW Government invests $38 million a year on pest control in national parks.

“Through a combination of trapping, baiting and shooting over the past two years, the National Parks and Wildlife Service has removed over 100,000 pest animals from national parks and reserves.

“This trial will utilise the expertise, skill and commitment of volunteers who have an equivalent skill and accreditation level to professional staff, under the supervision of the NPWS.

“It will be a true partnership between the community and the NPWS.”

The three year trial will be carried out in 12 national parks and reserves in Western NSW:

Cocopara Nature Reserve, near Griffith;

Yathong Nature Reserve and Nombinnie Nature Reserve and State Conservation Area, near Cobar;

Murrumbidgee Valley National Park and State Conservation Area, near Balranald;

Goonoo National Park and State Conservation Area and Coolbaggie Nature Reserve, near Dubbo;

Gundabooka National Park and State Conservation Area, near Bourke; and

Woomargama National Park, near Albury.

In all these reserves NPWS has existing programs to reduce pest animals and their impacts. The trial will aim to make NPWS programs even more effective, through planned and targeted volunteer ground shooting.

Ms Parker said the program procedures and safeguards will operate in the same way as existing NPWS pest control operations.

“All relevant areas within parks will be closed to other users on the specific days that planned shooting operations are underway – just as parks are closed during professional pest control operations,” Ms Parker said.

“No person under 18 will be allowed to participate in the program and only firearm types that are currently used in NPWS operations will be permitted.

“Supplementary Pest Control operations will be planned at least four weeks in advance. NPWS will provide final confirmation to neighbours and the public at least 48 hours ahead of any operation.”

The 30 day notification for the trial starts today, however the call for volunteers will be based on need and the advice of the NPWS.

The program will be administered under the National Parks and Wildlife Service Act.

For more information on the trial - www.environment.nsw.gov.au/pestsweeds/spc.htm

Media: John McCormack 0467 731 806