The first introduction to this website was written over three years ago. During those three years there have been some significant changes in both our community and around the world in both climate policy and the implementation of measures to reverse global warming. Unfortunately, in those three years there have been many opportunities missed because of too much control of energy and climate policy in the wrong hands. 

A new government was elected in May 2022 and with a new government came hope that the many years of neglect in halting and reducing the effects of climate change by previous administrations would be reversed. Those in denial of climate change, it’s causes and effect are still there – but I do believe that their ranks have thinned. However, the climate is still warming at an abnormal rate – catastrophic weather events, destructive agricultural methods, approvals for yet more polluting fossil fuel projects, and meanwhile back in the suburbs many people are still more concerned about superannuation returns, tax breaks and consuming Chinese manufacturing output than they are about the fact that we are facing a crisis that will herald a complete change in the way we live our lives if we don’t act now.

Some of the things that media and governments, including our own supposedly progressive government, are hesitant to talk about that are becoming a reality are the real possibility of food shortages, increased occurrence of catastrophic storms and bushfires, increasing desertification, the alarming rise of ocean temperatures, the underlying power of the press, social media and some not so ethical and fiercely lobbying fossil fuel miners, and the elevation of populist political leaders driven by egos and power in places around the world you would not expect this to happen.

The Rockflat website is about climate change. It’s not about politics, governments or life styles. The essays are factual, the opinions few but heartfelt.

We start 2024 with a disappointing and very frustrating COP 28 just concluded in Dubai. The conference was held in the historical heartland of fossil fuel production, was led by the former head of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, and allowed the extremely well-represented fossil fuel industry to keep control of future energy strategy. There were at least 475 carbon capture lobbyists and more than 2400 industry-affiliated lobbyists in Dubai foe COP 28 – it was a a farce!

Take a few minutes (or longer) and read an article or two on this website. I hope you’ll find some of the information and arguments interesting, challenging and sometimes confronting.

A quick ‘heads up’ – Rockflat will no longer be using Twitter (X), notifications of new essays and posts will still be on Instagram, Facebook and now Masterdon.

Robert Watson

RECENT ESSAYS

2024-02-02T11:15:57+11:00

CARBON CAPTURE & STORAGE – an expensive exercise in greenwashing

The effects of climate change and global warming are now being felt world wide. Respectable science is unanimous in acknowledging climate change, recognising that anthropogenic climate change – that caused by human impact - has quickly escalated the natural climate cycles that have occurred throughout Earth’s history. Leading [CLICK TO READ MORE]

2024-01-26T11:51:26+11:00

DECARBONISING AUSTRALIA

With the widespread use of carbon credits, expensive  and unproven technologies, as well as new coal mine approvals, Australia is making the difficult job of reaching net zero by 2050 almost impossible … Since May 2022 there have been three significant matters that will largely determine [CLICK TO READ MORE]

2024-01-21T12:48:59+11:00

CLIMATE – A NEW GOVERNMENT, THE MINERS & RENEWABLES

A big factor helping the Labor Party win government in May last year was their advocacy for improved policies to help relieve global warming and climate change in general. There were of course other reasons people voted for a change, including the establishment of an effective federal integrity commission, gender [CLICK TO READ MORE]

2024-02-02T09:24:30+11:00

REASONS NOT TO FEAR MINORITY GOVERNMENT

There is a reasonable chance that after the May 2022 election Australia will for the second time in recent years be in a situation where no one party has a majority in the House of Representatives. This has been brought about by the popularity of some very capable and [CLICK TO READ MORE]

2024-01-21T13:02:38+11:00

1.5oC … GOING, GOING, GONE!

1.5oC - Going, Going ... GONE! The Paris Agreement is a landmark international accord that was adopted by nearly every nation in 2015 to address climate change and its negative impacts. The agreement aims to substantially reduce global greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to limit the global temperature increase in this century [CLICK TO READ MORE]

2022-02-21T18:04:37+11:00

WHAT’S POLITICS GOT TO DO WITH CLIMATE CHANGE?

It took a power company, Origin Energy, and the announcement of the closure of the Eraring Power Station to get the climate issue back where it should be in the coming election campaign – absolutely front and centre. Morrison has a blatant determination to have just about anything on [CLICK TO READ MORE]

RECENT BLOG POSTS

COMMUNITY CLIMATE EXERCISE

January 28, 2024|

If you’re concerned about climate change and committed to positive action to reverse global warming there are a couple of things you can do that won’t take a lot of [CLICK TO READ MORE]

Mastodon

June 9, 2023|

ROCKFLAT is now on Social Media platform MASTODON, INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK - no longer on Twitter/X https://www.instagram.com/rockflatblog/ https://mastodon.social/@rockflat  

TAYLOR FAILURE

May 20, 2022|

This very self-explanatory graph (thanks to Graham Readfearn, The Guardian) is something that Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor and current Prime Minister Morrision would prefer you didn't see. For [CLICK TO READ MORE]