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Eco-issues
Warning! This content challenges various environmental sacred cows
and may offend some viewers.
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The purpose of this web page is to make
readily available a number of my articles on various
environmental issues which are in frequent demand.
Scroll down to access links. |
Although many environmental problems are only too
real there are also many purported ones that are exaggerated,
dubious or do not even actually exist. Concern for the environment
provides a convenient cloak for sundry other agendas and
environmentalism now encompasses a quasi-religious blend of new-age
nature worship, junk science, left-wing political activism and
anti-profit economics. Environmental regulation has been hijacked by
activists, bureaucrats and researchers all of whom have a vested
interest in promoting the idea of dire threats which of course
require more regulation, more bureaucracy and more research.
Ironically, those who profess a deep concern for our
precious environment tend to predominantly be urbanites who
themselves choose to live in an environment where the natural world
has been almost completely annihilated. Incongruous too is their
fierce rejection of any suggestion that anything may not be a bad as
they fear (or apparently hope).
Contrary to popular perception, in most developed
countries the overall environmental condition has greatly improved
over the past few decades and although much remains to be done the
situation good and getting better. Real problems are quite
sufficient. We do not need to waste effort and resources on
imaginary ones.
Australia with its vast area, small population,
remoteness, and high standard of living enjoys one of the least
polluted, unspoiled natural environments of any nation.
Unfortunately, environmental management here has tended to become
dominated by ideology, theories, and a proliferation of bureaucracy
with minimal assessment of either the real environment or the
socio-economic consequences. Exacerbated by the precautionary
principle the result has been a growing morass of restrictions and
demands to address problems that often do not exist or that could be
addressed by more effective, less burdensome measures. With a
prosperity based predominantly on primary production ill-conceived
environmental regulations are becoming a far more real threat to
national security than is the danger of terrorism.
In the prevailing climate of political correctness
concerning environmental matters few scientists are willing to speak
out in opposition to the misrepresentation, suppression and outright
fraud that is often being perpetrated in connection with
environmental issues. At best it means being shunned by colleagues
and almost certainly will have negative career consequences. I have
because a combination of age and independence permit, knowledge and
experience qualify, and sense of responsibility impel me to do so.
The response from those on the receiving end of environmental
mismanagement has been gratifying and the private agreement of many
researchers surprising.

Articles
-
Daintree Delusions,
myths and
realities of saving the Daintree
(address to a public meeting on
Daintree issues in 1994)
-
Barrier Reef
Blunderland, blunderland being local slang for
GBRMPA's
chronically poorly attended Reef Wonderland aquarium
(unpublished MS July 2003)
-
Conservation vs.
Environmentalism
(North Queensland Sunfish
magazine January 2004 - also in Trailer Boating magazine
March 2004)
-
GBR Science
Summaries,
(prepared for The Fishing Party
July-Sept. 04)
-
Threats to the
Great Barrier Reef
(Institute of Public Affairs, Backgrounder May 2005, Vol. 17/1 -
shortened versions in Go Fishing magazine Aug/Sept 05 and
News Weekly 18 June 06.)
-
Fishy Claims of Overfishing
on the Great Barrier Reef
(Professional Fisherman magazine September 2005)
-
The Status,
Importance and Future of Australian Fisheries
(Fishing Boat World magazine February 06. Copy here
is slightly
longer MS version with references.)
-
By Way of Self Introduction,
comments on Global Warming
(Originally posted on the Climate Skeptics discussion list, 11
March 2006.)
-
Environmentalism,
How the Great Barrier Reef is mismanaged
(News Weekly 29 April 06 - also published in Ausmarine
magazine April 06 and The Fishing Party Newsletter March
06)
-
Coral Bleaching & The Reef
(Originally posted on the Jennifer Marohasy web blog, 12 April
2006)
-
Models, Motives and Management
(Ausmarine magazine May 06)
-
Fuel for Thought,
How to make Australia energy self-sufficient
(News Weekly 10 June 06)
-
MPA Mania
(Ausmarine magazine August 06)
-
AGW not a
paradigm, a skeptical view of global warming
(Climate Skeptics discussion list and Jennifer
Marohasy weblog August 06)
-
Exposing Environmental
Myths About The Great Barrier Reef
(NATIONAL OBSERVER No. 69, Winter 2006 - originally presented as
a keynote address to the Queensland state meeting of the
National Civic Council in Brisbane, 23 July 2006. Combines
information from Fishy Claims and Status of Aust.
Fisheries above.)
-
Little Green Lies
(Media release in response to claims of a dramatic increase in
coral trout numbers on
protected reefs, 18 September 2006)
-
Marine
Resources and The Growing Cost of Precaution
(address to Australian Environment Foundation
Inaugural Conference, Brisbane 23 Sept. 2006. Also
published in
Ausmarine magazine Feb. 2007)
-
Comments on the
Ernst & Young 2006 report: Australia's
Marine Protected Areas: Challenging Times Ahead
-
Selected Excerpts and Commentary on: 2006 Review
of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975
-
Are GBR Shark
Populations Really Collapsing?
(A
recent research report purports to
have found a widespread and dramatic decline in shark
populations on the Great Barrier Reef due to fishing mortality.
This report has attracted considerable media attention and
seems likely to become the basis for further restrictions on
reef activities. There are, however, a number of serious doubts
regarding the methods and conclusions of this study.)
.pdf copy as published in January 2008 issue of Go Fishing
magazine ,
1.2MB (click here).
MS copy of the article with references cited. 41KB
(click here).
-
As Good as it Gets
(Account of a
fishing, diving, exploring trip to the far northern GBR and Cape
York in November 2006. Published in Go Boating
magazine, March 2007)
-
Where Our Fish Comes From,
Thai fisheries, from an Australian perspective
(Australia has the world’s third largest EEZ and lowest fishery
harvest rate. Seventy percent of domestic seafood is imported.
Thailand, which has only 1/20 the EEZ area of Australia, is
Australia's largest supplier. This is an overview of the Thai
fishing industry from an Australian perspective with particular
reference to comparative conditions, resource management and
outcomes.)
.pdf copy as published in a four part series in the March,
April, June and July 2007 issues of Ausmarine magazine,
4MB (click here).
MS copy of the article with higher resolution graphics, 2MB
(click here).
DVD video on Thai Fisheries, 71 min.
(click here)
-
Straight from the Horse’s Orifice,
What the managers really think about themselves and the
Australian fishing industry
( Revelations from an extraordinarily frank seminar
not intended for public consumption, Ausmarine magazine May
2007 )
-
Thou Shalt Not Fish
(Essay
on Australia's growing problems in marine management.
Club Marine magazine, June 2007.)
-
Postmodern science - a
contradiction in terms
(Special feature - News Weekly,
4 August 2007)
-
Green
Manure Continues to Pollute the GBR
(Media release
in response to claims of
declining water quality on the GBR)
-
MPAs –
A Problem Not a Solution
(Media release on proposed Moreton
Bay MPA expansions, 23 August 2007)
-
Energy Crisis: The real threat of global warming
(Cover story - News Weekly,
13 October 2007]
-
Choked by a Bloated Bureaucracy
(Editorial
in Ausmarine magazine on the ongoing decline in
Australia's fisheries and aquaculture, October 2007)
-
Seafood and Health:
Government's state of confusion
( Government is encouraging greater seafood consumption
while increasingly restricting already inadequate supply, Ausmarine
magazine,
December
2007)
-
Enmeshed in a bureaucratic delusion
(Critical
review of a new study from the influential Lowy Institute for
International Policy which claims that the fisheries of our near
neighbours in S.E. Asia and PNG are overexploited and headed for
collapse.
The high quality of our own management is asserted and the
suggestion is made that with due diplomacy we can show them how
to do it right. Reality presents a
different picture.)
.pdf copy of condensed version published in the February 2008 issue of Ausmarine
magazine,
1.2MB (click here).
MS copy of full article with higher resolution graphics, 2.6 KB
(click here).
-
The Great
Barrier reef and the Prophets of Doom
(Commentary
of another doomsday prediction for the GBR, ON LINE opinion, 8
May 2008)
-
A Little
Kindness Goes a Long Way (Pictorial
story on tame giant tarpon in the Florida Keys, Go Fishing
magazine, April-May 2008)
-
What’s Wrong in
Wonga, a case study of the malaise in Australian
aquaculture (uncompleted MS of a story in progress that has
already gotten even worse)
Editorials
from
Golden Dolphin Video CD Magazine
Feeding Marine Life,
Issue
#4
Marine Conservation,
I. Some Basic Considerations,
Issue
#6
Marine Conservation,
II. The Reality of Whaling,
Issue #7
Marine Conservation,
III. World Fisheries in Decline,
Issue #8
Diving,
Past and Future,
Issue
#11
Bad
News and Good News,
Issue
#13
Are
Coral Reefs Dying?,
Issue
#15
Global Warming, Another Look,
Issue
#16
Who
to Believe?,
Issue
#19 |
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