STRANGE TIMES

It is good to see that the Australian Environment Foundation is alive and kicking and is holding its next conference in Canberra on October 11 to 12.  The AEF was set up in 2005 by people who  wanted to see environment policy evidence based and solution focused rather than driven by green ideology which not only harms humans but quite often also the environment.

Their first battle was with the Australian Conservation Foundation, the peak green body in Australia, that unsuccesfully took them to court to prevent them using a name they claimed might be confused with their own.

Their chairperson until recently was former TV gardener Don Burke who had to resign because of work commitments. A replacement will be announced shortly. It will be interesting to see who it is.

Resisting climate alarmism has become one of their big areas of interest. In fact the AEF has been closely involved in the establishment of the Australian Climate Science Coalition which will  be officially launched at the conference.

In forest policy they are strong supporters of active management rather than the green inspired lock up and leave approach which excludes local people and wise use of resources, makes the forests vulnerable to weeds, feral animals and fire hazards, and leads to poor water catchment. This has prompted a very heavy involvement in the Rivers & Red Gum Environment Alliance which is campaigning against the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council proposals for the red gum forests of the Murray River.

The AEF is one of the few defenders of farmers who are prevented by native vegetation legislation from controlling invasive native scrub that now covers vast areas of western NSW. These woody weeds are a monoculture that threaten native wildlife and groundcover plants, and a cause of erosion. Calls to change the laws have been strongly resisted by green groups such as the Wilderness Society.

The AEF supports the lifting of state bans on GM crops. These have no scientific basis and prevent farmers from using crops which have considerable economic and environmental benefits. They raise yields, reduce the use of fertilizer and water, and allow better soil management.

This year’s conference has the theme a “climate for change”.

Three renowned critics of the “climate science consensus” will make presentations: Professor Bob Carter, Marine geologist James Cook University, William Kininmonth former head of Australia’s National Climate Centre and a consultant to the World Meteorological organization’s Commission for Climatology and Professor Don Aitkin Professor, social scientist, retired Vice-Chancellor and President, University of Canberra.

Speakers from the Rivers & Red Gum Environment Alliance and the Institute of Foresters Australia will give a roundup of how things are progressing on the river red gum issue.

Graham Young, the chief editor of On Line Opinion will address the conference on blogging and politics. No doubt he will have something to say about Clive Hamilton’s fatwa against OLO for giving too much space to climate skeptics.

The speaker for the breakfast on Sunday morning will be Cape York indigenous activist Gerhardt Pearson who will discuss land management issues on the Cape.

Other speakers are still being finalized and the Saturday night after-dinner speaker has not been announced yet.

If you are thinking of going, registration and accommodation details can be found here .

The AEF website is a handy resource with regular articles and also a Newsfeed  which links to ten current articles in the Australian media on environmental matters and is updated every 24 – 48 hours.