I write in reference to the article "State of lakes and water report reveals mismanagement" (canberratimes.com.au, August 4).
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It is incredulous that the report by the ACT Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment, Sophie Lewis, has said the National Capital Authority should hand over management of Lake Burley Griffin to the ACT government.
It is the ACT Greens-Labor government that does not seem to realise that when you reduce street sweeping to around twice a year you end up with a huge amount of nutrient in our lakes and waterways. This is particularly so in the inner south and north.
As a start, the $4.2 million dollars for an office of water should go into street sweeping.
The Greens-Labor government, its staff and consultants seem to want to blame everyone else but not recognise its own incompetence and inefficiency.
My suggestion is to just initially look at how often jurisdictions sweep their streets compared to the ACT. I believe the ACT would most likely have the highest number of street trees and trees in other public open space than anywhere in Australia and possibly the world.
Jost Steller, Deakin
War the greatest threat
I was surprised by the editorial "Bipartisan consensus needed on climate change" (canberratimes.com.au, August 5) that stated a high percentage (43 per cent) of ACM readers thought climate change was the most important issue ahead of the last election.
While I support what the government is proposing in relation to climate change; it certainly isn't the most important thing facing our planet.
The threat of a nuclear war is far more worrying than climate change. Compared to the war between Russia and Ukraine, China's sabre rattling with America and Taiwan, and other conflicts around the globe, climate change is a much lesser problem.
If the threat of a third world war eventuates we wont have a climate to be worried about.
I would lay money on the fact that climate change is very low on the priority list of Ukrainian citizens. The world needs to get a lot more serious about action against Russia and China.
H Zandbergen, Kingston
Don't walk and text
It is time governments banned everyone from texting while walking in shopping centres and, more importantly, in vehicular congested areas.
Some users, fully engrossed with their toys, fail to realise their vulnerability or how ridiculous they look with their outstretched arms and eyes glued to the screens while expecting others to do the dodging and weaving.
Motorists are penalised quite severely in every way possible for using their phones. This practice should be extended to include walkers and, terrifyingly, joggers.
At the very least the legislators could then sit back and enjoy the extra revenue this would generate.
Michael Catanzariti, Florey
Hypocrisy on fuel exports
While the government congratulates itself on legislating an anaemic 43 per cent carbon emission reduction target, it continues its shameless push to sell our fossil fuels overseas.
It's presumably a case of out of sight - or over the horizon - and out of mind. Hannah Arendt's "banality of evil" comes to mind in this appalling exercise in political expedience.
It is grotesque greed coupled with a self-serving abdication of moral responsibility, all capped off with the irony that the burning of fossil fuels anywhere will harm all of us, wherever we happen to live.
Richard Manderson, Narrabundah
Question time a farce
It is with a sense of dismay, and indeed anger, that I torture myself and watch the daily theatre that is parliamentary question time.
Despite the repeated assurances from not only the Prime Minister, but from his bevy of Ministerial and MP acolytes, pre and post the May 21 election for a "kinder and gentler Parliament" the recidivists unashamedly continue the embarrassing, childish and frankly, offensive behaviour.
My frustration is that more effective regulation and enforcement by the Speaker/President is not strictly exercised and the offenders continue without consequence.
I would "94a" the lot of them.
Angela Kueter-Luks, Bruce
Pelosi visit reckless
Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan must surely rate as one of the most reckless in world history. Why? Because it could have led to world war three (and still might).
The US recognised the communist government of China in 1972 after refusing to do so for 23 years. The Shanghai Communique which set out the agreement of the two nations included the following: "The United States acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China".
What would the President of the US do if the Premier of China flew to the US to encourage a US state to secede, and to promise China's help for the state to do so?
Pelosi gambled that China would do nothing, but that gamble was not hers to make. She risked the lives of millions of people to satisfy her arrogance.
Because of Australia's alliances with the US, the US's stance is threatening Australia's safety. Australia should therefore withdraw from these alliances until the Taiwan issue is settled.
Bob Salmond, Melba
The case for protein
Emily Rice's call for veganism to save the environment (Dire State of Environment report shows need to leave meat consumption in the past, canberratimes.com.au, August 1) seemed logical on first reading but there are flaws in her argument.
Certainly, factory farming is generally abhorrent but we should not ignore animals who graze on rangelands that are too steep to be put to the plough.
Not only do they provide much needed protein that women, in particular, need, they utilise a large part of the country that would otherwise be taken out of production.
With climate change bearing down on us and the likelihood that we will lose half the production from the Murray-Darling Basin by 2050 because of it, we need to utilise what we have to maintain food security.
At the Fenner conference: "Making Australian agriculture sustainable" that was held at the Shine Dome in March this year, solutions focussed on regenerative agriculture.
If we are to reduce emissions from climate change then we have to move away from industrialised agriculture to smaller mixed farms where animals play an integral part in producing food sustainably.
Veganism is all well and good but has its drawbacks such as nutritional deficiencies (iron, Vitamin B12) and the removal of animals from farms where, with the right agricultural practices, they can add to the sustainability of those farms.
Jenny Goldie, Cooma
Build your arks
The catastrophic flooding in Kentucky over the last few days, along with flooding in West Virginia and Virginia ("Kentucky will 'be finding bodies for weeks'", August 2, p14), should serve as a warning that worse is to come globally.
Recently, Australia has endured record flooding, mainly along the eastern seaboard, but also in parts of the inland. Lismore, Brisbane, and even north-western Sydney, were particularly hard hit.
From July 2021, there have been huge floods in western Germany (where whole crop fields were washed away), Luxembourg, the UK, Spain, and China's Henan Province, to name a few.
This is just the beginning: as result of global heating, there will be more evaporation from warmer ocean waters, and a warmer atmosphere will be able to hold more water (become more humid).
When this warm, humid air encounters cold air from the poles, torrential rain almost become the norm. People living in low-lying areas must be prepared for the worst.
The remedy? Shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy (with storage) as quickly as possible.
Dr Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin
Climate catastrophe looms
Global heating could become "catastrophic" for humanity if temperature rises are worse than many predict or cause cascades of events we have yet to consider, or indeed both.
The world needs to start preparing for the possibility of a "climate endgame".
This is from the latest issue of the Proceedings of the US National Academy of Science. The study suggests that there is least about an 18 per cent probability that a climate catastrophe could occur.
The point of such studies is for the world to be aware, to set up early warning systems and take action.
On national security grounds the Australian Government could exert international leadership in the global assessment of the potential for climate catastrophe and the adoption of measures to avoid such a fate.