Mark Diesendorf
Sydney
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Environmental scientist, writer, campaigner for climate action & renewable energy. Also enjoys bushwalking, kayaking and reading.
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Articles by Mark Diesendorf
Population growth, environment and Australia’s economy
Australia’s population debate cannot be separated from environmental decline, inequality and economic wellbeing. With continued growth adding pressure, zero population growth deserves a serious place in the national conversation. Not one of Australia’s political parties with seats in federal parliament has a clear, comprehensive, coherent, constructive, population policy.
How to fight inflation without making inequality worse
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Fighting inflation without making inequality worse
Interest rates are a blunt tool for tackling inflation, and can hurt the people least able to absorb higher costs. Abraham Maslow, an eminent psychologist, once said, “If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.” This seems to be the response to inflation by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), acting as if its only tool is increasing interest rates, a crude and unjust response to a complicated problem.
Fighting inflation without making inequality worse
Interest rates are a blunt tool for tackling inflation, and can hurt the people least able to absorb higher costs. Abraham Maslow, an eminent psychologist, once said, “If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.” This seems to be the response to inflation by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), acting as if its only tool is increasing interest rates, a crude and unjust response to a complicated problem.
How the USA and Israel compare on the spectrum of fascism
The USA and Israel are assessed against ten defining characteristics of fascism, revealing disturbing similarities and critical differences, writes Dr Mark Diesendorf. TO ENGAGE in a serious discussion of this issue, we need a clear definition of fascism. But concise dictionary-type definitions fail to distinguish fascism from ruthless dictatorships.
Eight economic myths that are helping destroy our future
Eight persistent economic myths help protect vested interests, deepen inequality and accelerate environmental destruction. The economy must be rebuilt around wellbeing, sustainability and justice.
Eight economic myths that are helping destroy our future
Eight persistent economic myths help protect vested interests, deepen inequality and accelerate environmental destruction. The economy must be rebuilt around wellbeing, sustainability and justice.
The myth of the balanced budget
A monetary sovereign government such as Australia’s does not need to balance its budget or borrow the currency it creates, provided total spending does not exceed the economy’s real productive capacity. Governments of countries with monetary sovereignty, including Australia, do not have to balance their national budgets and do not need to borrow the currency they create. Conventional (i.e. neoclassical) economics is presented to the public as a science.
The myth of the balanced budget
A monetary sovereign government such as Australia’s does not need to balance its budget or borrow the currency it creates, provided total spending does not exceed the economy’s real productive capacity. Governments of countries with monetary sovereignty, including Australia, do not have to balance their national budgets and do not need to borrow the currency they create. Conventional (i.e. neoclassical) economics is presented to the public as a science.
Fossil fuel myths are slowing the energy transition
Misleading claims about renewables, backed by the influence of the fossil fuel industry, are slowing Australia’s transition to a cleaner and more secure energy system. The transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy is driven by public concern about global climate change, the favourable economics of renewable electricity, and now the constraint on oil supply resulting from the war in the Middle East.
Antisemitism or accountability? Drawing the line without erasing free speech
As Australia tightens hate-speech laws, a flawed definition of antisemitism risks being weaponised to shut down legitimate criticism of Israel rather than confront real hatred, writes Dr Mark Diesendorf. WITH THE PASSING of the hate speech legislation and the forthcoming Royal Commission into the Bondi terror attack and antisemitism, Australia needs a definition of antisemitism that’s clear and useful, one that maintains freedom of expression without supporting hatred or discrimination.
Antisemitism or accountability? Drawing the line without erasing free speech
As Australia tightens hate-speech laws, a flawed definition of antisemitism risks being weaponised to shut down legitimate criticism of Israel rather than confront real hatred, writes Dr Mark Diesendorf. WITH THE PASSING of the hate speech legislation and the forthcoming Royal Commission into the Bondi terror attack and antisemitism, Australia needs a definition of antisemitism that’s clear and useful, one that maintains freedom of expression without supporting hatred or discrimination.
Fluoridated faith: How weak science and vested interests sold mass medication
For more than 70 years, community water fluoridation has been defended as settled science, despite weak evidence of benefit, unresolved health risks, ethical violations and the quiet influence of powerful corporate interests, writes Dr Mark Diesendorf. CRITIQUING community water fluoridation (CWF) has come to be associated with anti-vaccination positions, although there is no scientific connection between the two. Just for the record, I support vaccination and think RFK Jr is a dangerous nut case.
CSIRO 350 job cuts a damning indictment on Government priorities, misses 'golden opportunity' on research
The announcement this week that CSIRO are to cut 350 research jobs is another damning indictment on Australia’s ongoing failure to prioritise research and development.
Excessive unpaid overtime: What exactly is the problem and how will it be solved?
This week the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute published the annual Go Home On Time Day survey findings. The results suggest that unpaid overtime hours worked full-time employees are on a continuing downward trajectory. This is a very positive finding as Australian workers have had some very high rates of unpaid overtime, including in comparison with workers in other countries.
Australian workers are being shortchanged $95.8 billion a year in unpaid overtime
WHAT'S NEW EconomySociety & Culture If Australian workers were paid for the hours of overtime they currently work for free, they would be paid more than $300 a fortnight better off, according to new research. That would put an extra $8,000 a year into the bank account of the average Australian worker as the cost-of-living crisis drags on. To mark the 17th year of Go Home on Time Day, the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work has released its latest data on unpaid overtime.
Key policies for the energy transition
This week the federal government is expected to release its 2035 greenhouse gas emissions target. However, more important than the target itself are policies needed to achieve substantial, effective, rapid emission reductions. So far, federal governments have introduced only few such policies, relying on vegetation regrowth and popular measures such as support for renewable energy.
Can a genocidal state be rehabilitated?
How can other states constrain a rogue state that’s practising crimes against humanity? Could such a rogue state be re-formed and rehabilitated? As we watch Israel implementing apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide, these are pertinent questions for Australia and other states that are, at least nominally, committed to equal human rights for all people.
Critique of the definition of antisemitism adopted by the government
With the forthcoming Royal Commission into the Bondi terror attack and antisemitism, and the rushed passing of the hate speech legislation in response to that attack, it’s clear that Australia needs a definition of antisemitism that’s clear and useful, that maintains freedom of expression without supporting hatred or discrimination, and that most people can agree on.
The principal barrier to a rapid energy transition
With the dead-end nuclear energy scenario binned during the present reign of the Labor Government and rapid technological change facilitating renewable energy solutions, we must now come to grips with the principal non-technical barrier to a rapid transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. All energy must be transitioned, whether it’s currently used in the form of electricity, heat or transportation.
The steady-state economy: Why we need it and how it could be progressed
A common factor underlying several of Australia’s major problems — housing, inadequate public transport, slow response to the climate crisis, loss of biodiversity, water shortage, pollution and deforestation — is the growth in consumption. Yet it is receiving negligible attention from the government and Opposition. The growth problem Conventional economics assumes that endless economic growth is both feasible and desirable on our finite planet.
An important debate is developing in Pearls and Irritations on the need to reduce consumption. In his article Labors Environmental Denialism, Stephen Williams acknowledged several positive steps being taken by the Labor government to help protect the environment, and then argued that Labor was failing to address the fundamental drivers of environmental disaster, which he identified as growth in the economy and population.
Scientific research shows that the environmental impacts of human civilisation have exceeded several planetary boundaries. To avoid societal collapse and to assist the transition to an ecologically sustainable civilisation, we must transition to a steady-state economy. Like Roger Beale, Michael Keating is reluctant to accept the scientific assessments of the threat to civilisation.
Recently the mass media have bombarded us with hype about a breakthrough in controlled nuclear fusion. Headlines shout Breakthrough in nuclear fusion could mean near-limitless energy and, one with a note of caution, At last, weve found our energy source for the future (if we have one). The publicity followed an experiment, conducted at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, in which slightly more fusion energy output was obtained than the vast amount of energy input.
Planned degrowth is needed to stop the collapse of civilisation
An opinion piece (Degrowth approach is disastrous, Canberra Times, 9 September, p.38) by authors from the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) attacked the concept of degrowth to a steady-state economy (SSE) and defended the notion of continuing economic growth on a finite planet. The Canberra Times did not publish the opinion piece I submitted in reply. So that we can have a debate about degrowth, I set out here the main arguments or claims of the CIS authors together with my responses.
The nuclear industry's updated songsheet remains outdated
The campaign for nuclear power stations in Australia defies the unstoppable rise of renewables and should be rejected by governments and the electorate it’s a technology whose time has passed. With the Glasgow climate summit approaching and the governments announcement that Australia would buy nuclear-powered submarines instead of diesel, the nuclear industry is campaigning more vocally for nuclear power stations in Australia.
The politics of reaching net-zero
Rapid technological change is necessary but not sufficient to avoid dangerous climate change. Policies to encourage selective consumption and reduced total consumption are also needed. Recently, Alan Finkel published in Quarterly Essay (Issue 81, 2021) an article entitled Getting to Zero, a comprehensive, well-informed, up-to-date review of the technological changes needed to transition Australias energy sector to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.
A radical approach to building an ecologically sustainable and socially just society. Collectively we are driving Earth and civilisation towards collapse. Human activities haveexceeded planetary boundaries. We are changing the climate, losing biodiversity, degrading land, contaminating freshwater, and damaging the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles upon which we all depend. We ask how this could happen. Also, why democratically elected governments ignore the wishes of the majority of their people.
Green growth, based on technological change, is necessary but not sufficient for effective, timely, climate mitigation. It must be supplemented by reducing the material consumption of the rich countries. In developing strategies for the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, we are faced with a major challenge: how to re-establish an economy with (almost) full employment while rapidly cutting greenhouse gas emissions to avoid substantial, possibly irreversible, climate change.
A Government Program to lock-in Fossil Fuels
The federal governments “Next Generation Energy Technologies Investment Package” is designed to lock-in fossil fuels. In the lead-up to its budget, the federal government today released the background to its so-called “Next Generation Energy Technologies Investment Package the clearest statement so far of its energy policies. The package includes new funding for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and “an expanded toolkit” for both ARENA and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC).
Peter Garrett gives Labor a free pass on climate action
Peter Garretts essay in Upturn: A better normal, edited by Tanya Plibersek, rightly castigates the federal governments continuing support for fossil fuels and its failure to implement effective climate mitigation policies. But he doesnt address Labors reluctance to take the strong action demanded by climate science or identify the policies needed.
MARK DIESENDORF. Lessons from Covid-19: Strategic Planning for Future Risks
A key lessonfrom Covid-19 is that markets cannot manage major risks and that strategic planning is necessary. Through JobSeeker, JobKeeper and other payments, the Australian Coalition government has recognised implicitly that the unguided market cannot respond adequately to the health and economic impacts of Covid-19 and the recovery from these impacts.
Public letter to my MP about Israels actions in Palestine
Dear Julian Leeser MP, I live in your electorate, Berowra. In this letter I respond to your statement in your newsletter: These differences [between the major political parties] are most notable on Israel and Ukraine where we have failed to stand by our values and stand with our friends as previous governments both Labor and Liberal have done. But first, in the context of Israels actions in Palestine, I should mention that my late father was Jewish.
Coalition, pro-nuclear lobbyists, argue Australia needs nuclear energy; oppose renewables
Proponents for a nuclear energy industry in Australia increased their media activity following the announcement of the AUKUS agreement. Their campaign has been taken up by the Coalition.The international campaign reached acrescendo during the COP28 climate meeting.
Consumption is driving global greenhouse gas emissions
Patrick Mazza has offered a valuable analysis of Chinas contribution to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and what it is doing, and still needs to do to reduce them. However, like the vast majority of scenarios on mitigating GHG emissions, it doesnt address the elephant in the room, the growing growth in consumption in China and in the whole planet. Economic growth is closely correlated with the growth in consumption of energy and emissions.
The physical hazards of nuclear energy
The debate about the economics of nuclear energy versus renewable energy has distracted politicians, the media and members of the public from the physical hazards of nuclear energy. The three principal hazards are its contribution to the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the risk of nuclear accidents, and the impossible task of managing nuclear wastes for 100,000 years.
Sustainability scientists challenge the dominant economic system
It is a rare event when scientists directly challenge the theory, political power and cultural embeddedness of conventional economics. And yet such a challenge is needed because neoclassical economics theory and neoliberal economics practice together form one of the principal driving forces of environmental destruction and social injustice.
Refuting myths about nuclear and renewable energy
Nuclear energy proponents are attempting to discredit renewable energy and promote nuclear energy and fossil gas in its place. This article refutes several myths they are disseminating that are receiving little or no challenge in the mainstream media. Myth: Renewables cannot supply 100% electricity Denmark, South Australia and Scotland already obtain 88, 74 and 62 per cent of their respective annual electricity generations from renewables, mostly wind.
The intimate relationship between nuclear weapons and nuclear power
Nuclear power provides the nuclear explosives and a cloak for hiding the development of nuclear weapons. Last week we remembered the nuclear bombing of Japan by the United States in August 1945. On 6 August 1945, a US B-29 dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Highly enriched uranium was the explosive. Three days later, another B-29 bombed Nagasaki, which had negligible military facilities, with an atomic bomb containing plutonium as the explosive.
The physical hazards of nuclear energy
Dr Mark Diesendorf was originally a physicist who expanded into interdisciplinary research on energy and sustainability. Previously he was Professor of Environmental Science and Founding Director of the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney. Currently he is Honorary Associate Professor in the Environment & Society Group in the School of Humanities & Languages, UNSW Sydney. Web: https://research.unsw.edu.au/people/associate-professor-mark-diesendorf.
Public letter to my MP about Israel’s actions in Palestine
Dear Julian Leeser MP, I live in your electorate, Berowra. In this letter I respond to your statement in your newsletter: “These differences [between the major political parties] are most notable on Israel and Ukraine where we have failed to stand by our values and stand with our friends as previous governments both Labor and Liberal have done.” But first, in the context of Israel’s actions in Palestine, I should mention that my late father was Jewish.
Consumption is driving global greenhouse gas emissions
Dr Mark Diesendorf was originally a physicist who expanded into interdisciplinary research on energy and sustainability. Previously he was Professor of Environmental Science and Founding Director of the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney. Currently he is Honorary Associate Professor in the Environment & Society Group in the School of Humanities & Languages, UNSW Sydney. Web: https://research.unsw.edu.au/people/associate-professor-mark-diesendorf.
Refuting myths about nuclear and renewable energy
There’s a lot of talk at present about nuclear energy being a strong contender in Australia’s energy market. But how much is political spin getting in the way of fact? Dr Mark Diesendorf unpacks some of the myths that are out there. The AUKUS agreement has given renewed stimulus to the nuclear energy lobby. With campaign support from the Murdoch press, they have increased their efforts to denigrate renewable energy and to promote nuclear energy and fossil gas in its place.
Sustainability scientists challenge the dominant economic system
It is a rare event when scientists directly challenge the theory, political power and cultural embeddedness of conventional economics. And yet such a challenge is needed because neoclassical economics theory and neoliberal economics practice together form one of the principal driving forces of environmental destruction and social injustice.
The Energy Transition is Slowed by Growth in Consumption
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News! Imagine you are a runner in a 400-metre race. You speed around the final bend only to see the officials running away down the track with the finishing tape. You are a strong runner and will catch them, eventually, but not in a fast time.
Growing consumption is slowing the energy transition
With the dead-end nuclear energy scenario binned during the present reign of the Labor government and rapid technological change facilitating renewable energy solutions, we must now come to grips with the principal non-technical barrier to a rapid transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, the growth in energy consumption. All energy must be transitioned, whether it’s currently used in the form of electricity, heat or transportation.
The intimate relationship between nuclear weapons and nuclear power
Nuclear power provides the nuclear explosives and a cloak for hiding the development of nuclear weapons. Last week we remembered the nuclear bombing of Japan by the United States in August 1945. On 6 August 1945, a US B-29 dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Highly enriched uranium was the explosive. Three days later, another B-29 bombed Nagasaki, which had negligible military facilities, with an atomic bomb containing plutonium as the explosive.
The nuclear and renewable myths that mainstream media can’t be bothered challenging
The nuclear and renewable myths that mainstream media can’t be bothered challenging Mark Diesendorf, Jul 4, 2024, https://reneweconomy.com.au/the-nuclear-and-renewable-myths-that-mainstream-media-cant-be-bothered-challenging/ Nuclear energy proponents are attempting to discredit renewable energy and promote nuclear energy and fossil gas in its place. This article refutes several myths they are disseminating that are receiving little or no challenge in the mainstream media.
The nuclear and renewable myths that mainstream media can’t be bothered challenging
The nuclear and renewable myths that mainstream media can’t be bothered challenging Mark Diesendorf, Jul 4, 2024, https://reneweconomy.com.au/the-nuclear-and-renewable-myths-that-mainstream-media-cant-be-bothered-challenging/ Nuclear energy proponents are attempting to discredit renewable energy and promote nuclear energy and fossil gas in its place. This article refutes several myths they are disseminating that are receiving little or no challenge in the mainstream media.
Refuting myths about nuclear and renewable energy
Nuclear energy proponents are attempting to discredit renewable energy and promote nuclear energy and fossil gas in its place. This article refutes several myths they are disseminating that are receiving little or no challenge in the mainstream media. Myth: Renewables cannot supply 100% electricity Denmark, South Australia and Scotland already obtain 88, 74 and 62 per cent of their respective annual electricity generations from renewables, mostly wind.
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