The politically correct are upset because a big game hunter has been appointed to be a state conservationist. Killing, or culling animals, is apparently inconsistent with the Green ideology:
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8485259/Western-Australian-conservationist-Esperance-fire-South-Africa-game-hunt-photos.html

“A big game shooter who proudly posed with the dead carcasses of giraffes, elephants and rhinos has been hired to be a state government conservationist. Jewell Crossberg was recently appointed acting district manager of the Western Australian Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions in Esperance, on the state's south coast. A Facebook album titled 'business and pleasure' has surfaced showing Mr Crossberg standing over dead giraffes, rhinos and zebras he's shot at South African game reserve in 2010. In one photo, Mr Crossberg kneels down next to the corpse of a giraffe with a rifle in one hand. The head of the dead animal rests over his knee while Mr Crossberg smiles for the camera. Mr Crossberg is also seen posing with a dead zebra in one photo, and grinning behind a felled elephant in another one. The album has since sparked outrage and calls have been made for Mr Crossberg to be removed from his role in the conservation department. Mr Crossberg will be acting as the Parks and Wildlife manager in Esperance where he will be responsible for looking after the wildlife and natural assets in the district. Though an online petition has called for him to be removed from the position. 'A man for sees [sic] no issue with hunting endangered and threatened species should not be in a role protecting Australia's native flora and fauna, as he clearly lacks the judgement to do so, despite the photos being taken at a South African Hunting lodge, where such hunts are legal,' the petition reads. The petition quotes a letter from concerned citizens of Esperance, calling for immediate action against Mr Crossberg. 'We the citizens of Esperance are very concerned about the recent appointment of Jewell Crossberg,' the letter reads. 'We think the director Jason Foster has made a very bad judgement call. 'We are so disappointed to see Mr Crossberg is not a true conservationist and shouldn't be in a position of this standing.' The department said in a statement Mr Crossberg had gone through a competitive recruitment process and that it was committed to wildlife conservation. 'The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions is committed to wildlife conservation and ensuring world’s best animal welfare practices. 'Jewell Crossberg went through a competitive recruitment process and demonstrated he had the appropriate skills for the acting district manager role.' Mr Crossberg has since deleted his Facebook page.”

     Before sunrise yesterday, the grass temperature in Washpool, "Sunny Queensland" was minus 1.7 deg. There was no wind or sunshine. Wind turbines were becalmed and not even moonbeams energised our solar panels. In that still, frosty darkness, green energy failed again. Not a watt came from becalmed wind "farms" or from subsidized solar panels cluttering many roofs (including ours). But we didn't need our diesel in the shed - we were
saved by trusty Old King Coal, with maybe a dash of gas or hydro. Reliable 24/7 generators provided pre-dawn power-by-wire for lights, heaters and coffee before we checked the frosty flats for new-born lambs.

     Needs Some Warming here too (Canada) To download this article with all images click:
  https://saltbushclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cold-comfort.pdf

     I am a great believer in global climate change; not warming, but cooling, always feeling in my water that a new ice age is coming, and scientists whom I read in the 1970s told me that, and that is about how up to date I am, which is impressive. Take the present cold snap, with Antarctica dumping its coldness upon us, no concern that I can’t even feel my fingers as I type this. I can’t afford heating and am locked down, like Victorian (i.e. 1800s) prisoners, in an icy dungeon, to keep safe from Coviddy.
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8771283/Heavy-snow-hail-thunderstorms-hit-South-Australia-Victoria-NSW.html?ito=push-notification&ci=35872&si=12817605

     Even snow in South Australia, up in the Flinders Ranges, wherever they are, somewhere up north, maybe near Adelaide, it does not matter much to me, because I am an arrogant Victorian, made more arrogant by being shut up in a chicken coop for, what a year now? Anyway, I argue that this is due to global cooling, since whenever there is a bushfire, well it’s global warming. So, by parity of reason, when there is a cooling event, it must be evidence of the opposite namely an ice age. You can’t have your ice cream cake and eat it too.

     I like figs, and like most of us all I enjoy sitting under my back-yard fig tree, embracing my individual freedom, or what freedom I used to have before we in Melbourne lost everything. And I imagine that the anti-freedom police will be here soon to cut down my metaphorical fig tree. Shades of Adam and Eve! Anyway, blow me over, no easy task given my whale-like weight, there are wasps who live in figs. Didn’t know that, but now I do.
  https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/09/19/dead-wasp-in-every-fig.aspx?cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art2ReadMore&cid=20200919Z1&mid=DM654200&rid=968084743

“If you’re a fig lover, this next sentence may be hard for you to swallow. The figs you’re eating could have a dead wasp stuck in them. I know that probably makes you squirm, but it sounds more dramatic than it is. You may think the idea of wasps inside a fig is gross, but it’s actually pretty amazing to see how nature knows exactly what it needs to do to allow both plant and insect species to survive. Figs and fig wasps have a mutually beneficial relationship — something that’s officially called mutualism — that developed over millions of years of evolution. They need each other to survive. Fig wasps help pollinate figs and, in turn, the figs provide a safe place for the wasps to lay their eggs. This relationship is crucial to a balanced ecosystem and is also crucial to you enjoying a fresh fig or that fig jam you love. So, don’t let this tidbit of information make you shy away from eating figs. The fruit, or technically flower, is full of resistant starch, potassium and other nutrients such as magnesium and choline, that help keep you healthy. Plus, you’re probably already eating a lot of bugs without even realizing it. Read on to see what I mean. Why Do Figs Need Wasps?

     A family, quietly minding their own business, munching away, are suddenly surrounded by huge cannibalistic crabs! My, that would make a great film or novel.
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8758171/Christmas-Island-Family-trying-enjoy-spring-barbecue-surrounded-robber-crabs.html?ito=push-notification&ci=35187&si=12817605

“A family who were trying to enjoy a spring camping barbecue were shocked to find they had been surrounded by a group of robber crabs. The giant crustaceans, also known as coconut crabs, measure up to metre in length and have a strong sense of smell. When an unwitting family were enjoying an al fresco barbecue while camping on Christmas Island, in Western Australia's far north-west, the the crabs swarmed around them. Photographs of the barbecue show more than 52 of the clawsome creatures eagerly awaiting a chance to snack on some leftovers. Winter McKendrick, the daughter of one of the other families on the trip, looked unfazed as the enormous crabs surrounded her as she ate her dinner on her fold-up camping chair. One brave crab was pictured scaling the side of the table to get better access to the family's delicious meal.” 

     I don’t write much upon economics, not knowing anything about it, but the feeling is that we should try to give every article, even those about impending destruction of the world, an optimistic spin, which I am happy to do, if possible. Always look on the bright side of life, I say:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE186w91YVU

     That applies to space rocks in the cosmic shooting gallery. For some reason, some of these are allowed to strike the Earth, wiping out life e.g. the dinosaurs, but not in the human era, but who knows, maybe that could be our Sodom and Gomorrah treatment, and who could blame the Supreme Being for losing His patience with rebellious humanity, yet again?
  https://www.space.com/amateur-astronomer-discovers-asteroid-2020-QU6-earth-flyby.html#:~:text=An%20amateur%20astronomer%20from%20Brazil,it%20were%20to%20hit%20Earth
  https://www.slashgear.com/asteroid-2020-qu6-was-discovered-by-an-amateur-astronomer-13637845/
  https://www.naturalnews.com/2020-09-16-hazardous-asteroid-discovered-by-amateur-astronomer.html

     The LNP energy roadmap asks us to bet on “clean hydrogen, energy storage, green steel and aluminium, carbon capture and storage, and soil carbon”. Like the worst spec-stock spruiker they promise to streamline regulations and legislation to encourage these mal-investments. NOT ONE of these items will generate reliable low-cost 24/7 electricity. EVERY ONE will risk huge capital expenditure chasing green rainbows. NOT ONE will improve the climate. ALL obey foreign/UN agendas. If this is the best the LNP can offer we may as well vote Green/ALP to precipitate the inevitable energy crisis. When that real emergency comes, voters will punish this bi-partisan Parliament of Fools.

     The climate change fanatical religion has ben a bit quieter during the Covid-conspiracy, but it looks like things are warming up now on the global warming front, to throw in many clever weather metaphors.
  https://www.zerohedge.com/political/mother-earth-angry-pelosi-pushes-climate-change-legislation-if-biden-wins

“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday, during an interview on MSNBC, that raging wildfires in California, Oregon, and Washington are direct proof of the climate change disaster unfolding across the country. "Mother Earth is angry," Pelosi said. "She's telling us - whether she's telling us with hurricanes on the Gulf Coast, fires in the West, whatever it is … that the climate crisis is real and has an impact." As Pelosi spoke about the climate crisis, MSNBC showed a series of short clips highlighting the widespread devastation in her home state. Pelosi is the latest in a recent line of leading 'Party of Science' Democrats to attempt to directly connect the wildfire situation in the western US to the climate crisis. For example, California Governor Newsom, on Sunday (Sept. 6), told reporters during a news conference that wildfires in California were "the realities of climate change." "California has always been the canary in the coal mine for climate change, and this weekend's events only underscore that reality," he said. "Wildfires have caused system failures, while near-record energy demand is predicted as a multi-state heatwave hits the West Coast for the second time in a matter of weeks." And none other than former President Barack Obama tweeted that humans were at fault for the orange skies over San Francisco.”

     Hey, if the mainstream false news media can tip out false news by the bucket load, then why not headlines like the above? Well, the thing is, apart from the hell metaphor, it is still pretty close to the truth.
  https://themindunleashed.com/2020/09/in-brutal-aftermath-of-hurricane-laura-thick-mosquito-swarms.html

“In the aftermath of Hurricane Laura, massive swarms of mosquitos have laid waste to Louisiana, killing huge numbers of cows, as well as deer, horses and other livestock in the region. Two weeks after Hurricane Laura brought torrential rains to the southwest part of the state, thousands of mosquitos have set upon animals as large as bulls, draining their blood and leaving them anemic and bleeding. Livestock annoyed by the mosquitos have also been forced to pace around during the hot and moist summer in an attempt to avoid the insect. The hordes of mosquitos pushed out of their marshy habitats by Hurricane Laura have been nothing less than a menace for local livestock, according to a Louisiana State University AgCenter press release. “The population just exploded in the southwest part of the state,” said LSU AgCenter agent Jeremy Hebert. The problem has led to the widespread loss of cattle and even some horses across the five parishes neighboring the most severely impacted part of the state where the storm made landfall in late August. Experts estimate that anywhere between 300 and 400 cattle have been lost by local ranchers.”

     I was reading an article in The History Teacher, by Christopher Versen, “What’s Wrong with a Little social Darwinism (In Our Historiography),” which puts social Darwinism, the idea that evolutionary forces directly apply to human societies, in a more plausible historical light. Even so, in my opinion the ideas of Darwin and Spencer are much more reasonable than Marxism and all the Leftist bs that now fills the universities, such a critical race theory and postmodernist frog droppings. But, there will not be a fair debate about Darwin, and social Darwinism, since the present woke politically correct establishment is moving to eliminate his thought from the modern hellholes called universities.
  https://www.naturalnews.com/2020-09-08-blm-goes-after-charles-darwin-evolution-racist.html

“If you believe in the Theory of Evolution as put forth by the late Charles Darwin, then you are a “racist” who needs to be “decolonized.” This is the position of Great Britain’s Natural History Museum, which recently launched a review aiming to stamp out “offensive” and “problematic” collections specifically associated with Darwin and his evolutionary endeavors and expeditions. Audit rooms, statues and items such as exotic birds will all be pored over to identify any potential elements of racism that warrant their immediate removal from the facility. And this is all being done to show how “science, racism, and colonial power were inherently intertwined,” according to the museum’s curators. According to a document about the review, the Natural History Museum decided to take on this investigation “in light of Black Lives Matter and the recent anti-racist demonstrations around the world.” To please the BLM mob, in other words, the Natural History Museum of the United Kingdom is planning to go over each and every piece in its facility to see “whether any statues (or collections) could potentially cause offense. This will include taking a closer look at Darwin’s specimen collections gathered from the Galapagos Island, which the museum says represent just one of many British “colonialist scientific expeditions.” The word “colonial,” as used by the museum, may as well equate to racism, because that is what is meant every time it is used. And because the entire basis of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution was built upon colonialist endeavors, his entire life is an embodiment of racism. “The Black Lives Matter movement has demonstrated that we need to do more and act faster, so as a first step we have commenced an institution-wide review on naming and recognition,” says Michael Dixon, director of the Natural History Museum.

Solar energy is very dilute, so solar collectors usually cover huge areas of flat arable land, stealing farmland, starving wild herbs and grasses of sunlight and creating “Solar Deserts”.

A Solar Desert expanding at Gannawarra in Victoria, Australia
Not so Green
Picture Credit ARENA

     When I was in high school, there was a book The Secret Life of Plants, which was popular. I never read it, but I think it argued that plants are not mere mechanisms, but have a mental life. Well, the author was onto something, although mainstream scientists, dismissed the work as pseudo-science. Well, even so, it was more interesting than the unreplicable bs that they produce, usually for big business’ profits.
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Life_of_Plants 
  https://www.naturalnews.com/2020-09-07-plants-higher-level-cognition-scientist.html

“In a major breakthrough, Italian researcher Umberto Castiello from the University of Padua gathered together a selection of studies supporting the idea that plants can sense, feel, think and even communicate among themselves. Castiello said he hopes to fuel a discussion regarding the cognitive abilities of plants, such as those often observed in humans and animals. Discussions on plants as cognitive agents could help lead scientists to the “roots” of cognition, he added. His findings appeared online in the Journal of Comparative Psychology.

     Before sunrise yesterday, the grass temperature in Washpool, "Sunny Queensland" was minus 1.7 deg. There was no wind or sunshine. Wind turbines were becalmed and not even moonbeams energised our solar panels.
In that still, frosty darkness, green energy failed again. Not a watt came from becalmed wind "farms" or from subsidized solar panels cluttering many roofs (including ours). But we didn't need our diesel in the shed - we were
saved by trusty Old King Coal, with maybe a dash of gas or hydro. Reliable 24/7 generators provided pre-dawn power-by-wire for lights, heaters and coffee before we checked the frosty flats for new-born lambs. Yet politicians, academics and the UN-ABC relentlessly push unreliable "green"energy, promising it will promote global cooling. They should be careful what they wish for. Neither sheep nor shepherds like frosty darkness.

     I read this article about disturbances in the Earth’s magnetic field, and was about to move onto the next disaster, when I noticed something “PC.”
  https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/weird-out-nowhere-something-just-rocked-earths-magnetic-field

“On June 23rd, Earth’s quiet magnetic field was unexpectedly disturbed by a wave of magnetism that rippled around much of the globe. There was no solar storm or geomagnetic storm to cause the disturbance. So what was it? Lately, Earth’s magnetic field has been quiet. Very quiet. The sun is in the pits of what may turn out to be the deepest Solar Minimum in a century. Geomagnetic storms just aren’t happening. “That’s why I was so surprised on June 23rd when my instruments picked up a magnetic anomaly,” reports Stuart Green, who operates a research-grade magnetometer in his backyard in Preston UK. “For more than 30 minutes, the local magnetic field oscillated like a sine wave.” Green quickly checked solar wind data from NOAA’s DSCOVR satellite. “There was nothing - no uptick in the solar wind speed or other factors that might explain the disturbance,” he says. He wasn’t the only one who noticed. In the Lofoten islands of Norway, Rob Stammes detected a similar anomaly on his magnetometer. “It was remarkable,” he says. “Our magnetic field swung back and forth by about 1/3rd of a degree. I also detected ground currents with the same 10 minute period.” What happened? Space physicists call this phenomenon a “pulsation continuous” or “Pc” for short. Imagine blowing across a piece of paper, making it flutter with your breath. Solar wind can have a similar effect on magnetic fields. Pc waves are essentially flutters propagating down the flanks of Earth’s magnetosphere excited by the breath of the sun. During more active phases of the solar cycle, these flutters are easily lost in the noise of rambunctious geomagnetic activity. But during the extreme quiet of Solar Minimum, such waves can make themselves “heard” like a pin dropping in an silent room.

     Here is a very interesting video, “NASA Admits We Never Went to the Moon,” which appears to have modern astronauts talking about the challenge of getting through the Earth’s Van Allen belt of radiation, without dying, or being cooked. But, if the US went to the moon in 1969, which we all saw on telly, then how was this possible?
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=380&v=DpPMoIv1lxI&feature=emb_title
  https://www.unz.com/article/the-moon-landing-a-giant-hoax-for-mankind/

“That may be the reason why, since the presidency of Tricky Dick, no manned mission to the moon, or even beyond low earth orbit, has ever been attempted. Remember, the International Space Station is orbiting at a distance of 250 miles from the earth, whereas the moon is about 237,000 miles away. On January 14, 2004, President George W. Bush, speaking at NASA headquarters, announced a new endeavor to “gain a new foothold on the moon” and beyond, remarking: “In the past 30 years, no human being has set foot on another world, or ventured farther into space than 386 miles—roughly the distance from Washington D.C. to Boston, Massachusetts” (quoted in Wisnewski 329). No manned mission to the moon came out of this announcement. Time is working to the advantage of the moon hoax theorists, for every year that passes makes people wonder: “If it was so easy to send a man to the moon between 1969 and 1972, why has it not been done again ever since?” Less than half of the British and Russians still believe in the moon landings. Among the educated, this percentage is falling fast. What will happen in twenty years, when Americans realize hardly anybody but them believes it? Will the United States of America survive the exposure of this giant hoax?”

     As a religious fanatic, my alcohol-soaked blood shot eyes often bulging as if on stalks, I look daily for material to support my crazed world view, that most of my fellow fringe dwellers find somewhat extreme, except for Uncle Len, who always goes one level crazier than me, just for the hell of it. Take locust plagues, which are seemingly everywhere in Africa and Asia. Science may have an answer based on resources and food supply, but for me, it is clearly a prophecy of end times:
  https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/locust-swarms-in-uttar-pradesh-s-sangam-heading-towards-kaushambi/story-BDwdC7z4nx0BPxJ6q6mYeL.html
  https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jun/08/rolling-emergency-of-locust-swarms-decimating-africa-asia-and-middle-east

“Locust swarms threaten a “rolling emergency” that could endanger harvests and food security across parts of Africa and Asia for the rest of the year, experts warn. An initial infestation of locusts in December was expected to die out during the current dry season. But unseasonal rains have allowed several generations of locust to breed, resulting in new swarms forming. Huge swarms of locusts have been causing devastation across swathes of Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Erratic weather conditions and storms have aided their path. As a result, countries have been battling the pests for months to avoid a hunger crisis. Desert locusts, which live in areas between west Africa and India, cause the most devastation and like to breed in moist conditions. These locusts live for three months. Eggs hatch two weeks after they have been laid, and hoppers become adults after about six weeks. Adult locusts can eat their body weight every day, and fly up to 150km a day in search of new supplies. Kenya is experiencing its worst infestation for 70 years, with pastoralists complaining that the vegetation on which their livestock feeds is being wiped out. Ethiopia and Somalia have not seen an outbreak this bad for 25 years. Swarms have also been destroying crops in Uganda, India and Pakistan. Fears that millions of people could be forced into hunger prompted mass control operations earlier in the year, which have had an impact in Kenya and southern Ethiopia. But experts fear rains and insecurity in Somalia and South Sudan could undermine efforts in the east and Horn of Africa. Keith Cressman, locust forecasting expert for the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, said that over the coming months locusts are expected to move farther north into Ethiopia and South Sudan. High food prices in South Sudan could compound the threat of hunger.

     Being a loner, out herein the scrub in my tent, much like Uncle Len in Adelaide, wallowing in the filth of his shed, we need a philosophical and scientific underpinning for our eccentric life style choices. Got it:
  https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/05/how-loners-help-species-survive/612019/

“There are always individuals that don’t participate in the collective behavior—the odd bird or insect or mammal that remains just a little out of sync with the rest; the stray cell or bacterium that seems to have missed some call to arms. Researchers usually pay them little heed, dismissing them as insignificant outliers. But a handful of scientists have started to suspect otherwise. Their hunch is that these individuals are signs of something deeper, a broader evolutionary strategy at work. Now new research validating that hypothesis has opened up a very different way of thinking about the study of collective behavior. Scientists have used slime molds to experimentally investigate the emergence and maintenance of social behavior, identifying mechanisms that ensure cooperation among the amoebas. But they’ve always focused on the aggregated cells. Tarnita and her team wanted to investigate whether the cells that stayed behind—the “loners,” as they called them—also played an important role.

     I have often laid awake a night thinking about things to worry about, so that I could call myself a chronic insomniac, but I have not, until now, worried about the Earth’s magnetic field disintegrating. Maybe it will not, but it does seem to be diminishing, causing big techy problems.
  https://news.sky.com/story/earths-magnetic-field-which-protects-us-from-solar-radiation-is-mysteriously-weakening-11992022

“Earth's magnetic field, which is vital to protecting life on our planet from solar radiation, is mysteriously weakening. On average the planet's magnetic field has lost almost 10% of its strength over the last two centuries, but there is a large localised region of weakness stretching from Africa to South America. Known as the South Atlantic Anomaly, the field strength in this area has rapidly shrunk over the past 50 years just as the area itself has grown and moved westward. Over the past five years a second centre of minimum intensity has developed southwest of Africa, which researchers believe indicates the anomaly could split into two separate cells. The anomaly is causing technical difficulties for satellites orbiting the Earth. European Space Agency (ESA) scientists from the Swarm Data, Innovation and Science Cluster (DISC) are using data from ESA's Swarm satellite constellation to study the anomaly. Swarm satellites are designed to identify and precisely measure the different magnetic signals that make up Earth's magnetic field. Dr Jurgen Matzka, from the German Research Centre for Geosciences, said: "The new, eastern minimum of the South Atlantic Anomaly has appeared over the last decade and in recent years is developing vigorously. "We are very lucky to have the Swarm satellites in orbit to investigate the development of the South Atlantic Anomaly. The challenge now is to understand the processes in Earth's core driving these changes." One speculation is that the weakening of the field is a sign that the Earth is heading for a pole reversal - in which the north and south magnetic poles flip. This flip doesn't happen immediately, but instead would occur over the course of a couple of centuries during which there would be multiple north and south magnetic poles all around the globe. "Such events have occurred many times throughout the planet's history," said ESA, noting "we are long overdue by the average rate at which these reversals take place (roughly every 250,000 years)".

     Today in SE Queensland (the “Sunshine State”) it is wind-less, cloudy and cold. We need electricity to brew coffee, cook dinner, warm a cold house and pump water. There is no solar or wind power being generated and no giant batteries releasing stored energy. Where does our electricity come from when we need it most? It comes mainly from the old reliable, King Coal, with maybe a bit of hydro and gas. Lord save us from Green Energy dreamers who would have us freezing in blackouts when stoves, heaters and TV’s switch on tonight.

25 May 2020,      The Australian Minister for Promoting Useless Energy thinks that hydrogen fuel, carbon capture and storage, soil carbon and biofuels are priorities for energy policy and greenhouse gas reduction. If that’s the best our leaders can come up with, Australia should have voted Green last election to speed the inevitable recession and blackouts that will eventually kill this tsunami of energy nonsense. “Hydrogen” does not supply net energy – burning it can return some of the energy used to produce it from hydrocarbons or electrolysis of water. It is an expensive explosive gas that makes less sense than Snowy 2 - more energy in than out! Moreover, we have no infrastructure that can safely store, distribute or use hydrogen in our transport fleet, energy network or smelters. Governments should not force energy consumers or tax payers to promote Canberra’s thought bubbles - let the “green hydrogen” entrepreneurs risk their own or shareholders’ money. “Carbon capture and storage” is another dumb idea. To capture CO2 emissions from coal, gas or biomass power stations consumes a lot of energy to separate, store, pipe and pump it underground (hoping it will stay there). It would be far better leave non-polluting CO2 in the lower atmosphere and surround every power station with crops and forests hungry for the CO2 plant food so essential to their growth.

     Trying to extract CO2 from the atmosphere is even dumber because the mighty oceans will quickly release CO2 from their huge stores to restore equilibrium between atmosphere and oceans. Even if it could be done, it is a bad idea – why steal plant food from grass, crops and forests? “Soil carbon” is green-speak for what every sensible pastoralist tries to do – increase the humus and biological activity in soil. The quickest way to do this is via keyline/contour ripping to retain water in the soil (as shown in Australia by P A Yeoman), and by managed periodic heavy impact of grazing animals to promote pasture growth (as shown in Africa by Alan Savory). But it is total nonsense to turn “carbon farming” into a costly rural rort run by a bureaucracy of soil samplers and modellers who think it will cool the climate. “Biofuels” are another way to waste energy, food crops and trees to do jobs better done by coal, gas and oil - a crime against humanity and the environment. If our Minister for Promoting Useless Energy is determined to sequester and store carbon, there is only one sensible way - restore the forestry industry. Harvest mature forest trees for poles, posts, sleepers, paper, cardboard or dance floors. Then replant with new trees. Young trees grow rapidly and extract much CO2. But old trees reach a stage of carbon equilibrium when the CO2 they extract in summer is equal to what they lose as leaves, branches and trunks fall to frosts, droughts, bushfires and termites.