By Dimity Williams Dimity Williams attended the Four Degrees conference as a Doctors for the Environment Australia member (and CAHA member) and shares main messages here. The presentations are at http://www.fourdegrees2011.com.au/ "It was an excellent conference with international speakers updating attendees on the latest climate science and coincided with the release of the government's carbon tax package. The premise of the conference was to describe the 4 degree world our politicians are planning for and in so doing motivate us...

Given the hysteria around the current debate on a carbon tax, it seems timely to republish on the CAHA blog an edited version of this article published in Fairfax's National Times last year: No need to be afraid of a tax on carbon. The agreement between The Gillard Government and The Greens that a carbon price is paramount to tackling carbon pollution signalled a restoration of a significant climate policy agenda in Australia. It was well overdue, given the overwhelming...

The passing of the flood levy to rebuild Queensland by the Senate today will allow for a new beginning for thousands of people affected by the floods, and go some way to addressing the damage repair bill - estimated as billions of dollars. This levy will assist in alleviating some of the catastrophic impacts of the floods on the state and on local communities, for whom recovery will take months and years as houses and infrastructure are rebuilt, and lives...

The Climate and Health Alliance joined representatives of the Australian Conservation Foundation, The Climate Project, Union Climate Connectors and the Australian Youth Climate Coalition in Canberra to lobby for the introduction of a carbon price. Around thirty people visited around 40 MPs and Senators in November 2010, outlining the case for a price on carbon to replace Australia's ageing and high emitting fossil fuelled power generation infrastructure. A price on carbon would create an economic incentive to encourage the development...