Sydney responds to water crisis
Sydney Water estimates it’s customers have saved around 57 billion litres of water during 2007.

Sydney Water estimates it’s customers have saved around 57 billion litres of water during 2007.

The Peats Ridge Festival has been cancelled due to high levels of rain in the area. The festival claims to be the first sustainable festival of its kind in using renewable energy. Full refunds will be given to ticket holders.Â

Plans are still underway for the 2008 duck season in Tasmania despite bans being placed in Victoria and South Australia. A game management committee recommended a full season for Tasmania while animal welfare groups have called for a ban citing low duck numbers. The State Government will make a decision in late January.

The Environment Protection Agency found high levels of bacteria in Melbourne’s Yarra River, and declared the river unsafe for swimming but fine for other recreational use.Â

The ACCC has investigated Origin Energy and EnergyAustralia advertisements and found two of them misleading. Origin Energy has been forced to pull an ad which made false claims about the level of energy savings in switching to its GreenPower. EnergyAustralia must now explain to customers that its CleanAir and GreenFuture products were not sourced from 100 per cent renewable energy, as they claimed the products would be.

An upcoming Japanese whaling expedition will not hunt humpback whales for the next year. The expedition has come under global pressure including PM Kevin Rudd’s decision to monitor the whaling fleet. Â

Friends of Crescent Bay launched a new campaign to protect Tasmania’s Crescent Bay from unsuitable building developments.

The Wilderness Society is hoping new Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Tony Burke, will do more to permanently protect Tasmania’s forests. The Minister is currently touring the southern island state’s forest areas to see what is going on first hand.

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics has released a report predicting that growth in energy consumption by industry will slow dramatically over the next two decades.

According to the Australian Conservation Foundation, the recently adopted Bali roadmap shows that all countries recognise the science behind the global warming problem and a promising start to two years of tough negotiations on emissions reduction targets.