Housing dream fades at petrol pump

peakoil.com (thread) -> heraldsun.news.com.au :

High petrol prices are killing the dream of home ownership for thousands of people in Melbourne's outer suburbs. Home ownership is being pushed out of reach for those on the urban fringe hit by a triple whammy of long journeys to work, scarce public transport and dearer petrol.

A study by Dr Jago Dodson and Dr Neil Snipe of Griffith University's Urban Research program, released this month, reveals petrol costs have pushed 350,000 Melburnians into financial stress. The study found "oil stress" and "oil vulnerability" became progressively worse in areas farther from the CBD. Suburban households were more likely to own two or more vehicles and be more heavily car-dependent than their inner-city counterparts.

The harsh impact of high petrol prices was worse in Melbourne compared with Sydney and Brisbane, the study says. It was the only city of the three where residents spent a greater proportion of their wage on running their car than on running their house.

The study recommends spending more on public transport to give suburban dwellers more commuting options. "Continuing the present model of road-driven urban transport policy may only make any eventual adjustment to accommodate higher fuel prices more painful, complex and fractious," the study says.

Limits to Growth, The 30-Year Update : A Synopsis

mnforsustain.org :

The signs are everywhere around us:

* Sea level has risen 10-20 cm since 1900. Most non-polar glaciers are retreating, and the extent and thickness of Arctic sea ice is decreasing in summer.

* In 1998 more than 45 percent of the globe's people had to live on incomes averaging $2 a day or less. Meanwhile, the richest one-fifth of the world's population has 85 percent of the global GNP. And the gap between rich and poor, is widening.

* In 2002, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN estimated that 75 percent of the world's oceanic fisheries were fished at or beyond capacity. The North Atlantic cod fishery, fished sustainably for hundreds of years, has collapsed, and the species may have been pushed to biological extinction ...

These are symptoms of a world in overshoot, where we are drawing on the world's resources faster than they can be restored, and we are releasing wastes and pollutants faster than the Earth can absorb them or render them harmless. We've been warned before. More than 30 years ago, a book called The Limits to Growth created an international sensation. Commissioned by the Club of Rome, an international group of businessmen, statesmen, and scientists, The Limits to Growth was compiled by a team of experts from the U.S. and several foreign countries.

Using system dynamics theory and a computer model called "World3," the book presented and analyzed 12 scenarios that showed different possible patterns - and environmental outcomes - of world development over two centuries from 1900 to 2100. The World3 scenarios showed how population growth and natural resource use interacted to impose limits to industrial growth, a novel and even controversial idea at the time. In 1972, however, the world's population and economy were still comfortably within the planet's carrying capacity.

Now in a new study, Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update, the authors have produced a comprehensive update to the original Limits, in which they conclude that humanity is dangerously in a state of overshoot.

While the past 30 years has shown some progress, including new technologies, new institutions, and a new awareness of environmental problems, the authors are far more pessimistic than they were in 1972. Humanity has squandered the opportunity to correct our current course over the last 30 years, they conclude, and much must change if the world is to avoid the serious consequences of overshoot in the 21st century.

Loans growth in Singapore falls below 1% in Nov 2005

business-times.asia1.com.sg :

Domestic loans growth fell to below 1% in November from 1.4% in October, continuing a worrying trend. But there were some tentative signs credit demand may start to pick up. According to the Monetary Authority of Singapore, domestic loans at end-November rose a fractional 0.88% to $181.8 billion, continuing a 12-month trend of lower growth.

Loans growth has been falling since November 2004, when it was 5.9%, despite strong economic growth. The loan-to-deposit ratio also seems to have plateaued. At end-November it was 0.814, against 0.811 in October which was a 15-year low. The loan-to-deposit ratio has been falling since it hit 0.90 in September 2003.

DBS Bank economist Chua Hak Bin says growth recovery has been unbalanced. 'There's this dichotomy going on - strong headline GDP numbers yet sluggish domestic demand,' he said. Growth in 2005 has been fuelled by exports. Private consumption has risen only 2.3% and investment contracted 4% in the first three quarters. Weakness in consumer demand may be due to Central Provident Fund (CPF) cuts and people's more cautious outlook, he believes.

(2006-01-06 15:18:34 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

More tax incentives for 'green' vehicles

todayonline.com :

Going green is becoming more affordable for drivers. Recognising that the costs of environmentally-friendly vehicles are frustrating the green campaign, the National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Land Transport Authority have announced further tax incentives for green vehicles and Euro IV compliant diesel vehicles.

Starting this month, the road tax for green - Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), hybrid and electric - commercial vehicles and buses will be pegged to the road tax for petrol equivalents, instead of diesel equivalents, which pay 20% cent more tax. In addition, the special tax exemption for CNG taxis, which ended on Dec 31 last year, has been extended to the end of 2007.

The NEA hopes that the incentives will encourage drivers to go green. As of last August, only 79 green vehicles were registered.

Building in progress ...

Not this site, my local app server. Haven't done a CVS update for couple of days, there've been quite a few changes to the code, so I need to rebuild. That will take some time, so meanwhile here's catching up with some of the backlog ...

(2006-01-06 15:07:22 SGT) [Musings] Permalink

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