Climate Change, Drought, the Murray Darling River system, and to a lesser degree Deforestation are the hot button environmental issues in politics at the moment. What is being proposed is a complete solution for two of these problems and a major initiative for the other two. The action proposed will cost over $50 billion, but it will completely pay for itself whilst it is being implemented. We will solve the problems to the satisfaction of environmentalists and make money at the same time.

Two proposals have been placed before the Federal Government in Australia in recent weeks. One of the documents, called Oasis Forestry Reform, proposes the creation of a 35 million hectare forestry Oasis in outback Australia. The other, called Kyoto Protocol II, suggests a replacement for the existing Kyoto Protocol.

The Oasis Forestry Reform is a more than $50 billion initiative that will pay for itself. The Australian Federal Government would foot the bill for the majority of the $50 billion, but it won't cost them a cent. Oasis will create a huge surplus in the Federal Budget.

Kyoto Protocol II has many of the same elements as the original Kyoto Protocol, but with a shift in focus on key elements, both the reality and the perception of the agreement is moved from one that costs money, to one that makes money.

Together they propose a way to solve (SOLVE) the issue of Deforestation, and solve (SOLVE) the Murray Darling issue once and for all. They also propose a way to get the world moving in the right direction on Climate Change, provide a viable alternative to Sewerage Dumping in the oceans, and perhaps even provide a complete solution to the Drought in Australia.

Oasis Forestry and Kyoto II are designed to fill the huge global policy vacuum that currently exists in the area of Climate Change. All sides finally agree that Climate Change is real, but there is still no agreement on what to do about it.

Oasis and Kyoto II offer a real alternative that actually makes money rather than costs money. They offer an alternative that eliminates sides and gets everybody heading in the same direction. Yes we all like a fight when there is something to fight for, but we should never lose sight of what the fight is all about, and if we can have a solution where we no longer need to fight, let's have that solution.

These proposals, Oasis Forestry and Kyoto II, have been developed to be attractive to those who have power over their acceptance. They have been designed so that those who have been on the NO side in these issues for decades, will not only agree to them, but genuinely desire their implementation; this is their power.

So how do these two reforms SOLVE Native Forest Logging and the Murray Darling, and how do they address Climate Change, the Drought and Sewerage Dumping in the oceans?

Put as succinctly as it can be, the Australian implementation of the Oasis Forestry Reform (it is a global reform), will prevent further Deforestation by making the logging companies richer and bigger than they are today in exchange for a ban on Native Forest Logging. Companies are in business to make money, and people prefer to be loved rather than hated. Oasis will give Forestry Companies more money, and putting an end to Deforestation willingly will take away the hate.

Forestry companies will be given ownership of a corporation with well over $100 billion in assets. The corporation will create 35 million hectares of plantation forestry in outback Australia and the infrastructure will be created to allow them to maintain it. But Forestry Companies must give up Native Forest Logging to get it. To use the American vernacular, it's a no-brainer.

Yes. There is the argument that says why should forestry companies benefit simply from doing the right thing.

Firstly, the right thing according to whom? The perception for decades has been, if we stop Deforestation thousands of people will be out of a job, and we should not expect anybody to willingly take action that will take the food off their table.

Secondly, we've been beating our heads against a brick wall for decades to try and find a solution that will stop Deforestation all over the world.

When a solution presents itself that will absolutely solve the issue (not maybe), but for the offended sensibilities of people thinking "those people don't deserve it", we need to ask ourselves, do we really want a solution, or do we just want a fight? We don't have decades to find another solution that is as perfect as Oasis.

And lastly, we are not simply talking about making people richer. The purpose of the Australian implementation of the Oasis Forestry Reform is to create a monolithic organization that will be able to move out onto the world stage and facilitate the worldwide adoption of Oasis, even if other governments don't get behind it.

To the Murray Darling: We have been, and are prepared to spend billions of dollars to try and "fix" the Murray Darling River system. It is an oversimplification to suggest it in this fashion, but there is nothing wrong with the Murray Darling River system that couldn't be solved by increased flow from its sources.

Together with some work to prepare it for the input, the Oasis project will release over 100 megalitres of water per day into the Paroo and Warrego tributaries. This will have a significant impact on the severely drought effected Murray Darling River system. Is it a bold suggestion to say that this would actually solve the problem? Or will it just go close?

Part of the Oasis project involves the treatment and use of sewerage as fertilizer from several of Australia's capital cities. It is the only way to obtain fertilizer for such a project without it costing the Earth.

The issue of using sewerage as fertilizer has reared its head many times in the past, but this time when the issue is raised there will be a ready made use for all of it. It is better to have it in the ground than in the oceans.

Climate Change is the biggest environmental issue at the moment all around the world. Kyoto II shifts the focus onto the development of technology, and most importantly, balancing reforms. Technologies that will reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, and balancing reforms that more than mitigate the cost of introducing such technology.

In other words: If a move away from fossil fuels is going to leave a two or three trillion dollar hole in the global economy, then we need to find a way to increase the size of the global economy by ten trillion dollars, or thirty trillion dollars or more. We need to increase the size of the global economy by so much, and in such a way, so that even the big oil companies will be happy to move away from fossil fuels.

If a big oil company, with a market capitalization of $300 billion is going to be able to increase their market cap to $600 billion and maintain or increase their close political associations by supporting technology and reforms that will eliminate fossil fuels, they are going to support the technology and reforms that will eliminate fossil fuels. It may take them a few months, or even a year to get used to the idea, but given the circumstances they would do it.

And of course the creation of a 35 million hectare plantation forestry, and other similar plantations on other continents, will speak for themselves in the area of CO2 sequestration, which is one of the hot button issues in Climate Change.

The Oasis plantation forestry is going to be fed by desalination plants and there will no doubt be a few people out there screaming about all the CO2 that must be created by the desalination of so much water.

Artificial lakes with a total capacity of over 4000 gigalitres will be created in the development region. Desalination plants with a capacity of ten gigalitres per day will be built to feed these lakes.

But the desalination operation within the Oasis project will produce no greenhouse gas emissions.

The main source of power to be used for the Oasis project is an emission free 24/7 technology called Solar Chimney that was first created in Manzanares near Madrid in 1981.

The originator of the technology, Jörg Schlaich of Schlaich Bergermann und Partner, will be consulted to design a purpose built version of the technology. It will incorporate low cost Thin Film photovoltaics, Solar Ponds, and a scale that represents the optimum per kilowatt installation cost for the specific requirements of the project.

By incorporating Solar Ponds into the design, the efficiency of the Solar Chimney is increased, making it reliable as a 24 hour base load generator. These Solar Ponds are then used as an additional source of heat for the desalination plant when the Solar Chimney does not require them. If there is a source of heat energy, evaporative desalination processes require far less electricity.

Governments are starting to come around to the idea of nuclear power plants, and although nuclear is not being advocated here, it is an important consideration that the cost of the Solar Chimney is going to be on a par with or less than the cost of nuclear. And the Solar Chimney has significantly lower operating costs, so it is both economically and environmentally preferable.

It would be very easy to be under a misapprehension about the two principal technologies mentioned above. The Solar Chimney and the Solar Pond do not rely on the sun anywhere near as much as photovoltaics do. Although the two main site options for the technology have clear skies almost year round, both technologies operate at near peak efficiency under cloud cover, and the power-desalination configuration will boost it to peak efficiency, even under cloud cover.

It is inevitable that over the course of pre-acceptance for such a project that many different energy options will be considered, including nuclear, and some other lesser known emission free technologies will also be suggested. The Solar Chimney is a good option, but it is not the only efficient emission free option.

All over the world there is a direct correlation between deforestation and lower rainfall. A recent acknowledgement of the problem came from NASA in 2005 with the release of a paper that also sought to connect deforestation with decreasing rainfall thousands of kilometres from deforested areas.

With this in mind, it is impossible to predict what effect the addition of 35 million hectares of forest in outback Australia will have on the regional climate dynamic for so many reasons, but it is reasonable to expect that it will have an impact.

It could solve the Drought in Australia completely, or it could have a negligible effect. Both outcomes are equally possible at this stage, although most experts would argue the former is more likely than the latter.

With increasing population and lower rainfall in populated areas, the obvious question is, if not desalination what options do we really have? As a society we need to be a great deal more enlightened to accept the recycling of sewerage and waste water as drinking water, and this would be very costly also, so what options do we really have?

We're going to need to resort to desalination more and more in the future, and it is a very costly technology, so why not incorporate it into a commercial enterprise so that it pays for itself completely, and solves some of the world's biggest environmental problems at the same time?

What is proposed with the Oasis Forestry Reform is a massive geo-engineering project to try and begin to counteract the negative effect human society has had on the environment. To completely solve (SOLVE) one major problem (Deforestation) and to also solve (SOLVE) the Murray Darling issue. To be a significant initiative in the Climate Change issue, AND to have a positive impact on the Drought as well, perhaps even solve it completely in Australia.

And what is proposed with Kyoto II is an agreement that will get everybody moving in the same direction on Climate Change. When there is so much disagreement on an issue, a great deal of work needs to be done before we can get ourselves to a first step. In the big picture real consensus must precede action, and Kyoto II is a vehicle that is designed to create real consensus.

Imagine a world where real solutions to our problems are suggested; real world solutions that those in power will not only accept, but desire. Imagine that as a consequence of adopting these real solutions we will actually increase the size of the global economy by over $30 trillion (and NOT in some made-up or imaginary way). Imagine what that will do to this world. Imagine what impact it will have on your lifestyle. Imagine what impact it will have on the tens of millions who die every month from thirst, starvation and disease. Saving these people and increasing comfort in western civilization can exist together.

We can have these solutions, but we need to get Kyoto II and Oasis Forestry onto the national agenda first. Kyoto II and Oasis Forestry are only the first of more than a dozen solutions to our biggest problems that make money rather than cost money; that actually increase commerce, rather than reduce it. Oasis Forestry and Kyoto II are the Litmus Test: Do we really want to solve our biggest problems, or do we secretly want to keep fighting about them? It's not as silly a question as it may sound.

Famine, globalization, overfishing, poverty in the western world; all of these things and many other major problems are solvable by making money rather than costing money.

If you require more information on Kyoto II and Oasis, the documents are available for review on the Futuregrail website. www.futuregrail.com.

Sean Gallacher is the sole author of the two reforms Kyoto Protocol II and Oasis Forestry Reform.

Sean Gallacher
57 Harden Street
Acacia Ridge 4110
Queensland, Australia
61 7 3277 2975
0413 445 452

www.futuregrail.com