While the major parties are bickering over who will stop the boats (see this blog for a couple of great posts on this issue, also see the latest Media Watch for the sort of ignorant bigotry they are pandering to, and the refugee council of Australia for more info, and the graph at the bottom of this post *), they are ignoring climate change. Sadly it hasn’t gone away though, see the following links:
Climate Progress on unprecedented hot weather in Russia.
Michael Tobis on how much this can be attributed to AGW.
Watching the Deniers on the extent of the tragedy in Russia.
Hot Topic on the massive island of ice that broke off Greenland.
This Sunday you can get out to remind the major parties that climate change is still an issue by taking part in the Walk Against Warming, it’s at 11am at Victoria Square.
[youtube DrNlkhEMpUw]
* This graph is from Crikey, and is by Robert Corr
This bigotry makes me really sad and embarrassed about my country – particularly the fact that both major parties believe it is important to appeal to those who are bothered by helping the lives of such few people who I’m sure deserve the help.
Who ARE we?!
On the topic of the opposition’s “plan”, via a friend, I found this comment here, by a regular economics correspondent of several papers (I have probably read him before, though I can’t be sure).. anyway, there are some good points to be made:
http://petermartin.blogspot.com/2010/08/oh-heres-abbotts-action-plan-and-review.html
Apart from anything else, there are some ridiculous contradictions that Abbott is making… e.g.:
· The carbon tax threat will be lifted
· I will act to safeguard the livelihoods of people who earn their living from the sea
How is the livelihood of fishing industry – and tourism as well going to be safeguarded by lifting of carbon taxes (let alone stopping marine parks to which the second item is directly addressed)???
Is Abbott not aware that a great danger of our increased CO2 atmosphere is the acidification of the world’s oceans, and resulting loss of biodiversity – in particular corals. This is only one criticism, but not listed in the above article.
I haven’t yet checked out the Governments’ policies, having been turned off so much by the presence of the same apparent marketing towards bigotted attitudes as the opposition.
I’m absolutely saddened by the implications of the present politics on the supposed popular sentiment. We appear to be a country that cares for nothing but protecting the (fake) dream that we can all breed white children in our mortgaged 1/4 acre block next to the beach, while we ignore the world, except to sell resources and import cars and televisions, burning coal, consuming oil until the cows come home to be slaughtered and barbecued for dinner. I mean, hypothetically, if the presently virulent populist policies were successful, what benefits would actually occur? Would we become more advanced, smarter, greener, more efficient, more culturally interesting, influential and sophisticated society?!? I hardly think so. If I was a citizen of another country, looking at that idea of a future, I’d say – Australia – they can keep it!
Thanks for the comment Nick. You should see the train wreck that is Tony Abbott being interviewed by Kerry O’Brien that screened tonight, it just finished here in SA, I guess it will be on iView later.
I should put Peter Martin on my blogroll, I read him regularly, he writes a lot of sensible stuff.
I hope you’ve kept up to date on the election roll – if you are then I reckon you’re in a rare position to elect someone not from Labor or Liberal – Adam Bandt from the Greens.