...in its response to climate change, and its leadership and pragmatic policies will advance its economic and political place in the world, poised on the Pacific rim. With northern hemisphere politicians and scientists hopelessly compromised by foolish prior commitments and predictions, based on their own shonky science and yesterday's ideology - and with no hope of curbing global CO2 emissions, particularly from the growing economic giants of India and China, Australia is about to embark on an analysis of climate change which will lead to policies that will not constrain its economy or jeapardise its environment. Australia will debate on and then develop its own energy solutions, and will take into account the development of a nuclear power industry. This article from Gary Johns, a minister in the Keating (Labour) government, gives a good overview of the (unique)Australian position and hints at the way ahead, particularly if Aussie voters have enough sense to elect Tony Abbott (above, with his eyes fixed on his prey)...... The political prize will be awarded to the party that relieves (the public) of their dilemma; concern over climate change, even though there are no solutions to the apparent problem. Climate change has now peaked as an issue; the politics are just too hard...the opposition has promised to establish forums to further debate climate change policy. This sounds like the path to reposition the electorate to the only game in town on climate change: adaptation and investment in energy technology research and development...there is a risk to the environment in waiting for the technology to catch up, but that won't change the minds of several billion Chinese, Indians, Indonesians and South Americans.These people are not in the same game as the West, they want to lift their standard of living, and they will not be assisting in carbon abatement.
If in future historians of public policy dig through the entrails of climate change they will find a fascinating combination of millenarianism, ego-driven scientists, business that preferred to use the environment as a sales device, a propensity by governments to allow NGOs to get too close to the policy process, a media that mistook stunts for debate, lying former politicians, and current politicians who wanted to ride the hero's wave, retiring before their purported policies bore no fruit. There is good science and there is good economics, they each need time to guide the way. The job of the politician in this debate is to buy time...more here.
