“… just because the dominance of coal has been the status quo doesn’t mean it should remain the status quo. In fact, the exact opposite is the case: as the climate changes it is up to this generation of people and the generations coming up fast behind it to take the action necessary to tackle climate change and its potentially devastating impacts on the Australian economy. Australians want action on climate change, and that means cutting carbon pollution. And that, inevitably, will involve a gradual shift away from carbon-intensive power generation.”
Forgive us when we say we’ve heard all this before.
This government allowed public sentiment on the issue of climate change to fall off a cliff. Now they need to work twice as hard to earn it back.
Lucky for us, there are people ready to give governments such as ours a push. The Los Angeles Times:
A group of international investors responsible for more than $15 trillion in assets called Tuesday for the world’s nations, particularly the United States, to move decisively to combat climate change or face economic disruptions worse than the global recession of the last two years.
The statement, signed by 259 asset managers and asset owners whose holdings account for one-quarter of global capitalization, was aimed at world leaders who will meet in two weeks in Cancun, Mexico, for a United Nations conference on climate change.
Here is the full list of signatories. As Climate Specator reports, the “group includes 33 investors that come under the Australian-based Investor Group on Climate Change, including AMP, AXA, Colonial and BT, which has called for Australia to implement a carbon price”.
At the risk of repeating ourselves, hurry up and get on with it.
Sadly, we are not comfortable with the idea of actually being leaders. But we have a history of readiness to ‘answering the call’ to great effect and credit.
Clearly,here is such a situation.
Yes, please, just get on with it.
I take note of the warning that we should never celebrate an apparent commitment to something (anything) from this government until we see the score go up on the board. But maybe, on this issue, they have finally got it: they don’t have to get out in front of the public, because the public are ready to do something on climate change, so the courage quotient required to go with this one may actually be within this government’s feeble capacity.
The Opposition have the worst possible case to press: they will sooner or later be called upon to defend their own totally stupid approach to carbon pollution reduction, and presumably Ms Gillard and others will have the facts and analyses on this approach ready to hand to beat them over the head with whenever they venture outdoors with it. A very significant group of Coalition members already know climate change is important, and that their own policies on it are indefensible: sooner or later, these people will have to move on Abbott’s ignorance of the subject, and no amount of blithering from the likes of Barnbaby Joyce will help him when that begins. All the while, the case for action builds, at the hands of respected public policy figures like Garnaut, and the scientific evidence mounts.
If Julia Gillard and her team can’t win this one from here, then they really are truly, deeply incompetent.
I’m guessing The Los Angeles Times isn’t part of News Ltd.
BARBARA BOYLE –
Sadly, we are not comfortable with the idea of actually being leaders. But we have a history of readiness to ‘answering the call’ to great effect and credit.
As my Grandmother would say to me -“You cant push Australians through an open gate but you can lead them over barbed wire fences”
The people with the $15 trillion clearly haven’t spoken with Tamas Calderwood.