Integenerational responsibility and decency not being discussed

Intergenerational responsibility and decency appear to elude the thinking of the freshly elected Tony Abbott-led Australian government.

David Suzuki.

The climate, not money, is going to shape and control what happens in Australia, not the mention the world, as the decades unfold.

Last night (September 23) on the ABC’s QandA, Canadian scientist and environmentalist, David Suzuki, argued that many politicians were guilty of “wilful blindness” in relation to climate change and should be charged with an offense.

Writing for The Conversation, Suzuki said: “There is in Canada a legal category where people can be sued and thrown in the slammer, called wilful blindness. If people in positions of power deliberately suppress or ignore information that is vital to the decisions they’re making, that is wilful blindness. I call it more than wilful blindness. I call it criminal negligence because it’s a crime against future generations to avoid facing the reality.”

“That is what Mr Abbott is doing, by cancelling the (Climate) Commission, by firing Tim Flannery. It criminal negligence through wilful blindness,” he said.

Suzuki’s comment on The Conversation can be read in a story headed: “David Suzuki: Australian scientists should be on the ramparts”.

Meanwhile the Abbott-axed Climate Commission is being re-launched with private funding under the title of the Climate Council.

Head of the former Climate Commission, Tim Flannery, was prompted to create the Australian Climate Council following an Australia-wide groundswell of support for his work and that of fellow commissioners.

A story in today’s Melbourne Age (September 24) headed: “Backers breathe life into climate body”, tells of this latest development.

Further, the intergenerational connections with climate change are discussed in a story headed: “Children will bear the brunt of climate change impact, new study says”.