'Carbon price is key to climate change battle' - Age Editorial

In a letter to The New York Times this week, Australia's newly ensconced ambassador to the United States, Joe Hockey, attempted to refute claims in the newspaper's editorial of March 4 which, rightly, damned the CSIRO's decision to reduce its focus on climate change research. The New York Times called that decision a "deplorable misunderstanding of the importance of basic research into what is arguably the greatest challenge facing the planet".

In his written response, Mr Hockey said the CSIRO "is making a strong contribution to the growing body of international climate change knowledge", and he pointed to continuing research by other institutions, including the National Environmental Science Program and the Bureau of Meteorology.

His response was insipid and beside the point, reflecting the feeble policy approaches of the Abbott and Turnbull governments on climate change matters generally. Mr Hockey sidestepped the fundamental point behind criticism of Australia's funding of science and climate-change strategies, which is that instead of stepping up research and monitoring of climate change indicators and effects, the government is winding back.

Read the Editorial in today’s Melbourne Age - “Carbon price is key to climate change battle.”