IAN DUNLOP. Climate Policy: Predatory delay destroys prosperity, threatens survival

Many political, media and corporate players still refuse to accept that human-induced climate change even exists. Meanwhile climate impact escalates, resulting in lives lost and futures ruined, as recent disasters demonstrate only too well.  Far too gradually the Australian incumbency is being forced to act on climate change, as investors and regulators open their eyes to the dangers, and children lose patience with their parents’ irresponsibility.

Ian Dunlop.

But the response is complacently reactive, rather than proactive, which is unconscionable when climate change is an immediate existential threat not just to Australian society, but to humanity itself.

John Howard set the scene. Pleading special circumstances because of our high-carbon economy, in 1997 during last minute negotiations, he insisted on the insertion of the infamous Australia Clause into the Kyoto Protocol, effectively holding the rest of the world to ransom.  This allowed our 1990 base to include emissions from an elevated level of land clearing, which he well knew had subsequently dropped off dramatically. Add to that our allowance to increase emissions by 8% in the first Kyoto commitment period (2008-2012), when almost all other countries’ emission allowances decreased, meant that from 1990 to 2012, Australia’s emission from all sources other than land-clearing increased by 28%, yet we met our Kyoto targets.  Our emissions subsequently went down during the short carbon-pricing period to 2014, but thereafter increased, at end 2017 being 31% above 1990.  Some reduction.

Read the story John Menadue’s Pearls and Irritations - “IAN DUNLOP. Climate Policy: Predatory delay destroys prosperity, threatens survival.”

Trump’s failure to fight climate change is a crime against humanity

President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and others who oppose action to address human-induced climate change should be held accountable for climate crimes against humanity. They are the authors and agents of systematic policies that deny basic human rights to their own citizens and people around the world, including the rights to life, health, and property. These politicians have blood on their hands, and the death toll continues to rise.

Jeffrey Sachs - failure to act on climate change
constitutes a crime against humanity.

Trump remains in willful denial of the thousands of deaths caused by his government's inept, under-funded, and under-motivated response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico last year. The image that will remain in history is of the President gleefully throwing paper towels for a photo op as the people of Puerto Rico around him suffered and died of neglect. Last month, Hurricane Florence claimed at least 48 deaths, with more likely to come in its aftermath. This past week Hurricane Michael has claimed at least 32 lives, with more than a thousand people reportedly still missing. The final death toll will likely soar in the months ahead as the residual consequences of the storm become more clear.

Read the story by Jeffrey Sachs from CNN - “Trump’s failure to fight climate change is a crime against humanity.”

Politicians must set aside blinkered ideologies in the climate endgame

Humanity has a big decision to make very soon about its future on a warming planet, but the federal Coalition is still in denial that human-induced climate change even exists, let alone that the climate endgame is upon us.

Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and energy minister
 Josh Frydenberg speak during a press conference
at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday.

The national energy guarantee (Neg) is the latest manifestation of that denial. A third-rate complex, over-engineered policy that will most likely fail to contribute to meeting all three of its main objectives, namely increased reliability of electricity supply, lower energy prices and a long way third, reducing carbon emissions. A compromise upon compromise designed to placate the scientifically and economically illiterate Coalition right wing, which ignores the first priority of any government, to ensure the security of the people. For climate change is now the greatest threat to that security.

Read the story from The Guardian by David Spratt and Ian Dunlop - “Politicians must set aside blinkered ideologies in the climate endgame.”

We rescue the elephants from 'our' drought and ignore the people

Elephants may be rescued from drought, but
people left to fend for themselves - confusing?

Eighteen elephants, due to be culled because the Swaziland in southern Africa has left a national park in Swaziland without food, could be flown to zoos in the US. It is hoped that moving them will give endangered rhinos more chance of survival.

The three male and 15 female elephants from parched Hlane national park are being held temporarily by a local conservation group pending a court case brought by US animal welfare groups concerned about their export.

But they are planned to be air-lifted out in a “jumbo jet” operation as soon as possible, says Sedgwick county zoo in Wichita, Kansas, one of three US zoos which have been given permission by the US Fish and Wildlife service to import them.

Read The Guardian story - “18 elephants to be flown to US zoos as drought puts pressure on Swaziland wildlife.”

(I’m confused. Human-induced climate change has produced an intense drought in Swaziland leaving many of the wildlife, including elephants, struggling to find food. Suddenly, efforts are afoot that may result in some 18 elephants being flown to America and housed in zoos there. Not a mention about the thousands of people who are suffering a similar fate.

Troubles which have plagued Syria for years now gripped the country when food became rare and expensive after crops failed because of a drought of never seen before proportions that swept the nation dragging it into civil unrest, resulting in social disruption.

Those disruptions became civil war that saw the rise of militant groups and sucked in several nations from around the world, including Australia, with the upshot being that thousands upon thousands of people fled from the country seeking refuge.

Forced to make the journey the best way they could and not having the benefit of a chartered flight such as that planned for the Swaziland elephants, many of those seeking refuge died.

As I said: I’m confused, we have caused what is happening in Swaziland and we save the animals and ignore the people; we have caused what is happening in Syria and save what? and pretty much leave the people to fall back on personal resources, which are near nil – Robert McLean.)