Australia can be 'superpower of post carbon world', says Ross Garnaut

Australia has the opportunity to surpass other rich countries to become more prosperous than ever before in a post-carbon world, according to the eminent economist Ross Garnaut.

Opportunities for Australia: Professor Ross Garnaut. 

Australia could become "the superpower of the post-carbon world economy", said the former economic adviser to prime minister Bob Hawke and author of the Hawke government's strategy for economic engagement with Asia.

The Australian political debate has been preoccupied with the cost of moving to a lower-carbon economy, but new work by Professor Garnaut finds that the economic costs would be far outweighed by economic gains.

"Embrace the post-carbon economy, and Australia will greatly expand new minerals processing and chemical manufactures, way beyond the limits of coal, gas and the industries they supported in the past," he said in a Melbourne University lecture on Wednesday night.

Read the story from The Age by Peter Hartcher -  “Australia can be 'superpower of post carbon world', says Ross Garnaut.”

Urging a focus on future generations, Obama quotes Martin Luther King, Jr.

P

resident Obama kicked off the Paris climate talks on Monday with a focus on future generations, quoting Martin Luther King, Jr., and calling on world leaders to take strong action at the conference, which runs through December 11.

President Obama stands with
 Martin Luther King, Jr.
 - "there is such a thing as too late".

“For I believe, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., that there is such a thing as being too late. And when it comes to climate change, that hour is almost upon us,” Obama said.

“Let that be the common purpose here in Paris: A world that is worthy of our children. A world that is marked not by conflict, but by cooperation; and not by human suffering, but by human progress. A world that’s safer, and more prosperous, and more secure, and more free than the one that we inherited,” he continued.

Outlining the steps the United States has taken, Obama acknowledged that the United States is a leading emitter of greenhouse gases and pledged to lead on the issue.

Read the ClimateProgress story - “The Paris Climate Talks Have Begun, And Obama Has Strong Words For Fellow Leaders.”