Australian Prime Minister Lays Down the Law
Written by: Aron Brown
Yesterday the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd took the first big steps in the right direction by calling out climate change deniers. According to MooingChoir over at The Daily Kos “The Prime Minister has had enough of the parallel obstructionism in the US and Australia. Â His critique doesn’t just extend to Australia. He also calls out prominent US Republicans.” You can read the rest of MooinChoir’s article: Smack! Australian Prime Minister calls out US Republican Climate Deniers for more information on the actual details.
Here are some highlights from what the Prime Minister had to say:
The challenge we face, and others around the world face, is to build momentum and overcome domestic political constraints.
The truth is this is hard, because the climate change skeptics, the climate change deniers, the opponents of climate change action are active in every country.
They are a minority. They are powerful. And invariably they are driven by vested interests.
Powerful enough to so far block domestic legislation in Australia, powerful enough to so far slow down the passage of legislation through the US Congress. And ultimately – by limiting the ambition of national climate change commitments – they are powerful enough to threaten a deal on global climate change both in Copenhagen and beyond.
www.inkcinct.com.au
It’s about time someone with authority stepped forward to make this problem known to the general public. When you can’t trust the media who do you have to turn to? For the most part the major argument towards a climate bill comes from the coal industry. They claim that the bill could result in job losses, a valid concern if I ever heard one. They are however forgetting the fact that people would need to be hired to help power the new clean fuel companies. That means jobs for construction workers, factory workers, and scientists. Who are they kidding? Cutting away from fossil fuels and switching over to clean energy will open more jobs than there are right now in the corrupt oil industry.
It is time to be totally blunt about the agenda of the climate change skeptics in all their colours – some more sophisticated than others.
It is to destroy the CPRS at home, and it is to destroy agreed global action on climate change abroad, and our children’s fate – and our grandchildren’s fate – will lie entirely with them.
It’s time to remove any polite veneer from this debate. The stakes are that high.
That sounds like a call to action if I’d ever heard one! No-one can deny the climate change, it’s happening, looking the other way isn’t going to do anything but put it off until its too late.
And here is the best part he calls out united states congressmen!
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steel said on 6 March 2009:
“We are cooling. We are not warming. The warming you see out there, the supposed warming, and I am using my finger quotation marks here, is part of the cooling process.”
House Minority Leader John Boehner said on April 19 2009:
“The idea that carbon dioxide is a carcinogen that is harmful to our environment is almost comical. Every time we exhale, we exhale carbon dioxide.”
Republican Congressman John Shimkus said on 25 March 2009:
“If we decrease the use of carbon dioxide, are we not taking away plant food from the atmosphere?”
The legion of climate change skeptics are active across the world, and they happily play with our children’s future.
The clock is ticking for the planet, but the climate change skeptics simply do not care. The vested interests at work are simply too great.
…….
It reminds me of the efforts of the smoking lobby decades ago as they tried for years to politically subvert by so-called scientific means that there was any link between smoking and lung cancer.
Put more simply: these climate change sceptics around the world would be laughable if they were not so politically powerful – particularly in the ranks of conservative parties.
There is a lot more to be read, head on over to The Daily Kos to read more of what the Prime Minister had to say.
It’s time to take a stand! Will you join us?
Finally, someone gets their head out of their a**. I’m sick and tired of the climate crisis being related in any way to politics. We are so separated into democrates in republicans, that people are being unrealistic. People are disregarding vital problems in the world, simply because their party doesn’t agree with a concept, like preserving the environment. For all you hard stuck republicans out there, learn now: The climate crisis is not about politices, and it’s not about YOU, it’s about our children, and our children’s children. It’s about our predicesors having a sustainable life, and not having to deal with a clean-up mess that could have been avoided if people were not so lazy and stubborn.