Action needed on climate change
This scares the poop outta me. Is each year just gunna get hotter and hotter until we are all roasted?
When will it become obvious to everyone that some attention to how we are influencing the environment is more important than carrying on with our comfortable lives? Our kids are not gunna applaud us for all our great 'developments' and super 'technology' when they're in danger every time they step foot outside.
Can anyone offer me an interesting reason as to why Australia did not sign the Kyoto Protocol? Something other than that big ol' bully President telling us we had to.
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Australia signed the protocol, but they refuse to ratify it, along with only one other country on earth: USA. Every single other country that signed the protocol has ratified it, or is in the process of doing so.
Possible reasons why:
Australia releases more carbon dioxide per person than any other country. To control emissions, we would have to drastically change Australian lifestyles (and it would be expensive). Ignorant people might get angry at the government for putting restrictions on things like energy consumption, and increasing taxes to pay for construction of alternative power sources.
Much of our energy comes from coal plants (which liberate shitloads of carbon dioxide), and I believe the coal and energy industries are placing incredible pressure on the Liberal government to avoid environmental controls, which would make them lose a lot of profit.
Australia was actually allowed to increase carbon dioxide output by 8% under the Kyoto protocol, because our total output of carbon dioxide remains low when compared to some other countries. We've increased it by about 20%. And now we have to reverse this trend! It'll be extremely difficult to do, I would imagine.
Australia makes a lot of money exporting coal to such places as India and China. Instead of the Kyoto protocol, Australia has formed the Asia Pacific Partnership with America and, you guessed it, India and China. No doubt this alliance will turn out to be lucrative, plus their aims are vague, there are no set targets levels of pollution reduction, and there is no enforcement. Read: cleverly-disguised trade deal to prevent Greenies from complaining that Oz and USA refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.
Future generations will be disgusted with us for choosing higher profit margins over the environment. You can't eat money!
Have you read Margaret Atwood's 'Oryx and Crake'? It's basically life after the environmental apocalypse. Scary stuff. Gets you thinking...
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