BY FULLY buying into Kevin Rudd’s “great moral challenge” scare, the Liberal Party has become increasingly sidelined as a radical green movement – while Labor pivots away from extreme environmentalism.
With Liberals, particularly in NSW and WA, squabbling over how fast they can eliminate baseload power – alienating millions of voters while doing so – Labor has outwitted them, throwing its support behind traditional energy.
- The political response to climate science has been described as 'demonstrably false'.
- Moves to reach net-zero by force are both dangerous and senseless.
- Politicians have been told to let technology and markets work at their own pace.
Meanwhile, an Obama Administration chief scientist has publicly criticised politicians for being climate “propaganda pedlars”.
EXCUSE
Labor’s shadow resources minister Madeleine King, a West Australian, said this week that climate shouldn’t be an excuse to destroy industry or people’s lives.
“We all want a renewable energy future but it will not, cannot, happen overnight,” she told The Australian newspaper.
“It’s about having a more mature conversation and explaining exactly what this will involve,” she said.
“We need to explain that and junk these climate wars. Some arguments have been turned into a sort of zero-sum game – it has to be action immediately and that action is urgent.
“I think it is right to say we must act, but you cannot shut-down people’s lives either, nor shut-down industries overnight.”
Ms King said she believed Australia would be exporting coal for decades to come, well into the second half of the century.
“The demand will remain for some time and we will continue to supply that demand,” she said.
“I aspire to net-zero emissions by 2050 but not every country is going to make it.”
This is a major play by Australian Labor to target resource-rich States which had deserted it since Julia Gillard went into coalition with The Greens in 2010. The ALP has barely exceeded 30 per cent of federal votes in Western Australia and Queensland since.
The move is at odds with Liberal Party activities to demonise and shut-down the coal industry as well as coal-fired power stations as soon as possible.
RADICAL
Such radical initiatives have seen support for the once-sensible Party evaporate, with Liberals in WA now holding just two of that State’s 59 parliamentary seats and NSW Liberals being plunged into minority government.
Many voters are now asking if Liberal MPs are really looking out for the environment – or for the interests of their renewables investor buddies.
Livelihoods and industry security no longer appear to rank among Liberal policy calculations – particularly at State level.
Meanwhile, President Obama’s firmer chief scientist within his Administration’s Energy Department, Mr Steven Koonin, has labelled the political response to climate science as “propaganda”.
He said “the real climate crisis was a crisis of political and scientific candor”.
While Mr Koonin suggests a small amount of warming had occurred, he says the “science suggests a slow, modest effect – not runaway warming”.
“What the media, politicians and activists say about climate science has drifted so far out of touch with the actual science as to be absurdly, demonstrably false,” he said.
Mr Koonin said political and practical unknowns were large and that moves to reach net-zero by force were dangerous.
“These are changes it makes no economic sense to force,” he said. “Let technology and markets work at their own pace.
“The climate might continue to change, at a pace that’s hard to perceive, but societies will adapt.” PC
The globe is being played for suckers regarding climate money schemes. Climate change is one of the great constants for the spinning egg shell on which we exist. Throwing money reducing/stopping climate change is the greatest Ponzi scheme ever created. But emotional blackmail has always worked on the weak minded in society.
You can count the number of conservative pollies who have guts and who are really supporting Western values: Kelly (and look what happened to him), Rennick, Canavan, PHON particularly the great Latham, Roberts and Pauline; Shooters, Fishers & Farmers maybe; Barnaby Joyce doesn’t do enough but maybe his expanding brood are keeping him busy, Stoker maybe. I’m struggling, who else. It’s not so much the crazed left but the gutless right.