Nelson, Abbott trot out tired old lines, in contrast to more sensible members of their party
In Australia Melbourne’s The Age is reporting Nelson, Abbott defy party line on warming.
THE split in the Opposition over emissions trading has widened, with Brendan Nelson sticking to the line that Australia must not go it alone and frontbencher Tony Abbott backing him.
On the other side of the Liberal divide, arguing that Australia should start its scheme regardless of what others do, stand environment spokesman Greg Hunt, shadow treasurer Malcolm Turnbull and deputy leader Julie Bishop.
Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson said it was essential for any Australian emissions trading scheme to be part of a global response to climate change.
The idea that Australia is in any way “going it alone” is pure bunkum. As Garnaut has gone to great lengths to explain, Australia is not leading the world, there are at least 27 countries, and a number of US states, who’ve taken far more progressive action than Australia has. China and India have announced they will work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
As Garnaut’s report explains, Western economic growth has been the principal cause for the growth in greenhouse gas emissions, and this has inexorably led to a warming of the planet, putting all countries at risk. Developing countries rightly are demanding that the developed world take meaningful action first before they will. This is practical, this is sensible and this is right. Nelson and Abbott could not be more out of line, and their popularity in the polls reflects this. — DS
July 15th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
It seems like even corporate Australia is more willing to take action on global warming than our government is. Although that may simply be because private companies know they need public opinion to survive, whereas the government has years before the next election.
A good example of this is the recent trend of eco marketing. Sites like http://www.thegreenroad.com.au/about-the-greenroad are appearing, with companies using free carbon offsets as the marketing device. The aforementioned offsets the greenhouse gases from any car trip for free, if you use their free map site.
There are many more examples, but it does seem like ecomarketing is one of the best bets for the environment theses days.