Environment - Leadership required

There can be no doubt that taking effective action against Global Warming is going to require vision, strength, and a sense of purpose from our Political Leaders. They are the folk who make the decisions that really count. Our role, in this unfolding drama, is to make sure our “Leaders” are very aware of our concerns and honour their responsibilities.

In Australia, up until this point in time Kevin Rudd was going hard at the problem and was doing things in exactly the right way. With a concerned population keen for some intelligent action, he got stuck into getting some studies done including one by Professor Garnaut and called for input from all interested parties. Rather surprisingly, the “thinking hard” approach rather than knee jerk reactions sent the Opposition apoplectic. It seems a party hell bent on waiting for America (aka doing nothing) would still rather have a nervous response than deliberate sensible decisions.

The excellent news here is that this approach is still very well received with the voters but last week I was amazed to see Kevin Rudd deliver a carbon reduction of a mere 5% of year 2000 levels by 2020 with a ramp up to 15% if everyone comes on board. That’s about as likely as George Dubya Bush winning Mastermind with the English language as his special subject. It’s also well short of the UN sponsored summit in Bali a year ago where a call was made for a 25 to 40% cut. Embarrassingly at that summit Rudd stood with George Dubya Bush against the target although he said we were waiting for the Garnaut report.

Under Professor Garnaut’s study, the limit was preferred as a 20% reduction from year 2000 levels by 2020 and even this reduction still has massive environmental damage factored into the big picture. The good Professor admits he has written off the northern part of the Great Barrier Reef and expects levels of damage to the Kakadu Wetlands, Alpine regions, and the Murray Darling Basin as well as a heavy impact on agriculture. Presumably the softer targets will mean even worse news for the environment and dare I say the economy.

Along with the low target we now discover that part of the plan for stimulating the Economy involves ramping up the coal carrying capacity for shipments to China.

Hmm. Instead of investing in the emerging technologies we are going to prop up a dying industry, and a damaging one to boot. I can’t help but think we have a Government struggling with a consistent plan. I don’t know how the figures balance out but factoring the China coal boost against the reductions might even be a backward step for the environment. Surely investing in sunrise industries will bear more benefit to both the environment and our economic future.

The intriguing thing is working out what exactly happened here. The polls show that Kevin is popular in spite of, or perhaps because of, the destructive approach taken by the Opposition. Yet a Labor spokesman claimed the target was low to retain Government at the next election. This is clearly incorrect unless

·         There is a bit of bad news coming our way we have not heard of yet

·         The Opposition is going to embrace Global Warming and develop a policy (unlikely)

·         The Government has caved into pressure from the big players

·         Or the Union movement from the Mining Industry has put some pressure on

·         Maybe the huge work load has finally run Kevin Rudd out of puff

I’m sure there are other possibilities that haven’t occurred to me but others might suggest and some may even challenge the premise that the approach has gone soft, but if the decision is made for a political reason when the polls are looking so rosy then someone is out of touch or a smoke screen is being generated.

Looking overseas, we see an incoming President Obama who also looks promising as a bit of a thinker but I worry about the task ahead for him. The continuing announcements of a whole host of jobs being filled makes me realise he will have plenty of distractions in his new job. When you think of the mammoth task ahead and factor in Industries who prefer the free ride of the status quo, then the task is monumental indeed.

I recently added my electronic signature to the GetUp campaign to host a billboard showing our environmental concerns on a billboard that President elect Obama will drive past often. It’s a small gesture but hopefully keeps the message fresh and reminds him of the task at hand and that folk care. But how about the rest of the world letting Kevin Rudd know that you want to be able to tour the Great Barrier Reef in years to come with your Grand children?

Rather than jumping on George Bush’s case, let’s get on with getting our local pollies under control instead of letting them “Blame George” and go a little softer. Personally, I write to pollies in Labor, Liberal and the National parties. The Labor folk to encourage or challenge a decision and the Opposition parties (the main ones) reminding them they are still out of touch and how to get relevant. They don’t exist to oppose. They exist to offer a credible alternative government.

In summary, we need action to remind our pollies both at home and abroad of what we care about. We should focus on our local reps but also take the time to remind international leaders that we care what they do to their own country too. And remind them we spend money when we come touring.

We also need to not get side tracked by non-performers. Let’s get some action happening then go and deal out the penalties when we have more time.