Not that I don’t think it is happening or that human beings are primarily responsible, but that nothing serious will be done about it. I go by the coal ships waiting off the headland at Newcastle. Up to 50 are there at any one time, each one waiting to fill up with high quality coal, which is then hauled off around the world. And to get to the ships, coal is transported by endless trains on some of the best tracks in Australia, truck and a 100 km conveyor belt. In short, Newcastle is one of the busiest coal ports in the world. Only when I see no coal ships off the headland will I know that someone is serious about global warming. But that would mean we’d have to dump capitalism first, which is unimaginable for the small mind of someone like Tony Abbott, or even Kevin Rudd, or any other dumb-arse world leader.
6 December, 2009
Like Tony Abbott, I am a climate change sceptic
Posted by stalinsmoustache under politics | Tags: climate change, coal, Tony Abott |[3] Comments
6 December, 2009 at 11:08 pm
It’s depressing, I know, but we gotta try. We are living it up, though it doesnt always feel that way. What can you say to the children of today when they have children to worry about? What can you say to the climate refugees (rising seas are frequently covering much of their small Pacific island nation in recent years) from Tuvalu now? 30+yrs of drought in Sub-Saharan Africa plus “Toxic Debt” (many sources, eg. Blue Covenant, Maude Barlow) have rendered these nations virtually helpless. They need us and we can help. Per capita Australians are more responsible than almost every nation on Earth (again, how many sources… UNDP, for example) and more democratic than many.
Climate Camp is on 17-21st Dec.’09 join us.
7 December, 2009 at 9:36 am
OK, now this is where we need to ask come hard questions and avoid sentimentalising children and so on. Given that some life would continue at, say, 10 degree temperature rise, the issue then becomes:
a) do we want to save capitalism?
b) are human beings, as a species, worth saving.
Unfortunately much of the climate debate turns on the implicit assumption that we should save capitalism – ‘green’ business etc etc. I beg to differ. As for the second question, I reckon the jury is out on that one. maybe it’s better if human beings become a minor species.
7 December, 2009 at 11:55 am
It seems to be easier for people to imagine the end of human existence, or other variations of catastrophe, than the end of capitalism.