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I recommend a high fibre diet.
Yesterday our Prime Minister and the little parliamentary climate change working group announced that a price on carbon will commence at the beginning of the new financial year in 2012. This was not a detailed breakdown of how it will work but just a preemptive message that it’s coming and details are still being worked on.
Within seconds twitter, facebook and other sites on the interwebs where full of two types of statements.
It’s about bloody time
It will just mean fuel and electricity will be more expensive, it’s rubbish
It won’t shock you to know that I align with statement one, but what shocked me was the instant whining about increased fuel and electricity costs. Of course the prices of these things will increase, that’s the point. As a nation we have a Charlie Sheen style addiction to consuming oil and coal, and just like Sheen if we don’t get into rehab soon our country will be axed by a major network of increased natural disasters, failing crops and drastic temperature fluctuations.
The carbon tax isn’t just a money grab to enable governments and politicians to line their pension fund, It’s about raising necessary funds to implement drastic changes to the way we produce and consume energy. It also has a helpful bi-product which is forcing people, business whatever to reduce our environmental impacts and provide avenues of alternate ways of living and consuming.
Now I have no doubts that whatever the details of this carbon price are that it won’t be enough to help us drastically reduce our nations emission reduction, but it is a step in the right direction and it’s nice to see us not playing the primary school playground line of “We won’t do it until they do first”. While it is important for other big emitters like China to make serious steps to reducing their emissions and important for us to keep advocating for this, it is more important I think that we get cracking.
I think the majority of Australians believe climate change is real and a man made issue. I also think as a nation we are pretty selfish about how we respond to climate change. I don’t think Australians on the whole realise that climate change is causing havoc already and that it’s impacts are mostly being felt by the poor in developing nations.
We are one of the biggest contributors per head of carbon emissions yet it is countries like Bangladesh where they are some of the lowest emitters that are feeling the affects and having to adapt to rising sea levels, more frequent and intense monsoon storms.
If the sea level rises, for us in Australia it will just mean rich people don’t have to walk as far down their garden to board their moored yachts. In Bangladesh a sea level rise of 1 metre would displace 30 million people!
Closer to home this video spotlights one tiny Island part of Papua New Guinea
For me this carbon tax / price whatever it’s called is not the whole answer to our nation reducing our negative impact but it is a step in the right direction. We also need to remember it’s not just about our government doing stuff it’s about individuals finding ways of living a more sustainable existence too. And if nothing else having things more expensive may be a driving force in me using them less.
Paying for travel etc for the familes of those killed in the boat tragedy off Christmas island to attend funerals was a good and noble thing to do and allowing the orphaned boy to be released from detention is a great thing.
Charlie Sheen is a silly billy
Cricket Australia needs new selectors and the dumping of Ponting and Clarke
Celebrity romances are boring
NSW election is boring and I don’t want to vote for anyone involved
With my very limited understanding and intellect I think recent events in Egypt is a good thing
My wife has probably already drowned you with the details of our little childless junket to Melbourne so I need something else to blog about but nothing much has happened lately.
I did notice the other day that I have taken 1000 photos on my phone so maybe I’ll go through now and make a ‘best of’ post. Does that sound interesting enough?
