How Australia became the dirtiest polluter in the developed world

[afterbang]

The Saudi Arabia of the Pacific, How Australia became the dirtiest polluter in the developed world

Australians like to think of themselves as green. Their island country boasts some 3 million square miles of breathtaking landscape. They were anearly global leader in solar power. They’ve had environmental regulations on the books since colonial times. And in 2007 they elected a party and a prime minister running on a “pro-climate” platform, with promises to sign the Kyoto Protocol and pass sweeping environmental reforms. All of which makes sense for a country that is already suffering the early effects of global warming.

And yet, seven years later, Australia has thrown its environmentalism out the window—and into the landfill.

The climate-conscious Labor Party is out, felled by infighting and a bloodthirsty, Rupert Murdoch–dominated press that sows conspiracy theories about climate science. In its place, Australians elected the conservative Liberal Party, led by a prime minister who once declared that “the climate argument is absolute crap.”


Read more at:

http://www.slate.com/articles/techn...vironmental_movement_has_been_overthrown.html

 

[Yuud]

((((

 

[afterbang]

Yup.... Maar ik dacht laat toch even weten hoe het er voor staat. Hoop dat we uiteindelijk de kop uit onze kont halen en terug komen op een meer sustainable beleid...

 

[afterbang]

Read this Mr. Abbott

Pathways to Deep Carbonisation in 2050: How Australia can prosper in a low carbon world".

It was produced by the Australian National University and ClimateWorks Australia, and feeds into a project led by the globally renowned economist Professor Jeffrey Sachs.

The paper was delivered to world leaders at a special climate summit in New York this week.

It envisages a future Australian economy that is very different from that of today.

The paper is the result of a serious amount of work. Its authors relied on modelling undertaken by the CSIRO and the Centre of Policy Studies at Victoria University, and it relies on research that was not available at the time of the 2008 Garnaut Review and emissions reduction modelling done by the federal Treasury in 2011.

Its authors argue Australia can keep growing if it relies much more heavily on renewable energy sources.

More importantly, they also argue that we can end our reliance on coal while maintaining economic growth and lifestyles on par with today's standards.

One of the paper's key findings: we can end coal-fired power generation while maintaining average annual real GDP growth of 2.4 per cent, resulting in an economy in 2050 that is 150 per cent larger than today's.

Australians can achieve net zero emissions by 2050 without major structural change to our economy or lifestyle, they argue.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/comm...-more-jobs-20140926-10mlg2.html#ixzz3EbaYQqXI

 

[slatsr]

China heeft on elk geval de eerste stap gezet door nieuwe regelgeving die de vraag naar de zeer vieze Australische kool flink zal reduceren. Slecht nieuws voor de Australische economie, maar goed nieuws voor de atmosfeer.