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Unlike Kyoto, this climate deal suits us fine : Comments
By Alan Oxley, published 3/8/2005Alan Oxley argues the Howard Government is to be congratulated for forging a global policy on climate change.
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Oxley attacks the Kyoto protocol and applauds the recently agreed “global policy” to which Australia and the USA have signed up, a policy which is merely voluntary and contains no specific targets. He also asserted, in the same program, “we don’t know enough about to start to take action which would cause standards of living to decline”. Many thousands of scientists must have been not taking their medication.
Interestingly, Mr Oxley said on the same program “One of the most important things to be done … is to get all the power stations in Asia, which is where the real growth is, China, India, Korea, to switch to more modern technologies which are more efficient burners of oil and gas, and which will bring the biggest drop in climate emissions that we could see.” So there is a problem and there is a way [amongst many] to address that problem.
We are being let down appallingly by apologists for energy generators and miners who oppose reductions in emissions. Just as we are by those who advance one solution like nuclear energy generation or clean coal, those who fail to carefully examine how many different strategies will in aggregate contribute to reductions. Less use of cars, hybrid cars, improved public transport, walking or bicycling more, energy conservation practices in buildings, giving out free energy saving light globes and on and on. Just as we are by those who assert that such practices and renewable energy development should not be supported by taxpayers yet ignore the costs of doing nothing and, equally important, that almost every aspect of society is subsidised in some way.