The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > Article Comments > Australia’s oversized footprint > Comments

Australia’s oversized footprint : Comments

By Andrew Bartlett, published 22/6/2007

Australia has a huge impact on the global ecosphere.

  1. Pages:
  2. Page 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. All
A good website to query Australia's greenhouse gas emissions is the Australian Greenhouse Office website

http://www.ageis.greenhouse.gov.au/GGIDMUserFunc/indexUser.asp

It breaks down all our emissions by sector, fuels and greenhouse gas emissions. It also charts data back to 1990 (Kyoto base year). Very useful.
Posted by razz4189, Friday, 22 June 2007 10:11:10 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Don't you just love pollies that telling you how you should change your life "for the good of the planet". Please have a look at Bartlett's efforts on his web diaries, http://andrewbartlett.com/blog/?p=1380

He is spewing out more CO2 than most Australian's, but hey don't worry he has "offset" the whole lot for $60. Now magically he has become carbon neutral thanks to http://www.climatefriendly.com/. How easy is that, we don't have to change our lifestyles at all....just pay a few extra bucks.
Some other high profile clients include: Tim Flummery, John Butler Trio, Missy Higgins and I love this one "Melissa Hirsch - climate neutral artist".

Of course Bartlett just can't resist having a dig at everyone who eats meat. Being a vegesaur, this is the one point he can take the moral high ground on and does so with relish. On ya Barto!
Posted by alzo, Friday, 22 June 2007 10:11:10 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Mr Costello's economic vision reminds me of a blind express train driver (apologies to the sight-impaired, if you can see this at all).

We're rushing like mad to where? - somewhere. Anywhere but here it seems. Anywhere but where we've been. Keep the pedal to the metal. The schedule is all that matters. Timetable rules - ok?

The fool listens too much to the well dressed blokes who have taken over the dining car. They keep him stoked with pie and chips and hearty compliments. What blind express driver could fail to be impressed, if he has no other sensory input? Just pie and chips and a heavy Right foot. That's the ticket, pal! Vrooooom!

Will no-one tell him that we are cresting the peak? Will no-one tell him that the gradient down the other side only gets steeper?

No need for economic drivers then. No need for engine or throttle either. We're going to accellerate into a valley where pies and chips will be in very short supply. The well dressed blokes think that monopolisation of the dining car will be their salvation, but the pantry is far smaller than they think.

I blame their mothers frankly. The driver and the well dressed blokes were never made to eat their upper-crusts, and it shows.
Posted by Chris Shaw, Carisbrook 3464, Friday, 22 June 2007 10:13:28 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Whether via a fossil fuel burning connection or pure coincidence I think most of Australia is soon going to be hit with higher food and electricity prices. Under Costello-think we should dig bigger holes in the ground to pay for it. Or fiddle the inflation figures so it doesn't look so bad. The Chinese have stated that Australia's per capita emissions figures should entitle them to catch up. Because of the political disconnect between the mineral boom and climate woes it looks like we'll keep going this way until Asian demand collapses or the resources run out. Australia and Asia can then walk over a cliff hand in hand.
Posted by Taswegian, Friday, 22 June 2007 10:16:43 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Our per capita emissions are high, but some of this is due to how greenhouse emissions are allocated to different countries when international trade is involved. If Australians cut down trees and export the resulting woodchips, the greenhouse emissions are counted against us and not the people who end up consuming the paper. Still, there are real inefficiencies that need to be addressed.

Senator Bartlett, however, is ignoring the issue of total numbers. According to ABS figures, Australia's total household energy consumption increased by 46% between 1975 and 1995. Only 24% of the increase was due to higher per capita consumption, with 76% being due to a bigger population. The environment only cares about the total impact. China is now emitting more greenhouse gases than the US because there are a lot of Chinese.

The Senator is a big fan of mass migration. This might not matter. except to the local environment, if all migrants came from rich developed countries, but a migrant from the Third World means almost as great an increase in emissions as an extra Australian baby. If an Indian on an average income moves to Mexico and adopts the standard of living there, his greenhouse gas emissions will go up by 5 times, and by 20 times if he goes to the US. It would no doubt be the same for Australia. I really wish that growthist politicians would stop crying crocodile tears over the environment.
Posted by Divergence, Friday, 22 June 2007 11:09:04 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
All your comments about lifestyle changes to reduce greenhouse emissions are empty blather, Mr. Bartlett, as long as you continue to promote increasing Australia’s population. All the changes you are asking ordinary Australians to make, including more expensive electricity, petrol, airline tickets and asking me to stop eating meat (no thanks) will be rendered useless as more people continue to consume.

Australia needs to do both. Stabilise population and make lifestyle changes, to be a global leader in tackling climate change. The whole world needs to do both.

And how ‘bout this for a crazy idea. Stabilising our population makes solving our water shortage problems easier. It makes planning our cities easier. It means we won’t run out of our natural resources as fast.

You say you want Australia to be a global leader, not a spoiler in tackling climate change, Mr. Bartlett. You don’t want Australia to be a global leader in stabilising population, though. That is something that other nations need to do. You are effectively saying, “All you other nations decrease your population, but we need to increase ours, because we are special.”

I applaud your courage in making a public statement regarding greenhouse emissions, in opposition to the fossil fuel industry and the government. Please take the next step and advocate net zero immigration and dumping the Baby Bonus, so that there is a chance real progress can be made on living sustainably in Australia.
Posted by ericc, Friday, 22 June 2007 12:24:30 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. Page 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy