Taswegian, I fully support your sentiments in relation to reducing fossil fuels and a smooth transition to clean energy.

What I do take great exception to is your assertion that people like me are “morally weak”. I am very comfortable with my moral values thank you and I do not need to adopt yours, which, if I read you correctly, require me and the rest of Australia, to fund your moral values.

You seem to take the view that the rest of the world is morally wrong for not legislating Carbon Taxes. Consequently it is up to each Australian taxpayer, now and for generations to come, to demonstrate that we are prepared to sacrifice our economic future to salve the consciences of the Taswegian’s of this Country?

Your comments are tacit recognition that the scientific case for AGW has collapsed; therefore it must now be justified on “moral” grounds? And if the rest of the world cannot justify it because the carbon market has collapsed and the economic basis has vaporized, YOU propose what? That I will be “pilloried” for failing to make the sacrifice now?

Just who the hell do you think you are Taswegian?

Personally I would of though someone with a political degree from ANU would have far more sense than to play little games with Vodka. Then again some people take more time to grow up than others.

Runner, why on earth would you think that? I have never seen any evidence that time at any uni has anything to do with becoming sensible, or growing up. There is, however more than a little to suggest the opposite.

On the other hand, there is irrefutable evidence that drinking lots of alcohol is very closely related with time spent at uni.

I wonder if that's why we get so many silly articles from people like Maiy.

Oh Maiy, perhaps the change is because the self styled climate scientists were caught cooking the books, & lying all the way to the bank.

Curmudgeon - very good point, and a very good way of looking at the current popularity of the "we're number 1" mantra constantly proposed and our youth all seem to gravitate to this like moths to a flame, much of a "We're so cool, you are not!" mentality.

As the author has stated, when the opportunity to be "number 1" isn't taken up, they lose interest.

Maybe we do need immigration to make up for the lack of interest our youth show in anything unlinked to social networking internet sites?

I agree with the mitigation, someone suggested that if rising sea levels ever threatened Sydney, they would just build dikes, good plan.

We could probably air-condition Australia if we wanted, and set our minds to it and had Nuclear Power, why not, I'm up for a challenge, but not one to actually try to change the climate - man, that's BIG!

Oh, I get it. You took Rudd seriously when he said it was 'The greatest moral challenge of our time.'

Perhaps he's moved on to other moral challenges as he gave up pretty easily. The silence is deafening at the moment.

Maybe he'll just put up a carbon watch website and be done with it.

“A few weeks ago, a friend of mine working in Parliament House suggested we begin a new drinking game: every time an Opposition MP used the words “great big new tax,” we would all take a shot of vodka.”

That just shows the ‘maturity’ of young people who believe that they have all the answers.

“The young people I talk to still want to see Australia lead the world on climate change” seem more interested in knocking off Russia as world leader in vodka consumption.

Australia, a very, very tiny emitter of gases in the scheme of things, has no reason to “lead the world on climate change”.

Thankfully, Copenhagen knocked the climate change rubbish in the head. The ‘big new tax’ does get a little weary, as do most clichés used by politicians; but a tax the Rudd scheme is, and taxes will have no effect on climate change.

When Maiy Azize’s generation takes over, I will be dead, and I’m ever so thankful.