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On climate change, ‘we will adapt’: LNP

By Stephen Fitz

Record breaking hurricane slams Florida. Increased global temperature equates to energy in the atmosphere, equates to extremes in weather, ocean expansion, ice melt and rising sea-levels.

The Liberal Party’s rejection of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, and the subsequent climate change denial is a lie. The word on the street is that the Liberal National Party’s intention, all along, has been that we will adapt to climate change and do nothing else about it.

The Great Barrier Reef Foundation has launched a bid to secure further donations of as much as $400 million. With $100 million of that earmarked to double the funds set aside for the reef restoration and adaption plan.

“Adaptation plan” What they are saying is, the reef needs to adapt to increased global temperature. No mention of taking remedial action to prevent climate change. The Great Barrier Reef Foundation have shown their hand. They don’t care about rising temperatures … the reef can adapt!

The resistance by the LNP government tells us they have no intention of taking action to prevent climate change and their denial and inaction proves that. Their thinking is the same. Bring on climate change, we will adapt. Screw the electorate, screw Australia and screw the planet and don’t bother trying to fix the problem.

The Liberal government has lied to us by omission. Their intention all along has been to adapt and do nothing about reducing the cause of global temperature increase. Do nothing about reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Along with big business they would throw us to the wolves and they need to be exposed for that betrayal.

Traditionally, right wing conservative government ideology is to cling to the status quo. Extreme right-wing governments have no intention of taking action to limit increasing global temperatures. They have lied about their denial of climate change and, one again, their intention all along has been to adapt to extremes in weather and sea level rises. This also plays into the hands of the fossil fuel industry as Morrison backs coal in defiance of the IPCC report.

The United Nations (UN) has urged if people want action on climate change, in some countries, that will require a change of government. In Australia that will mean evicting the extreme right-wing Morrison/Abbot/Dutton LNP government to the political wilderness and in America removing the right-wing Republican government. 35 million Americans experiencing utter devastation from unprecedented hurricanes in the Carolinas and Florida will agree.

Australians experiencing severe state-wide droughts, tornados in Queensland, extreme bush fires conditions, month early cyclones off Queensland, unprecedented extreme weather patterns and the hottest year on record will also agree that something needs to be done.

So, there we have it, the UN the IPCC and the scientists who have prepared 6,000 research papers, on the subject, are urging action on climate change. We have been told that we need to remove extreme right-wing governments to be replaced by more progressive thinking governments prepared to take up the challenge.

The solution then for this new government and, mechanism to gain across the board public support, would be a positive response. This aims at atmospheric Co2 management including, in particular, carbon capture at point of emission, removing Co2 from the atmosphere, reforestation, incentive-based emission reduction guidelines, electricity storage and support for alternative energy.

This has been promised by the Labor if they win the next election. Both government and big business need to take affirmative action on behalf of each and every one of us. If the fossil fuel industry wishes to survive they need to participate and work towards reducing or eliminating their carbon footprint.

 

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17 comments

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  1. ChristopherJ

    Thank you Steven. Timely, keep pushing.

    As you allude, our responses are likely to lag the changes, that’s our major problem. And, we are likely to underestimate, massively, the scope and scale of the problems.

    Being on the front foot, got coded out of the Aussie genome ages ago.

  2. Keith

    It is only a few years ago that there was complete denial of anthropogenic climate change by those with a conservative political ideology. xPrime Minister Howard has stated in his view that anthropogenic climate change was not real, those who believed in the science were zealots and saw climate change as a religion. A nonsense comment on the basis that climate change relies on Physics, Chemistry and other science disciplines. Climate science does not rely on faith; it is underpinned by objective data. The Guardian article referred clearly displays how Howard had an echo chamber of deniers he took notice of.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/06/climate-change-exaggerated-says-former-australian-pm

    More sophisticated views held by deniers are along the lines of man’s influence on climate change is happening though does not have a major influence. Lately, it seems that those promoting denial of climate change do not provide references. The fact is that there are no reliable references they can provide. Check the comments of deniers against the science.
    There has been a very successful compaign run by denier groups to undermine the science.

    There has been science available already for a few years that upholds the conclusions that the IPCC has drawn. There are some comments that suggest that the IPCC has been too conservative in their latest Report.

    Climate sensitivity uncertainties heighten concerns

    Since the LNP have been elected in 2013 there have been constant lies in relation to emissions, Pitt and Sherry were onto them early on.

  3. Matters Not

    Re:

    only a few years ago that there was complete denial of anthropogenic climate change by those with a conservative political ideology.

    But not all conservatives were so inclined. Indeed it was a ‘conservative’ that loudly rang the bell

    But the threat to our world comes not only from tyrants and their tanks. It can be more insidious though less visible. The danger of global warming is as yet unseen, but real enough for us to make changes and sacrifices, so that we do not live at the expense of future generations.

    Our ability to come together to stop or limit damage to the world’s environment will be perhaps the greatest test of how far we can act as a world community. No-one should under-estimate the imagination that will be required, nor the scientific effort, nor the unprecedented co-operation we shall have to show. We shall need statesmanship of a rare order. It’s because we know that, that we are here today.

    Guess who?

    There’s more here.

    https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/108237

  4. ChristopherJ

    Thank you Keith. The science cannot be denied. The fact that we are here now reflects purely upon how we have allowed our media to be concentrated and the relevant players therein. We are many, they are few, but we still let it happen and we’re still letting it happen. Most Australians aren’t even angry, yet alone angry enough. Apathy rules, the TV and the shiny phone constantly distract those that are unfocused on things that matter….and there’s a lot of them.

    On things that do, Matters Not. The fact that MT ever got to be PM astounds most reasonable people and many feel she established the rot that has been the last 40 years in the UK – beyond fixing now. Labour should have stayed true to its roots (hey, some of think that was the divergence – some of the party seeking the ‘trappings’. Who knows? I wasn’t there, but I know for a fact there has been a major battle been running forever between the good and evil in the party).

    Corbyn’s really in for a chance to make a diff in this world, but there is a lot of money out there that wants him and anyone like him gone forever… . I was one of those who showed our backs to MT’s coffin. There is nothing in her history of worthiness, not the Falklands, nothing. A complete kant

    On your comment, if the quote is she said ‘ The danger of global warming is as yet unseen’, then I think she was being untruthful. The science was good back then, the signs were already there. Good talker was MT, just about the perfect politician for the time… hideous inside, but good teeth for a Brit

  5. Keith

    Matters Not

    Margret Thatcher, was a Chemist, so had a science background and did believe in anthropogenic climate change. Thatcher was PM of Britain when the climate denial movement was beginning. Research and polls show that in the main those who deny anthropogenic climate change are conservatives, and to a lesser extent have fundamental religious views. Not all conservatives have a disbelief in anthropogenic climate change which I should have made clearer in my previous comment.

    Currently, we are conned by the LNP, they say that they have emissions under control, when that is untrue. In relation to policy on climate change the LNP have leapt from the frying pan into the fire with the change of Prime Minister. Morrison tries to deflect questions in relation to climate change. People who believe that the LNP have made the right strategic policies in relation to climate change need to be aware that pigs fly, there are fairies in the garden, the Earth is flat, and everything is under control. The LNP are down right reckless and dangerous in the area.

  6. New England Cocky

    @Matters Not: I am amazed that anybody with the ability to think would reference anything at all by Mad Margaret, the Beast of Britain, who took the UK to war against Argentina to save her leadership at enormous cost of working class lives on both sides, among the lesser of her too many sins against humanity.

    Perhaps the optimal way to change LNP misgovernment absence of meaningful climate change policy is to require the IPA and every other political agitating organisation to have real time accountability of all donations from all sources and a legislative ban on donations from foreign corporations and foreign natural persons, including all dual citizens.

    Naturally, the preferred response is to sack this RAbbott Turdball Morriscum misgovernment at the first available opportunity because our grandkids deserve a better future than this misgovernment is currently giving away to foreign owned multinational corporations.

  7. Terence Mills

    In recent days it has been revealed that National Party branches have been infiltrated and stacked with far-right new members to influence (initially) and then dominate National Party policy : it has to be conceded that the Nationals were a natural soft target for these extremists.

    We have also seen the gradual infiltration of the Liberal Party by IPA sponsored candidates who, in the same way, want to dominate and push policy to the Right.

    This is a major problem for this coalition of convenience and there seems to be little that the traditional conservatives can or will do about it as the erosion is occurring at branch level.

    Their dismissal of climate science is just the beginning.

  8. Kronomex

    “‘we will adapt’: LNP” Of course they will, they’re like fast breeding cockroaches. And Scummo will pray to his Murdoch…oops, I mean invisible master in the sky to change the world and set things right. Until then it’s basically hide climate change under the carpet and hope it goes away.

    The corporations, miners, etc, has one thing we little people don’t, money, tonnes and tonnes of money. There is one major thing in our favour though, it’s our voting power and the LNP fears it. They have been in almost permanent pork barrelling mode since 2013 and I don’t see it slackening anytime soon. In fact, I see more and more of it leading up to the next election and it’s all pie in the sky.

  9. Diannaart

    Kronomex

    I agree, the LNP will continue to seek power without policies (cutting taxes is not so much a policy as it is ideology).

    Labor can really step up and provide clear leadership on many of the “too hard” policies, such as fossil fuel dependency.

    Link below reveals some difference between the two major parties.

    https://www.sbs.com.au/news/how-do-labor-and-the-coalition-stack-up-on-reducing-carbon-emissions?cx_cid=edm:newswe:2019

    While the LNP paint themselves into an ideological corner, Labor can risk a shift further towards common sense policies based on reality.

  10. guest

    The idea that humans can adapt to AGW indicates how little the Coalition/IPA and other deniers actually understand about the problem. The effects of Climate Change go beyond the human sphere and all aspects of life on planet earth are being affected.

    So the deniers come up with all kinds attempted distractions. Such as how good CO2 is for growing plants Therefore CO2 is not a pollutant, they say. But we could say the same about water – but they would not want it in their petrol tanks. And they would be in big trouble if they did not breathe out CO2.

    A big distractor is Bjorn Lomborg. His latest distraction is Tuberculosis. He says “A tiny fraction of the resources wasted on combating CO2 would eradicate deadly TB”. (WE Australian, October 13-14, 2018)

    He goes on to say with regard to the Paris agreement: “A far more effective answer to global warming would be to ramp up research and development investment into green energy to out-compete fossil fuels, so all countries can switch without abandoning poverty-eradicating growth”.

    Isn’t that clever! Just spend more on investment in green energy and every country could keep on growing. You know, jobs and growth. As if no one i already investing in green energy – it is just that there are those who are doing their best to stifle research and investment. Coal is the solution, says Morrrison.

    It is so pathetic. If the cost or eradicating TB is comparatively little, why could the world spend less on military weapons and more on problems such as TB.

    It was this same Lomborg who wanted some millions of dollars to be paid to establish some kind of Lomborg Institute in Australia.

    Meanwhile, distractions from the reality of Climate Change are published regularly in Murdoch media. None of them are in line with IPCC findings. The latest IPCC report is far too big for Coalition/IPA adherents to read.

  11. David Bruce

    If reducing carbon emissions doesn’t reduce climate change, I hope I am still here to find out why? I wonder if the climate models include Fukushima, the plastic islands in our oceans, the volcanic ash and gases from eruptions, the forest fires in Kalamantan (Borneo) and the Amazon basin, the expansion at the Equator and reduction in the rate of rotation of planet Earth? I am sure there must be someone out there who can put my mind at ease?

  12. Kaye Lee

    David,

    You will find the real scientific evidence about pretty much every denialist’s argument here.

    https://www.skepticalscience.com/argument.php

    I am not sure what your list is about. Let’s start with the rate of rotation.

    There is a little bit of friction between the tides and the turning Earth, causing the rotation to slow down just a little. One hundred years from now, a day will be about 2 milliseconds longer than today.

  13. SteveFitz

    It’s not just us in peril as a result of man’s inadvertent engineering of the climate. Without deep time to adapt, 30% of all species are at risk of extinction in the next 100 years.

    What we are creating has the potential to be another great extinction event. We can’t let that happen and we need to act. We can’t continue to be so mindlessly stupid.

    This jewel in the universe, we call planet earth, is all we have and we are the caretakers.

  14. Wam

    There is nothing like stating the certainty that climate change is natural.

    To me it is obvious that if nature took millions of years to take co2 out of the atmosphere and we have put billions of tons back in 200 years that we have upset the balance and the natural progress of change.
    An argument that, sadly, has not made any of my rabbottian friends think of wavering from their conspiracy theories as trumpeted by the tlobs.

    We are a billion whites who got rich on coal and oil.
    The 6 billion non-whites need renewables to get rich and avoid the disasters of pollution.
    We need renewables to stay rich.
    The planet needs a rest from us.
    The future may reveal a myriad of uses for hydrocarbons without burning?
    QED sun, wind, tides and gravity will power the development and preserve the coal, oil and gas?

  15. SteveFitz

    Yes Wam – Distant future generations will look back on this period in time and shake their heads in disbelief at our stupidity. The most precious resource that earth has to offer are hydrocarbons (oil, coal and gas) and, what do we do, we burn it, and it’s lost forever. Not only do we burn it but, as pointed out, the Co2 released is returned to the atmosphere to force global temperature increase, extremes in weather and sea level rise.

    You’re not alone – People have also said to me “You not a greeny are you”. The non-observers are easily brain washed by main stream media, corporates and the political parties who pander to them. Don’t despair, on your side are the worlds best scientists, the entire United Nations, 195 countries, the IPCC report and 6,000 research articles to back it up. Pluss every other thinking person on the planet. So, there’s hope.

  16. SteveFitz

    The 2018 Atlantic and Pacific Ocean hurricane season is the most powerful on record: https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/world/the-atlantic-and-pacific-ocean-hurricane-season-is-most-powerful-on-record-this-year/ar-BBONGSG?ocid=spartandhp

    Global mean temperature increase equates to energy, equates to extremes in weather and, that’s what we are seeing unfold across the planet. Driven by increasing green-house gas emissions as a result of human activity since the beginning of the industrial revolution.

    Donald Trump is a prisoner to his own body language – As a pro fossil-fuel advocate when the utter devistation of Florida and the Carolinas was put before him, his face went blank and he folded his arms to his chest. He may be having second thoughts about the conservative approach to adapt to climate change and do nothing about it.

  17. Stephen Fitzgerald

    If you have landed here, you have probably read my stylized on-line book
    “ARTICLES: Our Children’s Future – Oil Wars and Ice Melt”.
    https://www.hootgallery.com/steve-fitz-articles

    It’s themed on the raging wars for control of oil and natural gas and, the global consequences if we burn it all. The solution is to remove the demand for fossil fuels with a rapid transition to renewable energy.

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