Post-Copenhagen Blues

Good things happen at the height of summer.
In Robertson, it usually means we turn off our heaters (in my case, I did that last week).

That is good for Global Warming, as my heater not only gently warms (and dries) my bedroom; but by using electricity, it has meant unnecessary generation of power, by coal being burnt somewhere else in the State of NSW.

Wallerawang Power Station, near Lithgow, NSW
(Image courtesy of Wikipedia - Photo "Amitch")

In these Post-Copenhagen Days of Apocalypse, it means I was (until I turned off my little heater last week) killing the Planet faster than it will otherwise die. The world will die of natural causes - by converting itself to a "Red Giant", but "experts" predict we have 5 Billion years.


You can see that I am "Over" Copenhagen.

I have read every Press Release and the transcript of every interview and "doorstop interview" which Senator Penny Wong has given on the subject. I am totally disillusioned with this Government's pathetic attempt to justify propping up the largest polluting industries (including the so-called "Trade Exposed Industries", notably the coal miners, cement producers and the Aluminium industry (the majority of which are overseas owned or controlled anyway).

I ask (naively) - whatever happened to Socialism, Social Responsibility and Environmental Values?

Big polluters ought be stopped in their tracks!
They cause the problem; I say - let them pay the cost of the clean-up.
The last thing we ought do is reward them, with cash bonuses, let alone huge cash bonuses, even if dressed up as "incentives".

This Government has no corporate memory.
It does not understand how huge Multinationals will bully Governments, promise them everything, then do nothing whatsoever.

I remember the deals Bob Hawke did with Kodak to keep open a processing plant in Coburg - in his electorate of Wills. What happened - he gave them huge incentives to stay open- they accepted the handouts, and closed the plant several years later.

I was in Scotland in 1975 when Harold Wilson was British PM. (Yes, dear reader, I am very old, but, I was once a "bright young thing". :-))
So, unlike most modern Politicians, I have a long political memory.

Harold Wilson was worried about votes in Scotland, and so did a "deal" with Chrysler (remember them?) to keep open the British Leyland (remember them?) car plants in Linwood, Scotland (close to Glasgow). He threw millions of British Pounds at Chrysler; they accepted; Wilson resigned prior to the next election, and handed over to James Callaghan (remember him?) and Chrysler closed down the plants anyway. That was during the British "Winter of Discontent" which led to Margaret Thatcher's rise to power. (Who can forget her?)

What is the moral of this little history lesson?

Big companies do not need to stand for re=election, and they know they can outlast Politicians (who do). That holds true for Kevin Rudd and even Senator Wong.

Politicians come and politicians go.

But huge corporations and industries keep on going - even if they change their names.

• Do a brief search on any of these names: Broken Hill Pty Ltd> BHP>Western Mining (WMC)> BHP-Billiton>Rio Tinto>Chinalco.
  

Counting "Carbon emissions"

The whole fallacy of the Climate Change debate has its seeds in the Rio "Earth Summit" (1992) (remember Ros Kelly *** "saving the world for her children"?), which led to the Kyoto Protocol (1997) and then the Bali Conference (2007).

The basic flaw is that countries are allowed to calculate the amount of Carbon Dioxide (or equivalents) they emit. "Emit" is taken to mean burning coal (or equivalents) which results in carbon dioxide being formed and released. These are the so-called "Greenhouse Gases", and the calculation is of the man-made (anthropogenic) component of those gases in the atmosphere.

Fine, I understand why that is counted that way.

But that simplistic division of responsibility for pollution allows the Australian Government to campaign for a reduction in CO2 emissions, while, simultaneously, the Government has its senior (ex-Union) Ministers planning to double the coal exporting facilities and the railways to bring coal from the mines in the Hunter Valley and Liverpool Plains, in NSW, and the Bowen Basin in Queensland.

You cannot burn coal if you keep it locked away in the ground. We should count the coal we produce, not count the "carbon emissions" in the countries to which we sell our coal.

We have no problem recognising why Asbestos ought be kept in the ground. Why not coal?
Coal is vastly more polluting, and highly toxic.
Don't believe me?
Read this brief report of Dr van Steenis's recent findings in NSW.

We have a Federal Government which is either schizophrenic or hypocritical.

I cannot tell you which it is. You ought make up your own mind (or if you are like the Federal Government (minds). (That's a hint!)

***** ***** *****

I accept responsibility for any political commentary in this post.
Denis Wilson, (enrolled voter)
Robertson, NSW, 2577

*** These days Ros Kelly is living in seemingly quiet seclusion in Kangaloon, in the Southern Highlands of NSW. She is therefore a 'local' as far as my Blog is concerned.

Sunset of a Career? D Day minus 2

Tomorrow, Saturday 24 November 2007 is Decision Day for Australia. Are we about to see the sunset of John Howard's career?If the Polls and tomorrow's headlines are any guide, it seems highly likely.

I would have to say there are good reasons.

• Iraq
• The "NT invasion" of Aboriginal communities - with fanfare, but little or no positive effect, in terms of positive outcomes for the children. Remember the children who were at risk? Invading Australian troops were supposed to bring about a change in their safety. Strangely, we have heard nothing about that since the election started. It always was a ruse. It had little or nothing to do with the safety of the children.
• The AWB Scandal - where some $30 million was sent to the Saddam Hussein regime, as kickbacks. A regime which was supposedly so awful that we needed to go to war against it - leaving Australian troops facing military forces paid for, in part, by Australian bribes. Do you remember that?
• Weapons of Mass Destruction?
• Climate Change - John Howard denied that it was real - for 10 of the last 11 years, then said it might be a real event, but we dare not risk the economy to do anything about it.
• Refusal to sign the Kyoto Agreement.
• "Clean Coal". Clean Coal is a myth. It is an oxymoron. It just gives the Government an excuse to continue allowing the Multinational Mining Companies in Australia to continue with business as usual.
• GST - remember that one? The tax we would not have.
• Rising Home Loan interest rates.
• David Hicks. Remember him? Poor bastard nearly rotted in Guantanamo until Howard eventually realised how embarrassing it was. Offenses against Human Rights, committed by the greatest "Democracy" in the world, in the name of "Freedom". And the little Toady went along with it until even he could ignore the embarrassment no longer.
  
• "Work Choices" - that fraudulently named program which gave all the choices and the power to the Employers, and bugger all, except an AWA Ultimatum, to the workers.
  
• Etc, etc, etc.

• The fraudulent Lindsay Election leaflets are just a symptom of the problem of a corrupt Government.
  

Pete - please keep a sock in it!

Peter Garrett has a big mouth. He also has big feet. Let's face it, he is a big guy. But when he opens his mouth and sticks both feet firmly inside it, you wish he would just "put a sock in it". What this about?

Garrett has taken the heat out of the Kyoto debate. Global warming is not that easy to solve, but Pete has opened his mouth, and taken the heat off Howard, who has spent the last few days squirming because of the leaked rumour that Turnbull had tried to get the Government to agree to sign the Kyoto Protocol.

The fact that Howard was (finally) defensive over the Kyoto issue was a remarkable breakthrough. And it was good for Turnbull (facing heat from Cousins, in Wentworth). But especially it was good for Labor to see Howard ducking and weaving under questioning from the likes of the ABC 7:30 Report host, Kerry O'Brien.

But by opening his mouth (Fools rush in ......) Pete has distracted from Howard's embarrassment, caused by the leaking of the Turnbull rumour.

So, the problem is not that he has been obliged to correct his own statement. It would have been far better if he had simply said nothing - leaving Howard still dealing with the Turnbull rumour.