To back up his theory that the world is warming, and the seas are rising, Flannery reminded viewers of Andrew Denton’s Enough Rope series that thousands of years ago you could walk from Tasmania to Victoria.

Once upon a time, inland Australia was covered by sea. So, according to the straws of science grasped by the professor, this would prove the world is actually cooling!

As to the specific question posed: there are no silver bullets. As usual the biggest part of the solution was not even proffered: use less. So nuclear, etc are all important, but using less is critical too.

Clive Hamilton espouses a consistent, compassionate and courageous vision for Australia based on sound universal principles of fairness and equity. He cops it from both sides sometimes (e.g. latest net censorship debate), and he rubs some people the wrong way (he was once a little rude to my wife), but his vision has much more substance because it doesn’t avoid addressing the basic underlying economic and political causes of environmental degradation.

Which is a long way of saying according to my judgement, Flim Flam got the freezer stare from Howard start of 2007, and refused to baulk. He went at it and made himself really very unpopular with that dinosaur regime. This was a great achievement Timbo, no risk. And that’s despite my childhood buddy Ben McHenry later at South Australia museum being quite uncomplimentary.

Just as Peter Garrett for his many sins also surely helped thwart the Howard vision of a domestic nuclear … weapons capacity here either of our own or via a US military base.

It’s a swings and roundabouts sort of reality methinks.

(By the way, I was utterly appalled some years ago when words similar to ‘Foreword by Tim Flannery’ were placed on the cover of a book in larger type than that of the author!!!)

Noting in http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/letters/index.php/theaustralian/comments/only_privatisation_can_solve_the_mess_in_our_water_system/

dated 27 January 2007,

“LONG-time environmental ambulance chaser and now Australian of the Year Tim Flannery may anticipate conflict with John Howard over federal Government action on climate change, but that will be of little concern to the Prime Minister, who has just seen the electoral light on climate change.

What Mr Howard needed and got from this choice in an election year was a celebrity environmentalist who advocates consideration at least of nuclear energy as a climate change solution.

Allen Greer
Mudgee, NSW
………………………………………

Ouch again.

Arn’t there more worthy targets before we start turning on those who are genuinely working for action? Tim might have made some mistakes, but what is this strategy?

Simple answer: We’ll need all of them, and then some. This isn’t an either/or question.

Identifying the unthinkable, namely a return of the atmosphere and oceans to pre-ice age conditions, with implications for life and civilization which can hardly be contemplated, they arrived at a situation analogous to an astronomer detecting a comet speeding toward Earth, yet no one wants to believe!

Each of these scientists responds in a different way, including a myriad mistakes.

But compare their efforts with the silent majority of scientists who are familiar with the critical evidence, yet would not express it in public.

Or with the minority of well-publicized and mainstream media-supported people who exercise denial under the guise of “skepticism”, argue with established facts, try to re-write the basic laws of nature and the chemistry and physics of the atmosphere, and use ad-hominem and conspiracy theories against climate scientists, indeed often opposed to the scientific method..

Or with the inaction of the democratically elected leaders whose first and foremost responsibility is to protect the people and the future generations.

There is no doubt both Hamilton and Flannery have alot of skills and talent to offer on this terrible challenge, and as political campaigners are both too easily exploited by both major parties.

True Flannery has always been indebted to industry since that grant money from big mining (?) to study the fauna and flora of PNG.

Hamilton on the other hand was a servant of the Hawke regime’s qango the Resource Assessment Commission which did a very good job too.

My vote goes to Mickey Rouke in The Wrestler, all others please take a cold shower.