Regarding others comments about his funding, Carter is a member of the right-wing think tank the Institute of Public Affairs fossil fuel funded, he has also been sponsored by the US version the Heartland Institute think tank also fossil fuel funded. Carter has never denied receiving payment from some of these groups he just argues its not relevant. Of much more suspicion is that if you’ve seen or been to one of his presentations he goes out of his way to tell people to ring or contact their local federal member to say no to the ETS etc
He’s definitely a player and not some detached contrarian away from the political process.

Mark Duffett – I think you would agree that on this topic (CO2 and climate change), “geologist” does equal “mining industry” and “fossil fuels” – petroleum, gas, coal. In addition, mining industry and fossil fuels also equals diamonds, gold, silver, lead, nickel, bauxite, iron ore etc etc.

In WA, jarrah forests are felled so Alcoa can get at the bauxite. Now the only family of quokkas in WA, to survive industrial slaughter, hangs out on the Island of Rottenest.

Every time miners dig a dirty big hole, soil carbon is dispersed to the atmosphere. In Australia’s agricultural areas alone, some 50 – 80% of precious soil carbon has been lost to the atmosphere.

According to expert, Gavin Mudd, it takes 691,000 litres of water and 141 kilograms of cyanide to produce a single kilogram of gold. Futhermore two million tonnes of solid waste is produced for one kilogram of gold where its primary function is jewellery. Huh?

Nor can one exploit Mother Nature’s hazardous waste repositories without the use of other hazards. If she’d anticipated neanderthal man digging up her wastes , I’m sure she’d have left them on the surface for easy pickings.

In addition, emissions from mining installations include carcinogenic, mutagenic and teratogenic volatile organic compounds particularly those large operations which use untested waste oil as a fuel to pump up profits. Waste oil is filthy stuff and its pumped over communites who have no idea what they’re inhaling.

Bob Carter, all the way from Queensland, recently emitted a hazardous diatribe at the Western Mining Conference Hall in Kalgoorlie – admission free too - hmmm? Who paid for the most expensive flight leg in Australia so the locals could be graced with Bob’s presence?

Naturally, he never travels without his blinkers on so he failed to mention the prolific hazardous emissions from the world’s largest mining chasms - Barrick- Newmont’s Super Pit (KCGM) in Kalgoorlie, about to expand to some 4 km long, 1.6 km wide and 600 metres deep.

I once followed a SO2 plume (and no doubt its toxic adsorbents) for some 300 hundred kilometres – an emission from KCGM’s Gidgi gold roaster. I arrived at my destination but the plume kept going. Only the Gods would know of its environmental fate.

Can carbon emissions be accurately measured from massive mining excavations including waste rock like the Super Pit or from stack emissions every quarter when the house has been tidied up for the “visitors?” I don’t think so.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/the-mine-thats-swallowing-a-town/story-e6frg6pf-1111115511984

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/6867786/super-pit-moves-closer-to-boulder/

If the subsidies to fossil fuel industry have been $10 billion per yr for last 10 yrs; imagine what could’ve been done with that money re research and development, solar hot water, electricity, even for lighting? Wow! We’d be in a good position now.
Tim Flannery installed solar panels for all his requirements. I think he has a couple of kids, a wife etc. It was about $20,000 and he reckons about $30,000 if you work from home. I think he’s also self sufficient re water. I know he probably has a very good income, but it can be done! It’s a matter of priorities!

I was stunned to learn, that unlike us, the US still have petrol fuelled buses and taxis. Imagine if they started using gas or electricity like us (Sydney does anyway).

There’s places in remote Africa where people are using solar for lighting and cooking and lap tops, which means kids are exposed to education, reading etc. I find that so exciting! But of course, those who only want to steal their resources; use them for slave labour with the insistence of the World bank and/or IMF don’t want the kids educated. Who knows what they might expect if they know the truth???Haiti is a good example!

Well, for the sake of my special peoples’ future, and yours, let’s hope the Greens have the balance of power in the Senate after the next election, and get rid of the fossils who lust after corporate wealth or help those who do! Like Minchin, Boswell, Martin Ferguson(would have nuclear power in a blink) and others. Brandis (the bloke who called Howard a ‘rodent’ or was it ’ a lying little rodent’? More, like Abbott etc.

It is criminal not to as you say. Germany is doing amazing things as are parts of the US and others! Farmers have solar panels on their land; they’re along busy highways (which is space that is wasted - away from the road but still in view and feeding those communities?)We wasted almost 12 yrs during Howard’s time, and we need to get going, but we need a govt with the guts to tell the mining companies, ‘this is how it’s going to be, get on with it or get out’? But instead, NSW is opening or extending coal mining?? Frustrating as hell!

Too often we hear people framing the debate, wrongly, as a choice between continue burning coal and oil and doing nothing or become hippies without cars and lights and heating.

Complete and absolute rubbish.

We have enough wind and solar radiation hitting our country to provide us with as much energy as we care to harness. Enough solar radiation falls onto the surface of Australia every day to provide all of the energy the entire world uses in 6 months.

Look to Germany - where their governments are more sane, intelligent and forward thinking. With a population of only 4 times Australia in an area the same as NSW they produce more power with wind turbines than our whole country uses. If we transplanted all the wind turbines from Germany to Australia we wouldn’t need to burn any coal for all of our electricity needs.

And thats with today’s technology - without tapping any of Australia’s solar resources. Convert our transport to electric vehicles or hydrogen powered vehicles and suddenly Australia is burning no fossil fuels for any of its electricity or land/marine transport.

Hardly a crazy vision. Using today’s technology at the same rate of use being used in other countries.

Its criminal not to do it!

I don’t have the right to keep on supporting the rich & greedy at their expense. We hear lots of nonsense about the so-called ‘big new tax’ but apparently have no responsiblity as to protect the environment for their future - we’re using up their future - how obscene is that? What’s the point of money if the planet is f****d? None!

I’m constantly amazed by those like JamesMc. I don’t know if he has kids, but I ‘got’ my kids through a lot of difficulty, and I have an appreciation and love for other peoples’ kids; I must support alternatives to the filth we’re pouring in to their lungs, food etc each day. I’ve had a baby with asthma(2 wks old - terrifying?) and one with bronchitis(9 mnths) and grand kids too.(due to inherited tendancies on both sides of the family). Even forgetting climate change, even if for this type of suffering by too many little ones, we must make the necessary changes. Australia is in probably the best position in maybe the world to do it!

You keep on speaking out, and bless you!

Its funny how these 20-somethings you snear about are able to do a lot of those things due to the freedoms and changes in societies thinking brought about by the baby boomers (my parents generation). And our government sets the tax and investment framework in this country - can’t blame people for doing their best to maximise their wealth within the framework of the laws of our society. If government had the courage to set the rules up reasonably then everyone would act accordingly.

And don’t underestimate the change in people’s thinking as they mature (even if your advancing age concentrates your bitterness and cynicism) and begin to bring new lives into the world. It changes people’s perspectives and a lot abandon the more hedonistic and selfish activities in order to make things better for their children.

I’m hardly a tree hugger - I’m an electrical engineer working in the power industry - so I’m doing my bit to change things.

I can tell you’re not going to change. Well we don’t need to convince you to - cause you’re only a temporary problem for this planet we live on.

I’ve just been reading of the violent, abusive and most disturbing campaign of the climate change deniers? They’re sending death threats and horrible emails to people like Clive Hamilton etc. Some of them probably spriuk about democracy etc as well! The firm view is that”mostly it is anonymous and appears to be orchestrated”?

BAAL, full points for feeling, but what makes you think only the grand class-enemy-of-the-month, these “deniers”, argue as I do? I suppose all wife beaters and tax cheats are deniers too?

wow! good country this. Driving a 4 wheel drive around and building McMansions in their 20’s? Who said anything about GFC, underemployment etc? Not bad for their age? What jobs are they employed in that pay that well? They should be paying more tax so they can look after you when you go to the home for grumpy old men? Or are you there already?

I had no idea young people had it so good? I’ve been following the wrong crowd obviously, perhaps the wrong country even. In my area, the unemployment stat for young people is still the highest in the country, has been for over 12 yrs?

‘baby boomers who came of age in the social revolution. What a bunch of mercenaries and real estate scalpers they turned out to be, on the whole.’

It says so much more about your sir than it does about them. A snivelling, resentful, self-pitying, envious, cynical (price of everything value of nothing -O Wilde) bilge. Cease and be off you vandal.

Half of today’s 20-somethings are driving 4-wheel-drive, motorized battering rams around the city, in a sort of arms race to survive collisions, and building McMansions with the air conditioning running day and night.

Dream on, kid. You want to venerate your nature-loving generation, try teaching them to walk before they talk.

If we started our civilisation right now - with all of our knowledge and without any of the vested interests of what has gone before we would fuel our society on purely renewable means.

The idea of going to the trouble of moving enormous amounts of rock and soil to dig up fossils and burning them to create energy when we know so much about how to create energy from the free and clean energy coming from the sun is insane.

The only reasons people are being difficult is because they think its too hard to change the way we do things or make too much money from the existing coal, gas and oil business.

But all you old, stick in the mud, there-is-nothing-wrong-with-burning-billions-of-tonnes-of-oil-and-coal-every-hour-of-every-day people are going to die in a few years - a few more generations and this debate will be looked upon with humourous disbelief in much the same way that we look upon medieval jousting.

Electric cars, clean energy from the sun and wind - and petrol fuelled cars in museums. Its inevitable - just a matter of time. Its a pity only a certain proportion of humanity gets it at the moment.

Granted, I don’t know enough about the sub-branches of geology to know whether Carter’s areas of specialisation would be relevant or sought after.

sure, there are people that are “confused” which is probably the fault of the various world governments - but flat out denialists? hmmmm not sure on that one.

p.s what is a crikey article without personal insults.

“earnest scribbler - And I can pick a ‘little finger’ person a mile off! I picked you a long time ago? Grow up baby!”

LIZ45, Keep up the narcissistic drivel. You are priceless.

I think Jeremy Williams’ characterisation of Carter as a habitual contrarian is much closer to the mark.

Anyway, as a grandmother, I’m with you, and I’m very scared for their future. I’m so sick to death of these greedy self indulgent bastards who are so greedy that they’ll prostitute their kids/grandkids future to try and make the denialists out to have some integrity. Prostitutes all! I’d like to know those who aren’t getting money from an individual/group who isn’t/aren’t involved in activities that blast crap into the air that is poisoning my grandkids bodies and/or stuffing up their future. I predict, that if we sadly reach the point of no return, all these bastards will either bid a hasty retreat, or scream bloody murder! I hope my grandkids and your precious little baby girl don’t have to live with their criminal denials!

“I worry about what sort of future my newborn daughter is going to have so I live a lifestyle that minimizes my ‘ecological footprint”. I worry for her and it gets my back up when I here people claiming humans have had no impact on our climate, who espouse the free market ideology that puts profits over the very planet that sustains us. So tell me, what sustains you and all the other naysayers? Perhaps some idea of how you would like to see the world in 20yrs time might be a good start and how we are to get there!” Pipe and smoke please

It’s rude to copy and paste your drivel all over the place. And you can’t substitute paranoid conspiracy theory and ideological approach to science for verified observations and facts. Nobody’s denying that there are uncertainties in the scientific consensus mind you (ahem, another misrepresentation at best, more like another bare faced lie). You are massively overstating them mind you. Fortunately we can see from this that your argument is worthless and that you should stop wasting our time with your crap.

The funny thing is that the ‘deniers’ are now really the AGW alarmists like kdkd who deny, deny, deny the uncertainties in climate science as revealed to the public by Climategate and its aftermath in order to save their pure dogma.

Until Copenhagen, western governments were susceptable to influence by the political green agenda. Now they are not so sure.

Realpolitic Chinese-style met 15000 green happy clappers and countless ratbag fringe groups.

Result: Chinese 1 – Ratbags 0.