Comments on: Miners, developers pile in to fund Newman’s LNP campaign

By: K.D. Afford

K.D. Afford — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 00:31:20 +0000

To MJPC, they are 1:200 events by our would be PM, Tony Abbott - then we do know he is not one for reading facts.

By: MJPC

MJPC — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 21:00:03 +0000

K.D and Ian, you have said it all. I wonder what the Insurance companies think about climate change; 2 x 100 year floods in Queensland in 2 years (are they now 1 in 50 year floods?) and $20,000 insurance premiums in flood prone areas if the news reports are to be believed.
LNP, the best political party money can buy (a good but also in NSW, just ask one J Packer).

By: blackdog

blackdog — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 08:08:27 +0000

this is the sort of thing that definitely undermines democracy, somthing needs to be done about this, and also any donations should be publicised not just over $11,900. As the voters, we should know who is sponsoring our “leaders”…who in all reality are really just puppets of these corporations/individuals. I’m unfortunately more negative - I think the planet is done for and it is only a matter of time - and that is simply because there seems no method for keeping those with personal, financial interests at bay for the greater good and for the longevity and health of the planet..they can just play their games, use the legal system (like they did with Mabo and Native Title), use neoliberal/capitalist ideology…and not only keep exploiting all our natural resources but it seems they are stepping up their attempts to rape the planet amd future generations…

By: Ian

Ian — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 05:29:24 +0000

Hi Electric,

Thanks for the link. I have a backlog of books to read so I probably will give Ruddiman’s one a miss but I did Google him and can see what he is on about although his hypothesis is controversial. I do think it is irrelevant in the context of the current warming crisis though.

Still it’s important to keep hoping and not give in to total despair even if there remains a huge gap between that hope and expectations.

I agree with your comment that “we should give climate change deniers a very hard time, and most importantly, we shouldn’t elect governments that are riddled with climate change deniers and who are massively funded by fossil fuel producers” but would go further and say we should elect representatives who will go all out to address climate change. It seems to me that the Libs actively side with the FFI (fossil fuel industry) while Labor is just too frightened to challenge them in any meaningful way. Neither will represent anything but the status qou and we know where that will lead. If it were not for the Greens and independents we would not even have the pathetic climate change legislation we have now.

By: Electric Lardyland

Electric Lardyland — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 07:45:58 +0000

Yes, Ian, it is possible that I’m clutching at straws a bit. I mean, I do think that we have already locked in some ugly climate change. But what I think that I was trying to get across, is,that we’re currently in a Milankovitch cycle, where the trend should be for a cooling planet. So, if we were able to stabilise, then reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, it is possible that we can stabilise the climate. As opposed to considering the icecap melt, the thawing permafrost, the warming oceans, the offshore methane releases, etc, and concluding that we’ve already locked in permanent, runaway climate change.
If you’re interested, the best explanation of these long term climate cycles, that I’ve read, is in the book, Plows, Plagues and Petroleum, by William Ruddiman.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that I think we should be complacent about climate change. I do feel that the situation is urgent and desperate. And I do think, that we should all do our best to cut our own emissions, we should give climate change deniers a very hard time, and most importantly, we shouldn’t elect governments that are riddled with climate change deniers and who are massively funded by fossil fuel producers.
Whoops, I’m just starting get into long discourse mode; I better leave it there.

By: Bill Shaw

Bill Shaw — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 06:35:15 +0000

The pity is the Mining Tax may be repealed before it produces revenue of any significance. That’s because big business will avoid showing big profits by reinvesting in yet more mines. And with the Carbon Tax what a shame if that goes. Whatever the state of the climate change debate we have to move from the finite fossil fuels and the sooner the better.

By: Ian

Ian — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 02:33:46 +0000

Electric,

I haven’t researched this fully but GHG induced global warming is now proceeding at a rapid pace while variations in the earth’s orbit and axis fluctuations take place over tens of thousands of years or more. They certainly won’t be enough to ameliorate the GHG effect within a reasonable time scale.

By: Electric Lardyland

Electric Lardyland — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 01:51:42 +0000

Some good points made there, folks. But I’d just like to add a couple of things, climate change wise. I think that you’re being a little bit too kind, referring to the Liberals as climate skeptics. Personally, I think that they’re largely a party of climate change denial, but that they don’t have the political courage to adopt denial as official policy. Instead, they just trot out the figleaf of ‘direct action’; whatever that’s supposed to be.
Also, while I do think that we’ve already launched a few dangerous climate feedback loops, especially in the Arctic, and that we’ve already locked in some further climate change; I personally don’t think that it is too late. This is because the natural climate forcers, like variations in the earth’s orbit, axis fluctuations, etc, all say that we should be in a cooling phase. This, slightly paradoxically , means two main things. Firstly, the variation from this long term cooling trend, means that we’ve probably warmed the planet more than the raw data suggests. Secondly, since we’re likely to be in, what should be a natural cooling phase for a while longer, we have a bit better chance of stabilising the climate, than is first apparent.

By: Ian

Ian — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 10:35:05 +0000

These donations are destroying our democracy. It’s corruption pure and simple.

By: Paddy Forsayeth

Paddy Forsayeth — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 05:35:08 +0000

You said it K.D. - world without care. I do not believe the general populace will politically support any substantial shift in the way we do business. Given our size Australians will be mere spectators as the world’s climate problems spiral out of control. I am firmly of the opinion that it is already too late and the climate debate is irrelevant.

By: K.D. Afford

K.D. Afford — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 04:14:13 +0000

Watch the same thing happening with the Federal elections, what with Climate Change sceptical Liberal Party scrapping the Carbon Tax and the Mining Tax that should be worth buckets of money for that party! What a pity that they want exponential growth, cranes over every city, world with out care as the fall into the laps of Clive, Gina, and Twiggy like puppy dogs, not caring a fig about the future of our children.
Already Lord Monckton is out here to tell us the Climate Change …”scare is over….” to help deny the catastrophe that will befall us. Never mind that 97% of world Climate Scientists say otherwise to Monckton, never mind that we are world leaders in having a Carbon Tax, and never mind that 80% of the mining wealth goes overseas and we see very little of it - but the Liberal Party will!