Australian polls have plummeted, and the credibility gap I mentioned earlier has already translated into votes. Whether people agree or disagree with the Emissions Trading Scheme, no one is impressed when a leader hypes something in the most hyperbolic and inflammatory terms, then bails suddenly, as if it was not a big deal.
The front page of The Australian today:
KEVIN Rudd’s personal standing has taken a hammering after his decision to dump his climate change policy last week, and for the first time since 2006 the Coalition has an election-winning lead.
Curiously, while the Labor Party dropped 8%, the Greens primary vote (10%) didn’t pick up a single point. The Coalition (the main opposition) gained just 3% (to 43%), so most of the rest of the disillusioned voters went to “others and independents”. All the commentators are writing it up to the “Climate” issue.
It may have taken a long time to come, but eventually things based on bullying and bluster crash to Earth. Both sides of politics could have stood taller in this if they had bothered to get a forum of advocates and skeptics together in the same room (perhaps a Royal Commissioner’s room) to politely explain both sides of the story, and it should have been done in John Howard’s time when Kyoto was being floated. It’s not that they would have necessarily become skeptics, but they would have been informed–they would have realized that very little was as certain as the IPCC described–and that it was precipitously dangerous to base their own reputations on the one-sided propaganda material coming from there.
The last time the Coalition was in front on the two-party-preferred basis, according to preference flows at the last election, was in August 2006 when Kim Beazley was opposition leader and John Howard was prime minister.
It’s hard to imagine there won’t be a rebound for the Labor Party, but a major line has been crossed. Only a few months ago, hardly anyone would admit that the conservative Coalition even stood a chance. Now the tables have turned, and the number that decide elections, the “two party preferred” support, has the Coalition ahead 51% to Labor’s 49%.
I predicted the Labor Party would pay dearly on Nov 25th as I discussed the ETS legislation that at the time, appeared as if it would pass. It was the week following ClimateGate.
This now is the start of the Cliff of Political Oblivion. The Continental Shelf of Abject Derision looms.
The majority of the public will realize that the Labor Government has wrecked the economy over a fraud driven by status-seeking zealots and profit-seeking corporations, and Labor will be very unpopular. Then in the Labor Party the pragmatists will battle the politically correct (who will never concede). Climate change could tear the Labor Party apart sometime in the next few years.
This has by no means played out in full. It is probably only just beginning, but the signs of a new dynamic are there. The public is just beginning to understand the force of the money in climate, and the Labor Party is set for an internal civil war. The fastest way for Labor to neutralize this issue would be to convene a top independent scientific investigation to figure out the real risk-benefit ratio of curbing carbon emissions. Then they could blame the IPCC and the UN, and focus on real environmental problems like eroding top-soil and falling fish stocks. And pigs will sing the National Anthem.
This is by no means over. Tony Abbott thinks Rudd just wants to take the ETS off the election agenda (since an election later this year is likely) then introduce it in some guise anyway. Rudd is still funding The Federal Climate Change Department to the tune of $90 million a year. As Simon Benson points out, to maintain the stalled Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, there are 61 senior bureaucrats earning top-notch salaries of up to $298,000 each.
“But none of the 408 staff within the department will be shed even though the department’s key function, the CPRS, has been axed.”
…
Hat-tip to the ClimateGate whistle-blower or hacker whoever you are. Thank you.
It’s too bad that American politicians on the CAGW side haven’t seen the light. It seems that as the CAGW case gets weaker, the politicians who support CAGW get more belligerent in pushing their climate control agenda. It’s really not about ‘greening’ the world, but about power and control and how corrupt politics feeds on any mechanism, real or imagined, to consolidate it’s power. This is a classic example of runaway positive feedback.
George
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You only have to look at the behavour of those pushing CAGW and Controls. They all Fly everywhere in Private Jets, with lots of “supporters”, drive large Cars and live in large Houses.
It is a case of Do As we Say, not as we do.
If they really cared about CO2 emmissions they would not be Flying everywhere or driving large cars, they don’t really care at all.
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I agree. I wonder when (if) he will step forward and become a hero to many and a villain to the few CAGWers.
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People are starting to wake-up and see the cost of all the government intervention at Federal, Provincial and local levels. Were taxed over 42% of our gross income here in Canada. Past the pain threshold. People are starting to ask questions and demanding to see some value for money. CAGW just won’t scare anyone because governments are already sucking the marrow out of individual housholds. What left to take? I hope these scare mongering governments take a real beating and we start to run our countries in a business like manner. Value for money is all I ever asked. I hope the winds of change start with Austrailia and continue to blow around the rest of the world.
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The new resources tax shows that the ETS was all about taxes. Rudd hoped to raise taxes without people complaining. In the end taxes hurt, firstly because they take from people who work to produce wealth, and secondly because they distort and reduce economic activity. An ETS would be particularly bad because it’s nature is to attack modern industry and everything that produces wealth other than manual labour.
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Jo, I like the cliff and can’t help think “lemmings”!
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A comment on the Australian yesterday when it hit said the following (reworded for clarity) – I would be really itnerested to know if this was true:
If this is the case, how on earth could the Labour party have the gaul to even hint at the idea that they represent the working people of australia?
And is anyone surprised that these guys have no practical abilities whatsoever?
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Its not just the Climate Change big wigs…
Advert in the newspaper only last weekend. They are still recruiting new staff.
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I was at a National Party function in Taree, NSW, yesterday to see our new candidate for Lynne, Dr. David Gillespie. Barnaby Joyce, Fiona Nash and Warren Trusss all spoke. The ETS was only briefly mentioned in the roll call of Rudd failures and backdowns. They think he will try to introduce some form of CO2 abatement scheme in his next term because so many are still calling for action on climate change.
Our challenge is to show that capping CO2 emissions will have zero effect on climate change just as it has zero effect on warming. Climate change is best tackled by adaptation. We could put forward positive thoughts concerning adaptation. We know that the left will oppose every positive suggestion such as building dams or limiting immigration. The left and it’s supporters in the Labor Party and the media should be encouraged (forced) to come up with real and practical solutions to the problems they rave about rather than the get-out-of-jail-free card called carbon pollution. After all it’s only a matter of years before the great lie will be fatally exposed.
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Richard Lindzen says:
‘Ordinary people see through man-made climate fears — but educated people are very vulnerable’
Rudd finally gets this. Unfortunately it is against the religion of the Press Gallery (and like minorities)who scream heresy and worse from the rooftops. A bit will rub off in immediate public opinion but even the Gallery will have trouble making it stick.
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I wrote and congratulated Rudd for his shelving of the ETS. Someone has to give the guy credit for doing the right thing – at the last moment! My read of the Rudd Lowy Institute speech in November is that it was the classic Rudd emotional overbalancing act – remember the strange Bill Henson child photo issue? – just before he folds or backs off.
I became aware of the Climategate issue in January and it was a big shock to my worldview. Prior to that, I took “the scientists” and “Al Gore the Oracle” on trust. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rudd has gone through something similar.
I agree with JoNova that the Labor pragmatists will be battling the green zealots on this. It’s never been part of core Labor policies to impoverish the working classes on the basis of elitist ideologies, after all. And the AGW energy policies simply don’t work. The trick is to gently detox the Labor left base of greens, ABC watchers and Fairfax readers. They really have no idea that anything is going on.
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BT, Have you given thought to the notion that Labor has been used by the Fabians?
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Can’t help myself today…
TAXPAYERS, UNITED, should never pay for BLUDGERs…
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ABC: alarmist business as usual
http://www.australianclimatemadness.com/?p=3578
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“It’s never been part of core Labor policies to impoverish the working classes on the basis of elitist ideologies, after all.”
Sadly, BT, that time is long gone. Ideology and utopianism is all that’s left of the Left, so to speak.
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Now if the UN would just stumble and fall like Rudd has.
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BT #11 – I disagree that Rudd has done the right thing. The right thing is to announce a real scientific investigation and put off any action until the risk-benefits of acting are reasonably well assessed and found in favour of action. If he had set up a committee with a sincere attempt to find independent scientists I’d be writing to say thanks myself.
Or he could scrap the committee idea, and just do what thousands of citizens have done, read both sides of the debate and acknowledge that one side depends on bluster, bullying, computer simulations and censorship, and can’t answer basic questions like “wheres the evidence for the assumption of positive feedback”. He’s been “had” and I’m still not sure he’s aware.
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Mr Rudd
I have two words for you. Good Riddance.
Cheers,
Speedy
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Unfortunately his dependence on a super profit tax is going to come back and bite him as various people are predicting the China bubble is about to burst. They have huge shopping malls with no tenants, fully built cities with no one in them – they are heading for a major collapse which of course will flow onto us and Rudd’s super profit tax!
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Rudd the Dud.
But the fight is not over. Both Rudd and Abbott are politicians and pragmatists and will do and say whatever is needed to win power. We need to keep onto them in case they are tempted to sneak in ETS after the election.
Ken
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Re comments above. It is the same in the UK. Politicians go from university to research work / speech-writing for a political party, to becoming an MP to becoming a minister. Hardly any of the current (till tomorrow) lot have ever had to make a living in the real world. Unfortunately it’s the same in the two main (till tomorrow) opposition parties. Only UKIP (the Viscount is a member) has people with business experience and hence sensible policies. But under the current system UKIP stands no chance – except in European elections which have proportional representation.
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Thanks Jo.
Perhaps a new market will develop : one where politicians go to purchase credibility, um, credits. I think the cost might be a bit prohibitive for some. Something like 10 years of consistent saying and doing might begin to engender public trust.
One group deserves a special mention : the self-appointed deciders of public opinion – journalists. Many of this class don’t know it yet, but their careers are over. I’m seeing some pretty hostile stuff in comments for some of the leaders of the media collective. They think they can continue to “analyse” and pontificate, pretending that their previous ill judged and partisan commentary can be safely ignored and forgotten. I note one particular gutter snipe has be sacked from the Age for her recent twitter indiscretions. That’s a start – another 100 and maybe journalism will start to recognise the need for some integrity and clean up its act.
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Actually Jo, pigs already sing the national anthem. That’s another part of the problem.
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I wonder if Steve Fielding will gain a new public respect for his stance throughout this saga. Not holding my breath. It would be deserved, however.
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Like most religions AWG has never heard all that many true believers. There are a lot of people posing as believers, who are in fact simply political opportunists. One of the things that gave AWG so much momentum is that a lot of ways(in regards to people with a political left, environmental, or social engineering, agenda) It was all things to all people. I think there may have even been some pragmatic people, who viewed it as an opportunity to start preparing Western economies for peak oil.
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Joanne Nova: #17
I am sure he has been, and he is not.
Kevin, and his Cabinet colleagues, are somewhat at the mercy of the bureaucracy. Here is a quote from the Prime Minster’s Department:
The emphasis is mine.
Now, the advice that DPMC gives to Cabinet Ministers must be absolutely, and demonstrably, correct. But who is to say that it is always complete? What checks and balances exist at this level to ensure that the advice is perfectly balanced?
A small number of advisers, with a shared consensus, could have a remarkable impact on the course of events.
Food for thought, perhaps?
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By the positioning of the Lib-Man are you suggesting they might wake up towards the middle of this year? 😉
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[…] rejects EU proposal to extend Kyoto ; K Rudd the climate bully […]
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Thanks Jimi Bostock, if you really were the hacker. Your tale was very believable. (Since been deleted, I believe, for various reasons.)
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RE: BT #11
Worth remembering that Rudd has die hard sceptics in caucus that have been in his ear all along. I don’t think he ever really believed it and we will probably have to wait for the memoirs years down the track to know just what Krudd was thinking with this one. It will be a best seller because he has no compass apart from the need to be popular in a 24 hour cycle. Maybe they will never get written??
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Here is a story about Rudd from someone I have no reason to doubt
It’s the eighties and he is a junior diplomat in China which was not a flash posting. Bob Hawke is making his 1st trip to the region and below Rudd is another junior diplomat who is asked to brief the PM. Feeling a bit flustered over this task he asks Rudd for advice which he freely gives. “—–(name suppressed) keep it very very brief whatever you do, he will be tired, I mean just a half page of points and a couple of minutes on each”. —– follows this advice to a T and is relieved when his presentation goes well enough, though Hawke was getting bored even then. —– then sits down contented. Then….unscripted……out of the blue……without permission Rudd gets up and pulls out 5 crafted pages of material which he indulgently dribbles on about for an eternity. Hawke was pissed, ambassador was pissed and —– never forgot it.
When people ask in future how did this man rise to PM – now you know
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Mark D,
They ARE Fabians 🙂 and this is the problem.
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Don’t make any excuses for Kevin Rudd. He knew exactly what he was doing in proposing the disastrous ETS because his massive ego and delusions of grandeur led him to believe he could “lead the world” in tackling the alleged AGW. These delusions were reinforced by his sycophants and green activists who knew they could use his UN ambitions and inflated opinion of himself to achieve their own ends.
Read the 27/3/08 personal letter written to Rudd by NASA’s James Hansen at the behest of some of the above people and you’ll see exactly what I mean! Note in particular the who’s who of AGW alarmists Hansen recommended to Rudd.
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/author.asp?id=5395
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Louis @ 32:
Louis, I agree that they are the “face” of the Fabians and perhaps even part of the reason (i.e. social justice ploy) but the real power is the wealth controlled by the elite Fabians the ones you don’t see.
Wealth and labor are in my opinion like oil and water. The wealthy are happy to mix with labor when it matters (votes) but the wealth does not really ever get to the workers. Instead the wealth compounds in the hands of the wealthy while the laborers are kept content that their rabble rousing has done them well.
Therefore I say that labor has been used by the Fabians.
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To Madjack at Post No 7,
I came across this extract from Edward de Bono. I think it supports your comments about the lack of “experience” in the Rudd Government.
I think he has summed up the background of the ALP?
And possibly some members of the Liberal and Greens Party?? What is Tony Abbott’s background? Very much a “thinker” I suspect?
Any “ thoughts”?
POSTSCRIPT: “Huge defect” in our thinking
by Edward de Bono
Our thinking is not nearly as good as we believe.
It’s all defensive, prove your point and so on as opposed to opening up and designing better ways forward.
For instance, one of the real problems which no one dares mention – but I’m going to mention it – is democracy. Huge problem with democracy. What?
Certain professions – architects, engineers, scientists, business executives – find it very difficult to go to parliament. Why? Because if you are not elected a second time, you cannot go back to where you were. You can’t get back to being a top architect.
So what happens? Who gets into Parliament? The talkers.
Lawyers, journalists, teachers, trade unionists – excellent at talking but no habit of constructive thinking. They have never used constructive thinking in their lives.
So Parliament is made up of a lot of people who are very good at attacking and criticising, analysing, no habits or skill at constructive thinking. Now that is governing the country. That is a huge defect.
Extract from Edward de Bono on the BBC World Service’s The Interview, August 29, 2009.
URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0040vrg
URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p0040vrg
Cheers,
Annie A
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The Brits can go one better. In Canada, I’ve been reading that their high commission in Ottawa is unable to push the climate message because of their reputation as gossip mongers. They were forced to hire an “expert,” from the British Association of Private Security Companies. They pay for outside “help,” while maintaining a media relations office, too. Governments will spend our money without reguard until we stop them!
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Annie A @ 35,
Thanks for that. It’s good to see the thinking is not some random rant. Now I fear it may become a random rant on my part.
I have been thinking about this for a while, and to me the problem gets even deeper than this. After all, there are unions and lobby groups everywhere, but where are the taxpayers represented? The only answer I can think of is at election time, but voters do not need to be taxpayers.
So, if Unions can go on strike, and employers can do a lockout, what negotiation tool do taxpayers have over government? The threat of not paying taxes, is, of course, only effective if all taxpayers did it, which I would suggest would be nigh impossible to arrange. Lobby groups would hardly be the answer either (just look at the plethora of these groups around these days).
So the question remains, how can the people who contribute the most toward the systems in place be adequately represented? How can their voices be heard in a non violent manner?
For some countries, this problem will have to be front and centre. There are more than a few western countries heading towards what philosophers call the “Tyranny of the majority” – namely where there will be more of the voting populace dependant on benefits than there will be people paying taxes from the private sector. A lot of this is as a result of the ageing population, but in some cases, it has been self inflicted where an overly generous welfare state has encouraged it to be a lifestyle choice for some of it’s voters.
Maybe a starting point would be for all bureaucrats to be paid a benefit rather than a wage – purely in recognition of the fact that they are paid from the collective pool. How would one go about getting this done? -particularly when you consider it appears most of our elected power brokers are the very people who would be told they get a benefit?
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Madjak,
The US is already a Tyranny of the Majority. The top 1% of wage earners pays about 40% of all income taxes, while the top 5% pays about 60%. The bottom 50% contributes just 3% to the total tax base, with many getting more back than they even paid during the year, which for all intents and purposes constitutes a federal benefit to the majority of people. It’s even a politically prejudicial benefit primarily for Democrats (Labor+Green) since the majority of the bottom 50% of taxpayers who belong to a political party are Democrats, while the majority of the top 50% of taxpayers are Republicans (Conservative). It boggles the mind how the left still thinks the tax system isn’t ‘progressive’ enough. Combined with US corporate tax rates which are among the highest in the world, our tax system is oppressively progressive.
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To Mark D — This is slightly off topic but I was reading about the Greek crisis and saw an interesting comment attached to a Daily Telegragh article which made me think of your comments on the Fabians.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/7679029/Euro-plunges-as-Club-Med-debt-fears-spread.html
Look at the LONG comment by John Ryskemp @ 6.17
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500 CSIRO scientists face the axe.
Read HERE
And this gem from the Greens science spokesperson Christine Milne…
Oh the hypocrasy of the woman
thnx to Andrew Bolt
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Baa, can you imagine what 500 out of work scientists will have to say once they are out? Holy cow this is big and it is in AU the next step will be domino’s around the world….
I still want to know why we have had no trolls for 2 weeks? Could it be they are preparing their resume’s and looking for new jobs?
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We recently received the following from the Liberal Party regarding Global Warming……
====================================
Thank you for your email(s) regarding the Rudd Government’s proposed emissions trading scheme, or so-called Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS), and please accept my apology for both the delay in responding to you and for the standardised nature of this response, due to the unprecedented volume of correspondence generated by the ETS debate.
While debate has been more focused on the matter of Australia’s policy response to the stated threats of climate change than the veracity or otherwise of the science, I nevertheless appreciate you bringing your views to my attention.
I don’t believe that the IPCC errors and apologies that have come to my attention totally change the overall scientific case surrounding climate change, particularly where they relate to claimed impacts as opposed to underlying causes of climate change. That is not to say that there is not valid debate, but simply that I believe the overall balance still favours a precautionary approach.
The Coalition is committed to responsible action on climate change, with Leader Tony Abbott having announced a direct action policy that will allow Australia to reduce emissions without the imposition of the Rudd Government’s expensive, new tax-churning regime and its financial burden on Australian businesses and households.
While our policy measures will reduce Australia’s carbon footprint, I also hope that those who question or reject out-of-hand the notion of human-induced warming will nevertheless be supportive of direct actions with demonstrable ‘win win’ benefits, for example to soil quality and agricultural production.
I hope this information is of some assistance to you, and thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Yours sincerely,
Simon Birmingham
Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Action
===========================================
I EMAILED HIM BACK TO TELL HIM THAT HE & HIS PARTY HAD LOST OUR SUPPORT AS THEY ARE STILL PROMOTING THIS GLOBAL WARMING FRAUD!
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Further information on this “Simon Birmingham”…….
http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/AboutSimon/Biography/tabid/58/Default.aspx
You will notice that his qualifications are Master of BUSINESS administration.
Clearly, he & the Liberal Party consider that this global warming HOAX is all about Business aka MONEY, AND NOTHING TO DO WITH science!!!
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Baa @40:
Maybe somebody in the ALP actually believes that “the science is settled”.
Meanwhile Sherwood of UNFI and others manage to publish a paper that is so bad that it’s not even wrong. See WUWT.
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Bernd Felsche: #44
May 6th, 2010 at 7:42 pm
Yes Bernd, I saw that at WUWT. Anthony said the first thing that came to his mind was “The Edge of Wetness”.
I said (flippantly) the first thing that came to my mind was “Wet Dreams” Sherwoods that is.
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Rudd’s dropped because he’s shown himself to be dithering and ineffectual. And this is even before the inevitable back down on the disastrous miner’s ‘super tax’. It’s not going to get any better, and Abbott is going to keep the pressure on, like a true fighter.
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Phillip Bratby:
May 5th, 2010 at 5:19 am
“I wonder when (if) he will step forward and become a hero..”
I think that he/she will have to wait until the majority laughs somewhat shamefull whenever “Global Warming” is mentioned. Next february, perhaps?
By the way, an interesting link posted by Enneagram over at wattsupwiththat;
http://www.scribd.com/doc/28018819/Greenhouse-Niels-Bohr
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Bernd Felsche, you have a German-sounding name so I’d be very interested to know what you think about the situation with Greece. Why is the German government even considering paying any money? How do you expect it to end?
Sorry if this has nothing to do with climate.
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Tel @48:
I’ve lived in Australia since 1968. The EU situation is a total cockup due to ideology over-ruling common sense. The ideology embraced via the Lisbon Treaty of one Europe being good for all with national governments essentially yielding sovreignty to a bunch of mindless (but well-meaning) bureaucrats.
The least-damage solution proposed is the one (IIRC) by Vaclav Klaus: Don’t lend Greece any more money but pay off (a proportion of) the debts directly. Expel Greece from the Euro- and trade-zone. Recover payouts through export duties on goods and services to Greece. It also leaves Greece to exercise its sovereign right and obligation to legislate and govern for itself.
Do that ASAP and send a clear message to the other teetering economies of Europe.
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The main problem we face is that people are willing to be lazy and give up knowledge for trust, allowing all manner of wrongdoings by governments worldwide. We also have such short memories of things we learned in the past that still haven’t changed and are well established by science.
It’s therefore easy to see that the vast majority of the public aren’t autodidacts (look it up), and have no idea what CO2 is (some equate it to coal dust that killed many miners in England), that the vast forests of the Carboniferous Period had some 20 times the CO2 we have now (creating our coal and oil reserves from atmospheric carbon) , the Jurassic some 10 times when delicate aragonite corals evolved, when oceans weren’t acidic as they constantly brush against alkaline shores, without a tipping point or runaway greenhouse, ever.
Not forgetting that the vast majority of the public know nothing of the Roman Warm Period (2000 years ago – deleted from Wiki by climate-criminal William Connolly – read:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/12/19/wikibullies-at-work-the-national-post-exposes-broad-trust-issues-over-wikipedia-climate-information
The Mediaeval Warm Period (1000 years ago) when the Vikings colonised Greenland, their graves are in permafrost now, and the Little Ice Age (1500AD – 1800AD), which killed millions due to famine and plague. Since then the planet’s been warming due to solar activity. Be glad it’s warm, as grain doesn’t grow in ice and cattle don’t like it much either.
Notably, we wouldn’t have coral and nautilus fossils from the Jurassic Period if the oceans were acidic enough to dissolve their shells. The oceans currently have a PH level of between 7.9 and 8.3, which is alkaline. PH 7 is neutral.
It’s a shame that the uninformed try to sequester CO2 as it’s actually airborne fertiliser. Many farmers pump it into their greenhouses to max plant growth, which is also vastly unknown by the fearmongers.
I’m all for cleaning up our act and removing particulates and other ACTUAL pollutants, but leave CO2 alone as it feeds our plants, animals and eventually us via the carbon cycle.
Here’s an eye-opener: Global anthropogenic CO2 output is some 30 billion tons per year (nature’s output is some 600 billion tons). Using the IPCC’s own erroneous and highly bloated figures, we would need to cut 1 trillion tons of CO2 emissions to stop 1C of warming. That means no cars, trains, planes, industry or campfires, for 30 YEARS!! Using the correct figures would have your generations living this way for 200 years. In the meantime the climate does what it likes using solar activity, orbital wobbles (Milankovich Cycles) and Pacific Decadal Oscillations. Completely ignoring the human element. Humans can’t even control a recent lava flow in Hawaii let alone a planet full of climate due to external forces.
Think about it. You exhale around 40,000ppm CO2 every breath, far larger than the 388ppm in our atmosphere at present. If CO2 was deemed a pollutant, CPR would be banned and you could be jailed for attempted murder instead of saving a life. I’m no scientist, and you don’t need to be to understand simple history and common sense.
The vast majority also don’t know that global atmospheric CO2 is just about 3% of the atmosphere, and man’s contribution is just 3% of THAT. It’s like a grain of sugar in the middle of the dinner table. CO2 is a trace gas which has a logarithmic function in the atmosphere and oceans, whereby the first 20ppm works well as a greenhouse gas, but doubling rapidly declines this effect. We’re almost at saturation level now where doubling CO2 will have little if any effect:
http://climatefacts.net/article-45-2009-co2-is-it-really-a-demon
The world’s population is largely uneducated and prone to fads (which governments know all too well), Victoria IS a nanny-state (THANK YOU Mark Webber!) and I’ll simply refuse to pay any extra on my energy bills due to ANY carbon tax, where they’ll be forced to take me to court to explain why.
I can’t wait..!
Thanks for reading and thanks for the great site, Jo.
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The newspapers can smell a victim, and the polls continue the trend:
http://www.news.com.au/national/neilsen-poll-predicts-labor-election-defeat/story-e6frfkvr-1225864320294
It will be very difficult for Rudd to climb back from here. Presuming the Liberals don’t do anything outrageously stupid, they will get back in on the dissatisfaction vote alone.
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