12/01/2020

(AU) An 'Absolutely Seminal Moment': Climate Change Opinion Shifting In Face Of Fires

Sydney Morning Herald - Deborah Snow

Social researcher Rebecca Huntley began to detect a shift in the way Australians felt about their summers while working with focus groups about 18 months ago.
“There was a sense that summer was not necessarily a relaxing time for Australians anymore,” she says. “They were worried about crazy temperatures, high electricity prices, about whether Nan was going to put on the aircon ... A lot of people were recognising that Australian summers were not just the old summers of icy poles and running around outside and novels any more, and the community were kind of getting it, even though no one had a premonition it would get this bad.”


Residents are now able to return to Wingello after the fire threat passed.

With this season’s ravening fires yet to be defeated, the immediate focus is on battling the blazes and providing aid and comfort to those who’ve lost loved ones, homes and livelihoods.
But waiting in the wings, it seems, is an opportunity for a more consensus-driven national conversation about climate change once the worst of the crisis has passed.
Veteran pollster John Utting believes the fires have been an “absolutely seminal moment. The conversation in the past has been kind of abstract, with [the case for stronger action] very much in in the hands of the virtue signallers; people felt they were being lectured. But now, everyone is breathing the proof. There is an incredible amount of evidence that the issue is beginning to bite … people are worried about a huge loss of lifestyle, and the impact on how they want to live and what they like about this country.”
Huntley agrees, though she’s not yet as certain as Utting that this season’s fires are a complete game-changer. “People can respond to traumatic events in very different ways, and some can push back and say, ‘I don't want you to play politics with this disaster’,” she says.
Fires hit Lithgow in December. Credit: Dean Sewell
But she senses a change in public opinion. This summer’s infernos have meant images of what climate change looks like are no longer so remote for many Australians.
“Polar bears on icebergs, Pacific islands sinking, ice floes melting … it hasn’t felt like that hit at the heart of our identity or way of life. Now, tragically, critically, we have really compelling images in our minds of what climate change might mean for us.”
Huntley is midway through writing a book on the emotional response to climate change and says her research points to “a very high level of concern about climate. All the surveys show that, and whether you believe in surveys or not, they can’t all be wrong all the time”.
“This is an opportunity for leaders to show that actually we are all in this together, that this affects us all ... It’s an opportunity to drop some of the really destructive partisan politics on climate and step forward.”
Bushfire smoke chokes Sydney in December. Credit: James Brickwood
Groups that Coalition governments generally listen to – the Business Council of Australia, the insurance sector, parts of the finance industry, investors, even some religious communities – have been “talking about the importance and opportunity of transitioning to a low-carbon economy for some time”, she says.
The federal government could bring those interests together and ask what should be put on the table in terms of climate action, she suggests. “You would not need one environmental group there and you could still have a meaningful conversation about what needs to be done.”
The CEO of the Investor Group on Climate Change, Emma Herd, also sees an opportunity to “put aside the [toxic partisan debate] of the last decade and to face forward”.
“It is simply not good enough for Australia to say we are only 1.3 per cent of global emissions and there is nothing [more] we need to do. Because we will feel the effects if nothing happens. We really need to be increasing our international engagement to ensure that the world is acting because we are on the front line of the worst effects.”
Properties destroyed in Conjola Park in the New Year's Eve fires. Credit: James Brickwood
Former foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop stepped into the ring this week, telling Nine's Today show that “we should be showing leadership on the issue of climate change ... If a country like Australia fails to show leadership, you can hardly blame other nations for not likewise showing leadership in this area.”
The remarks were squarely aimed at the federal government’s widely panned performance at the recent Madrid climate summit, where Australia was seen as cheating on targets for emission reductions by insisting on using “carry-over” carbon credits from the much earlier Kyoto treaty.
Experts overwhelmingly believe Canberra’s targets are too low in the face of the mounting evidence that climate change effects are accelerating. Yet, thus far, the Prime Minister has baulked at revising those targets upwards, telling ABC radio again on Friday morning that “our policies don’t pursue reckless job-destroying and economy-destroying targets”.


A selection of the most powerful images and footage captured of the bushfires that started in 2019 by the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age photographers.

State Liberal leaders are proving far more willing to embark on stronger climate policies than their federal colleagues.
Last month, NSW Energy and Environment Minister Matt Kean caused a stir by telling a Sydney summit that climate change was a factor in the severity of the fires and “exactly what the scientists have warned us would happen” – a comment that only looked brave because so many of his federal colleagues had run a mile from acknowledging the link.
He told the Herald this week: “For a long time climate change has been something theoretical, but what we are seeing now is tangible impacts on people, property and the environment. We are actually seeing it played out. My view is that the public wants meaningful action in a way that won’t destroy the economy.”
The state government has a stated goal of net zero emissions by 2050, though little has been on offer so far to show how that will be achieved. Concrete measures to make good on the promise are likely to be unveiled soon. By 2030, the goal is a 35 per cent emissions cut on 2005 levels, though that’s yet to become official.
NSW Minister for Energy and Environment, Matt Kean. Credit: AAP
“Business is already doing it, not because they are greenies but because they are capitalists,” Kean says. “Markets are shifting, community sentiment is shifting, and it’s time government caught up.”
He says he’s excited by what he saw in international markets at the end of last year, particularly in the Netherlands where they were “overbuilding” wind generation capacity to produce “green” hydrogen. “They will export [it] to the rest of Europe and will make a killing out of it,” he says.
“I think we can win the climate wars by lowering our carbon emissions in a way that creates jobs, sees investment coming into our country and underwrites our prosperity for future generations.”
Kean was unimpressed by federal Liberal backbencher Craig Kelly’s starring turn on British TV this week, when the hapless MP was lashed by high-profile host Piers Morgan after arguing that the savage fires were not linked to climate change but to high fuel loads and the drought.
“Craig Kelly is as qualified to talk about atmospheric physics as he is to perform brain surgery,” Kean says.
Liberal governments in South Australia and Tasmania are also pinning high economic hopes on renewable energy. South Australia produces just over 50 per cent renewable energy now and aims to up that to between 75 and 85 per cent in five years’ time.
That leap in capacity will be aided by a planned new interconnector to link SA’s riverlands and the Riverina in NSW, smoothing out peaks and troughs between the two different weather systems.
Steve Marshall’s government is also investing in closed-loop hydro, large-scale battery storage and subsidies for home batteries to make the most of a high uptake of rooftop solar. The state’s goal is 100 per cent renewable energy by the 2030s, if not 2030 itself.
“We have a good working relationship with Canberra, but the attitude here is we are running our own race,” a senior source says. “Tasmania is in a similar place … we are both talking about how we can become net exporters of renewables.”
Even the cautious Business Council of Australia is chafing at the bit. It made no secret of its dismay when the then Turnbull government ditched the proposed National Energy Guarantee, which would have enshrined lowering emissions as one of the key aims of a national energy plan.
The group was wary of harnessing the fires to pressure for policy change this week. However, a spokesman said: “The climate science tells us that extreme weather events and natural disasters will become more frequent and intense. So we need a credible climate change and energy policy that puts us on a transition path to net zero emissions by 2050.”
John Utting believes the fires have changed the electoral calculus. “Someone running for office now has to be on the right side of the issue at the next election,” he says. “Governments are reluctant to lead opinion, they only respond when community sentiment overwhelmingly backs a change. But look what happened with same-sex marriage - I think it will happen on climate change.”

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(AU) The Coalition's Toxic Denial Of Climate Change Is Destroying Us

Independent Australia - Lyn Bender

It is our Government's denial of climate change that has brought so much destruction upon our country
Cartoon by Mark David / @MDavidCartoons
Lyn Bender
Lyn Bender is a practicing psychologist and a freelance writer.
She was the Manager of Lifeline Melbourne and spent six weeks as a psychologist contracted to Woomera Detention Centre. After which, she advocated for refugees.
Lyn was arrested at the Save the Franklin River Blockade.
AS AUSTRALIA MOURNS enormous losses and experiences the dread and terror of this ferocious summer, the culture of denial attempts to assert itself in this new landscape. The professional denialists continue to promote their toxic climate lies.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is their klutz villain who seeks to deceive, as the climate reveals its fury.
Perhaps this is the time that we may at last defeat toxic denial.
The great 19th-century novelist Charles Dickens clearly saw the injustices and failings of his time, yet managed to portray stories that offered elements of hope and restitution.
‘It was the best of times and the worst of times, when evil acts were perpetrated but the essential goodness of mankind prevailed.’
~ Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
Dickens, like many literary greats, understood and portrayed the inner workings of the human mind.
In Great Expectations, Miss Havisham denied that her lover had defrauded and rejected her and sought to hold back time at the point of hearing of his desertion. Stopping the clocks, she continued to preside over her crumbling wedding feast, long after the rats had devoured the wedding cake. In the end, she was consumed by fire.
“Have-a-sham” could be a metaphor for our times. May we present our sham leader.
Scott Morrison does not seem to accept the science of the times. If he understands the science, then his response to our climate crisis is homicidal.
Morrison wants to continue to consummate his love affair with coal, even though it means the destruction of our nation and the planet.
In May 2019, enough voters were in denial of the urgency of climate change to facilitate the election of a climate-denying government. Morrison showed us what he was made of when he fondled a lump of coal in the House of Representatives. It had been lacquered into cleanliness.
“Don't be afraid, don't be scared,”  he mocked. “This is coal,” Morrison bellowed. He laughed as his sycophantic frontbenchers handled the gleaming black lump with glee.
Optimism is not the same as pretending in the face of evidence to the contrary that all will be well. That kind of optimism exists in the realm of charlatans or fools.
The fire season began early in spring. As the conflagrations spread and worsened, Scott Morrison maintained his have-a-sham position. He enacted a show of optimism for the future. No worries, mate — he went on a secretive holiday to Hawaii. He returned after intense media scrutiny and criticism but went to the beach. Although this seemed rather staged.
Morrison did not look the part of a carefree family beachgoer. He trudged on Bronte Beach sands like a businessman on a lunch break, who has removed his shirt and trousers for an hour. Or, in his case, for a photo shoot. He declared bizarrely that under-resourced exhausted volunteer firefighters were as happy as Larry, doing their thing. They were where they wanted to be, crowed the fireproof Prime Minister.
He was enjoying the cricket and so should the volunteer firefighters and the people. Morrison had a Happy New Year’s Eve party and photoshoot with the cricket team. “Life, as usual, continues” was the message. As people died, houses burned, ecosystems and millions of native animals are incinerated, the Prime Minister was having his summer of beach and cricket. It was like a crass tourism promotion.
This is the bizarre game that the denialist team has been playing for many years. As the planet hotted up and the science grew more insistent of our need to act, the denial team was in full throat. As the birds were silenced, the usual suspects became more shrill in their squawking.
There are too many to name but here are a few of those seated at the have-a-sham table:
The Government is staffed by saboteurs of climate action. Minister for Energy and Emissions Reductions Angus Taylor has voiced opposition to the UN climate processes. Australia, along with Brazil and Saudi Arabia, pushed for a very disappointing outcome at the recent Climate Summit at Madrid. Angus's performance was slammed by climate scientist Will Steffen.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce is awaiting divine intervention for the drought, rather than government intervention. As the former Drought Envoy, Joyce failed to produce a single report.
You may know them by their words and deeds, the diners at the table of rot and corruption.
Here are some of the deeds of the climate action destructors:
  1. Tony Abbott wins the election on a promise to axe the tax legislated by the ALP with Green support. It had been reducing emissions;
  2. CSIRO faced budget cuts in 2016 with the loss of climate scientist jobs. Scott Morrison was treasurer from 21 September 2016 until 26 August 2018;
  3. $3 million spent on redundancies by CSIRO and some science positions restored;
  4. Turnbull Government deposes Abbott in 2016, returns some funding that reduced staff cuts in CSIRO;
  5. the hard Right, supported by the Murdoch press, deposes Turnbull in 2018 — Turnbull had proposed the National Energy Guarantee, which was meant to reduce cost, increase reliability and lower emissions and be bipartisan;
  6. Scott Morrison becomes PM and fudges the carbon figures, saying Australia will meet its Paris commitments at “a canter”, despite emissions climbing;
  7. Morrison presides over a climate policy vacuum;
  8. in May 2019, Morrison wins the unwinnable “climate election” with no policies on climate;
  9. Angus Taylor argues at COP 25 in Madrid to water down Australia’s low target by using Kyoto credits, thereby not achieving an actual reduction of emissions;
  10. as massive fires worsened to catastrophic levels, Morrison tries to suppress discussion of climate change and was mocked internationally. The world has made the link between Australian coal, bushfires and climate change; and
  11. Morrison had actually intended to go to India to promote Australian coal this January. He has only recently pulled out (for now) under pressure. 
The trip to India was as tin-eared as the recent Tourism (carefree) Australia promotional video with Kylie Minogue. That has also been paused due to the fires.
Where does hope lie in this tale?
The people are waking up to the seriousness of the continuing catastrophe. We are choking on the smoke. Everyone knows someone impacted by these fires. It crosses all classes, ages and ethnicities. So much has been lost. So many animals have died.
This has to be our wake up call. Now, more than ever, we need to talk about climate change solutions.
The people on the ground are supporting one another and the animals. Maybe through all this devastating fear and sorrow, we will regain a new perspective on what really matters. Maybe we will fight for the survival of our natural world and of each other.
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(AU) Australia Fire Crisis Fuels Protests Calling For Bolder Action On Climate Change

Washington Post - Kate Shuttleworth

Students march behind a banner during a “Fund the Firies and Demand Climate Justice” protest in Sydney on Jan. 10. The fires in Australia have come as the country is polarized by the debate over global warming. The government has downplayed the link between the fires and climate change and Prime Minister Scott Morrison is not bowing to demands from environmentalists for more concerted action. (Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg)
MELBOURNE, Australia — The bush fire crisis gripping Australia is piling political pressure on its government to take bolder action on climate change, as the scorching of vast tracts of forest and farmland amplifies demands for a hastier transition away from fossil fuels.
At rallies nationwide Friday, thousands called for Prime Minister Scott Morrison to resign over what they say is his administration’s passivity on an issue that has hit home to millions of Australians as a clear and present danger. The conservative leader has defended his disaster response after facing criticism from victims and firefighters for its perceived inadequacy.
In Melbourne, close to 10,000 people took to the streets, spurning calls from police and the state’s center-left leader, Daniel Andrews, not to risk diverting emergency resources.
“Look at this through the lens of emergency services and the communities ravaged by fires — is this the best way to demonstrate your support?” said Tim Hansen, acting assistant commissioner of Victoria police. The force later said no officers would be pulled back from the fires to manage the protest.
The demonstrations unfolded as blazes burned out of control in several states. Victoria, much of it already declared a disaster area, faced extreme conditions again Friday, while firefighters in New South Wales warned that existing blazes whipped up by strong gusts could merge into one giant inferno.
Protesters in nine cities directed rage at Morrison, chanting “ScoMo has got to go” — using the prime minister’s nickname.
Erin Kimsey, 20, held a sign that read, “We can’t breathe.” She said her father was a volunteer firefighter and had been sent to the state’s east to help. “It’s shocking what’s happening, and there’s not really any action on climate change,” she said.
Maddie Chung, 21, said her family in rural Victoria was at risk from fires and might have to evacuate. “This is a very real situation, and we are calling for action,” she said.
While summer wildfires are a regular and often deadly occurrence in Australia — 173 people were killed when blazes torched Victoria in 2009 — this season’s fires have been far more extensive, fueled by a three-year drought and high temperatures.
Structures destroyed by fires on Kangaroo Island, South Australia, on Friday. (Lisa Maree Williams/AFP/Getty Images)
At least 27 people have been killed, more than 2,000 homes destroyed, and wildlife devastated across a swath of the continent since October. Thousands have been forced to evacuate, some sheltering on beaches from encroaching flames. The fires have turned the skies red and blanketed cities in smoke.
“We are running out of time to act on climate,” said Anneke Demanuele, a convener of Uni Students for Climate Justice who joined the Melbourne protest, as a cooler change brought rain to the city.
A speaker at the rally, Jerome Small, said there has been a groundswell around the issue as a result of activists such as Greta Thunberg. But he slammed politicians, calling them a “massive political and economic roadblock.”
“What we’re seeing is the direct result of climate change and a series of decisions made by the most powerful people in Australia,” he told the crowd.
An organizer of a similar rally in Sydney, Gavin Stanbrook, said the events of recent weeks revealed a nation polarized over how to tackle the challenge.
“We are divided between coal interests and politicians on the one side and then firefighters and volunteers on the other and the rest of us who are either impacted or our friends and family are on the front line, or in cities surrounded by smoke,” Stanbrook said. “We need to come together and say that we will not accept it anymore.”
Demonstrators climb a tree and carry placards during a “Fund the Firies and Demand Climate Justice” protest in Sydney on Jan. 10. (Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg)

Morrison has said he is considering an inquiry into the disaster, with officials weighing its likely scope. Last week he called up army reservists to help contain the crisis and assist with evacuations, while also announcing funding to help communities recover.
“This is initial, and this is urgent — there will be more,” Morrison told reporters Friday.
Polls show that Australians consider climate change a menace to the nation. Some 64 percent see climate change as a critical threat, an increase of 6 percentage points from 2018 and 18 points since 2014, according to a Lowy Institute survey last year. And 61 percent of respondents wanted mitigation steps even if they involve significant costs.
Yet the climate debate has riven Australia’s politics in recent years and contributed to the downfall of at least three of Morrison’s predecessors.
In elections in May, voters in mining-dependent regions punished the opposition center-left Labor Party over fears that its climate policies would endanger jobs, while support for the ruling conservatives slipped in some urban areas where voters want a bolder approach. Former conservative prime minister Tony Abbott, who once dismissed climate science as “absolute crap,” lost the Sydney seat he had held since 1994 to an independent candidate who made climate action central to her campaign.
While Australia directly accounts for a little over 1 percent of the world’s greenhouse emissions, its status as one of the world’s largest coal exporters means it contributes to considerably more.
Veterinary surgeons Oliver Funnell and Gayle Kothari treat an injured koala Friday at Australia’s Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park, where dozens of koalas have been rescued from fires in recent days. (David Mariuz/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
The country’s economic growth of the past three decades was driven in large part by exporting coal, iron ore and other resources to the fast-expanding economies of Asia. Yet this summer’s apocalyptic scenes have prompted many to call for a rethink.
Tim Flannery, a climate scientist, said the link between many politicians and polluting industries was too strong.
“It’s completely irresponsible that Australia continues to rely on coal for the majority of its electricity. The coal industry has a lot to answer for,” he said.
Australia signed the Paris climate agreement, pledging to reduce emissions by 26 to 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. But based on current trends, the country is not expected to meet that target, according to Climate Action Tracker, an independent scientific analysis of climate policies, despite growth in renewable energy.
In November, a group of more than 20 retired fire chiefs said they had been trying to get a meeting with Morrison since April to brief him on the expected catastrophic conditions.
“We predicted exactly what’s happening now, and measures could have been taken months ago,” said former fire chief Greg Mullins.

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