The following article was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the
Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, August 21st, 2002.
Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010
Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795.
CPA Central Committee: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
"The Guardian": <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au>
Subscription rates on request.
******************************
US/Aust fuel greenhouse disaster
The world is faced with an inferno of global warming and environmental
disaster while the two biggest producers of greenhouse gases, the US and
Australia, fuel the fires of destruction. Concerns over this
unacceptable situation flared up last week when six of the island states
at the Pacific Island Forum in the Fiji capital of Suva gave vent to
their anger at Australia's refusal to sign the Kyoto climate change
convention.
by Marcus Browning
Kiribati, Nauru, Cook Islands, Niue, Tuvalu and Marshall Islands, all
threatened with rising sea levels, expressed "profound disappointment"
at the decision of Australia to tail along behind the US as the only two
developed, industrialised countries to refuse to sign the Kyoto Protocol.
The US is the world's biggest overall producer of greenhouse gases, and
Australia is the biggest producer per capita.
Instead of responding positively to these concerns of the island
nations, Prime Minister John Howard opportunistically tried to hijack
the Forum, arrogantly lecturing the Pacific nation leaders on "good
governance", threatening to cut Australian aid if it wasn't "dispersed
and dispensed wisely and frugally".
Out of arrogance inevitably comes hypocrisy: Howard, the head of
arguably the most deceitful, anti-democratic and corrupt Australian
Government in history, self-righteously lecturing Australia's Pacific
neighbours like a colonial overlord.
Howard's performance at the Pacific Forum is in line with his
Government's smoke-and-mirrors act on greenhouse gas emissions in
Australia. Last week Environment Minister David Kemp produced a
greenhouse gas inventory as measured by the Government's Greenhouse Office.
Kemp claimed that Australia was "within striking distance" of the Kyoto
Protocol targets. (The Protocol's modest aim is to keep emissions at
around eight per cent more than the 1990 level.)
The Australian Greens labelled this as a "greenwash", saying that no
amount of number-crunching can disguise the Australian Government's
appalling performance on global warming.
The Government is manipulating the figures by claiming that some changes
to land clearing and agricultural practices have brought Australia
within reach of the Kyoto target.
The reality is that Australia's greenhouse gas emissions from fossil
fuel use have escalated to such a degree that by 2010 our carbon
emissions will be an estimated 33 per cent more than the 1990 level.
The US and Australia want the world to ignore the growing environmental
crisis now taking place around the globe -- floods, droughts, cyclonic
storms, increasing desertification -- climate extremes causing
widespread devastation.
As the Cook Islands Prime Minister, Robert Woonton, said in response to
Australia's claim that the rise in sea levels is due to coastal erosion
rather than climate change: "If the polar caps are melting, where do you
think the water's going?"
In a statement the Greens outlined the looming danger. "For the world to
avoid financial, social and ecological tragedy this century, these
emissions need to be reduced 60-80 percent. This means massive
restructuring to an economy based on eco-technologies like solar and
hydrogen power."
******************************************
.
--
--
Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/
Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
