Andrew Mudie's Page

Julia Gillard is on the record as saying that the cost of inaction on climate change greatly outweighs the cost of action.

Hmmm, actions ... words... I guess she's gambling on Australia's carbon intense mining industry and strong mineral exports (including coal), making our country rich enough that it can afford the higher bill when it comes due, for I see no sign of effective action.

Thankfully it would seem that many voters disagree with the Gillard "let-the-people-argue-for… Continue

The Australian's Mike Steketee filled us in today (31 Jul) on the details of what could have been a match-winning campaign on climate change action, had former PM Rudd and his team had the guts to take the issue to a double dissolution election.

Mr Steketee reveals that the issue was known to have momentum throughout last year -

"The Climate Change and Environment departments conducted what the
former called "multiple and various research projects" during 2009.
They found that… Continue

So, some Australians don't want to pay a cent to tackle climate change
- "A new survey showed more than a third of voters don't want to pay for climate-change bills" (Malcom Farr, Herald Sun 7 May 2010).
(Yes, it's a bit old, but I have been unavoidably offline in a remote location for a while!)

That seems a little short-sighted, but we can be reasonable about this.
Some of those surveyed probably have genuine doubts about the cause of climate change. Some may even doubt i… Continue

Eating Fossil Fuels

Think climate change is the only major threat to the global population's food security? Think again.

A biosphere already under considerable pressure due to ballooning human population will be put under considerably more pressure as fossil fuels peak and decline. The impending peak in oil production will reveal the folly of the past two decades of mass, fertilizer-and-pesticide-dependent, monoculture food production and has the potential to reduce the global… Continue

I wanted to share an interesting post from George Monbiot in the Guardian.
He goes into some detail about the role of consumption, and its co-dependent partner, the manufacturing industry, on the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

"..it was a shock to discover that manufacturing and consumption (if you
include the construction industry) accounts for 541Mt of our emissions, or 57% of the true total...."

An important point raised by Monbiot is that outsourcing m… Continue