Thirteen years ago, on this day, August 16, 2010, protestors tried to keep issues on the agenda
Even outside the venue, the protestors simply went through the motions. There were four anti-abortion advocates with basic placards, a huge plastic marijuana joint, two people dressed as polar bears, and another dressed as a blue elephant. But they were not so much demonstrating as loitering.
(Cassidy, 2010:202)
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 388ppm. As of 2023 it is 423ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The context was that this was the middle of an election campaign. And even the polar bear can’t be bothered. Everyone’s just going through the motions.
What I think we can learn from this
The polar bear costumes just don’t work. They should be hung up.
What happened next
Gillard was faced with painful electoral math and therefore had to bring carbon pricing back on to the table.
What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.
References