Twenty years ago, on this day, September 5th, 2004, Australian Prime Minister John Howard was – this will shock you – a turd.
Howard at opening of WEC
We are also a nation, which has been blessed by providence with very large reserves of energy. And I want to say something about the role that Australia has in mind and has executed over the years in relation to those reserves of energy. Australia is a strong and reliable supplier of energy. Australia is the world’s largest exporter of coal and it is a large exporter of LNG. We are very proud of the partnerships in energy that we have developed over the years with our friends and close partners in the Asian Pacific region.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 378ppm. As of 2024 it is 420ishppm, but check here for daily measures.
The context was that Howard was now eight years into being Prime Minister. He had won all the big battles on environment, really, he had carved out a really good deal for Kyoto, and then pissed on it. He had stopped emissions trading, twice. True, he had been forced to take extra action to slow renewables, and he had even started talking about carbon capture and storage as a way to avoid any further talk of emissions reductions.
He was surely feeling at this stage pretty damn pleased with himself, I’m quite sure. And so all of gloating at the World Energy Congress is to be expected really
What we learn is that even when they’re supposed to maybe not boast too loud, for fear of alienating people, I guess if they know that they’re not alienating anyone important, and they’re sending a message that resonates with their core vote, then it’s okay.
For a history of the World Energy Congress and what it was trying to achieve, see here.
What happened next Howard won the 2004 Federal election and why went on to cause more havoc and misery. And then Kevin Rudd came along and saved climate policy, Australia’s credibility and led us to the sunny upland of the land and milk and honey. Oh yes. This definitely happened [subs please check this].
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, obv
Also on this day:
September 5, 1986 – a “Safe Energy” rally, in London
September 5, 1990 – Australian Environment Minister promises deep carbon cuts – “easy”…