Thirty one years ago, on this day, June 17th, 1994, a genius corrected all our WrongThink with an article that has aged like a glass of milk.
Global warming is a con. There is no justification for threatening those jobs that depend on coal and thermal power stations, says ALAN MORAN
The greenhouse phenomenon has raised far more hot air than has emerged from global temperature records. Not all agree with this.
Greenpeace has launched its “Climate Timebomb” catalogue, claiming documentary evidence of global warming attributable to increased emissions of carbon dioxide….
Moran, A. 1994. “Cool appraisal time for global warming.” Australian Financial Review, June 17, p. 26.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 360.9ppm. As of 2025 it is 430ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The broader context was that Australian denial had kicked into high gear in 1989 and continued, with institutional support from outfits like the IPA and the Tasman Institute, onwards.
The specific context was that the carbon tax proposal was beginning to take shape, and opponents wanted to lay down some suppressing fire.
What I think we can learn from this is that “newspapers” like the Fin were – and I suppose remain – mostly just propaganda outlets for stupid/greedy/venal people who want to (mis)shape the public discourse.
What happened next Soft denial became mainstream thanks to the coming of the Howard Government, and the hard denial picked up speed with the formation of the Lavoisier Group in 2000. And the emissions kept climbing.
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.
Also on this day: