Twenty-eight years ago, on this day, November 20th, 1997, Australian Prime Minister John Howard gives a “everything is cool” speech, leading to birth of the Australian Greenhouse Organisation (AGO) and the Mandatory Renewables Energy Target (MRET)
Greens Senator Bob Brown concluded:
A$65 million for renewable energy over five years… does not even retrieve the A$75 million (over five years) lost when the Energy Research and Development Corporation and Renewable Energy Industry Programs were abolished…. The target of an extra 2% of electricity from renewables (making a total of 11% including current large-scale hydro electricity generation) compares miserably with international standards (e.g. Britain’s target of 20% from renewables by 2010)… There are no targets for energy efficiency… There is no move to halt clearing of native vegetation which accounts for 23% of emissions.
(Taplin and Yu, 2000: 104) [Big Brother and the Chocolate Rations]
R Brown, PM’s Greenhouse Package – 18% Increase! Media Release, Australian Senate, 20 November 1997
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 364ppm. As of 2025, when this post was published, it is 430ppm. This matters because the more carbon dioxide in the air, the more heat gets trapped. The more heat, the more extreme weather events. You can make it more complicated than that if you want, but really, it’s not. Fwiw, I have a tattoo of the Keeling Curve on my left forearm.
The broader context was Australian policy elites had decided not to do anything about climate change by about 1994. John Howard turbo-charged that contempt for future generations when he became Prime Minister in 1996.
The specific context was that Howard had spent 1997 sending emissaries to try to carve out the sweetest deal possible at the December 1997 COP in Kyoto. He had come under some pressure from within the Liberal Party (from grandees who had been aware of carbon dioxide build-up for decades) and also needed to pretend to care to shore up the small-l liberal voting block. Therefore, this wretched speech.
What I think we can learn from this – just because they are evil denialists, doesn’t mean they lack the skills to manipulate people.
What happened next – the vaunted “Australian Greenhouse Office” was a joke – its boss never even got to brief Howard once. The whole thing fell apart, and Howard did everything he could to slow the growth of renewables too (for example, 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, obvs.
References
J Howard, ‘Safeguarding the future: Australia’s response to climate change’, House of Representatives, ministerial statement, Debates, 20 November 1997.
Also on this day:
November 20, 1930 – the Fox is born!!
November 20, 1973 – “Is the West Antarctic Ice Sheet Disintegrating?”
November 20, 1974 – BBC airs “The Weather Machine”
November 20, 1974 – “The Weather Machine” is broadcast – All Our Yesterdays
One reply on “November 20, 1997 – John Howard’s safeguarding bullshit”
Seems a reasonable summary, as I recall the events