On this day, forty eight years ago,
1st Australian Coal Conference, Surfers Paradise, Queensland. 2 – 6 April 1978.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 335ppm. As of 2026 it is 428ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The broader context was that coal had always been a hugely important part of Australia’s economy and as a primary energy source. In the 1960s huge coal fields were discovered in Queensland and an export market to the rapidly developing Asia sprang up.
Then came the things like the Australian Mining Industry Council, and also the need for a place where everyone could schmooze each other, have a good time, get away from the wife and kids, sample the dubious delights of Queensland. And so the first Australian coal conference was held.
What I think we can learn from this is that industries need their gathering spots, and this can be profitable for the hosts and for the wider economy of gambling, drugs and prostitution.
What happened next: The coal conference has happened every two years. The 1988 one, in March, had absolutely nothing on climate change. The one two years later was absolutely dominated by the “so-called” greenhouse effect, as we called it then. But the interesting tale with the coal conferences is that they came to be dominated by people wanting to fight the culture wars around greenhouse and other people who were just interested in making money became bemused and frustrated, and eventually the coal conferences stopped being worth attending, stopped being profitable and stopped being held and replaced by other conferences that filled the ecological (!) niche.
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:
April 2, 1968 – Oz Senate debates Air Pollution Select Committee