Twenty six years ago, on this day, September 2nd, 1999,
While the Senate Inquiry progressed, there was other movement in relation to the trigger proposal. In September 1999, Senator Bob Brown’s Convention on Climate Change (Implementation) Bill 1999 was read for the first time, which contained a greenhouse trigger.
(Macintosh, 2007: 48)
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 368ppm. 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 the Greens had formed earlier in the decade once it was obvious that trying to get the Australian Labor Party to even pretend to give a shit about the natural world (or poverty, justice etc) was a fool’s errand.
The specific context was that the Howard government was already backtracking on the inadequate promises they had been forced to make in the run up to the Kyoto conference of December 1997.
What I think we can learn from this is Bob Brown is a mensch. Lots of miscalculations etc (him being human and all) but indisputably a mensch, who makes the cowards and idiots in the main parties jealous, because he has a) principles and b) courage, things they know they don’t.
What happened next – the Bill went nowhere (nobody expected it to). Howard continued to be a prick, about soooooo many issues. Brown hung on, and helped push through the first carbon pricing system in Australia, with the minority-Gillard government.
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:
September 2,1972 – BBC Radio speaks of “A Finite Earth” – All Our Yesterdays
September 2, 1972 – Adelaide FOE asks “is technology a blueprint for destruction?” (Spoiler – ‘yes’)
September 2, 1994 – International Negotiating Committee 10th meeting ends
September 2, 2002- Peter Garrett argues “community action” vs #climate change