Categories
Australia Energy

July 17, 2006 – Australian Prime Minister shits on renewables, blah blah “realistic”

On this day, July 17, in 2006.

“in a keynote speech to business leaders [to CEDA], the Prime Minister, John Howard called for ‘realism’ on renewables. He said, ‘Renewables will play an increasing role in Australia’s energy mix, but pragmatism, rationality and flexibility also call for realistic expectations about this role for the foreseeable future. The cost of delivering low-emission electricity from renewables remains very high, with difficulties surrounding baseload power demands.’” 

(Prest, 2007: 254)

Ah yes, starve renewables of funding (MRET watered down, 2004 Energy White Paper) while throwing money at fossil fuels, make the business environment so toxic for wind power that Vestas pulls out) and then hold up your hands and then say “well, renewables can’t compete with fossil fuels” (which you’ve been busy subsidising and encouraging.

Genius. )

Why this matters. 

This word “realism,” eh? It’s like the word “practical”.

According to an incredibly brave anti-Nazi German, who parachuted behind the German lines in 1944 to gather intelligence and then get captured by advancing Allied troops, this is what praktisch actually means

“… the word praktisch had been a two-syllable club he’d been beaten with by fellow students and teachers and businessmen and clergy all through the nightmare years. “Stop being such a god-damned idealist! Be practical!” “Practical means I know right from wrong but I’m too fucking scared to do what’s right so I commit crimes or permit crimes and I say I’m only being practical. Practical means coward. Practical frequently means stupid. Someone is too goddamn dumb to realize the consequences of what he’s doing and he hides under practical. It also means corrupt: I know what I ought to do but I’m being paid to do something different so I call it practical. Practical is an umbrella for everything lousy people do.”

(Quote from Brendan Phibbs amazing book The Other Side of Time: a Combat Surgeon in World War II Little Brown & Co, New York (1987)

See also the word “constructive”

“Constructive” as a codeword for “I don’t want to address your points.” See also “praktisch”

And this graphic that inspired the post

What happened next?

The Liberals and Nationals have continued to do everything they can to slow the energy transition, with a lot of success.

Categories
Australia Denial

July 16, 1992 – American scientist claims “no firm evidence” of #climate change Australian National Press Club #denial

On this day, July 16, 1992, an American scientist was invited to pour scorn on the carbon dioxide theory of climate change….

CANBERRA, July 16, Reuter – An American scientist said on Thursday that there was no firm evidence of global warming or that the phenomenon was caused by humans.

Fear of global warming was being manipulated by politicians, Professor Richard Lindzen, a meteorologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told Australia’s National Press Club.

Reuters, 1992. US expert attacks global warming theories. Reuters News, 16 July.

Lindzen had been brought out by Brian Tucker, then the head of the CSIRO Atmospheric Research Division. Tucker had written a decent monograph for popular consumption about the “Carbon Dioxide Problem” in 1981, but was by this time jumping the shark, and after he retired would pen unhinged denialist tracts for the IPA (a particularly obnoxious Australian “think” tank).

Lindzen was not the only figure brought out in this period, by the way – the IPA and Tasman Institute were also importing “credible” Americans, in their battle against a carbon tax, and any environmental regulation.

Why this matters. 

It’s that Toni Morrison line about racism as distraction, isn’t it?

What happened next?

Tucker jumped the shark. Australia didn’t get a carbon price until 2012, and then only very briefly (Thanks Tony, I bet you’re proud). Lindzen is still around, so libel laws constrain me… Here are some “third party characterisations” via Wikipedia –

Categories
United Kingdom

July 15, 2005 – The “Stern Review” into #climate is announced…

On this day, 15 July, in 2005  the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown announced that he had asked Sir Nicholas Stern to lead a major review of the economics of climate change, to understand more comprehensively the nature of the economic challenges and how they can be met, in the UK and globally.

Stern produced the report- released in late 2006, and this was for a while used as a “don’t worry, there’s now a report that shows business it should act, so, you know, business will defo act” kind of thing. And some nice diagrams.


Stern paid a flying visit to Australia, and the embattled Prime Minister John Howard dismissed him for being (checks notes) English. Yeah, it all got that crazy.

Why this matters. 

These reports come and go. We should remember that when the next one comes along, as it soon will.

But the pictures were nice. This one got “traction.”

What happened next?

Yeah. You know what happened next. The UK Climate Change Act (2008). The stunning success that was the 2009 Copenhagen COP. The rapid decarbonisation of essential industry. The transformation of economies and societies to adapt to inevitable change, and mitigation to minimise the damage, reparations for those affected. The land of milk and honey, the sunny uplands. Er, yeah, nah.

Categories
Australia Science Scientists

July 14, 2011 – “Four Degrees or More: Australia in a Hot World” conference closes

On this day, 14 July 2011 the “Four Degrees or More: Australia in a Hot World” conference in Melbourne” closed… 

A sequel (the body count is always higher, the deaths more elaborate) to a 2009 scientific conference, it came as the fractious public debate about an emissions trading scheme (dubbed, brilliantly, “the great big tax on everything” by the wrecking ball disguised as an Opposition Leader that was Tony Abbott) was coming to a head.

The conference was briefly marred by some Lndon La Rouche nutjobs who brandished a noose and called Hans Joachim Schellnhuber a “Nazi.” Yeah, you keep being you, guys.

There’s an awe-inspiringly brilliant account of this conference in Nature Climate Change.

Why this matters. 

We were warned. About the unthinkable. Before it arrived.

What happened next?

The emissions trading scheme became law. Briefly. Since its repeal, chaos.

Categories
Science Scientists

July 13, 1971 – Stephen Schneider “predicts” an ice age (so the myth goes)

On this day, 13 July 1971.

“ world-leading researchers gathered in Stockholm, Sweden, concluded their presentations about human influence on climate, and opened the meeting to questions from the press. But rather than asking about the most important climate meeting yet, the assembled reporters first looked to the meeting’s 26-year old secretary. “Where is Dr. Schneider? When is the ice age coming?” they asked.” [source]

Stephen Schneider (RIP)’s baptism of fire, because he had co-authored a paper with dodgy assumptions, that suggested that lots more pollution could trigger.. an Ice Age.

Steve Schneider (left), Jim Hansen (centre), and S. Ichtiaque Rasool (right) at NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, circa 1971.

Why this matters. 

It gets hauled out by denialists as “evidence” that climate science is a grift. Maybe they still do this? I stopped paying attention to them quite a while back. Life is short.

What happened next?

Schneider did what scientists should do – listened to criticism, checked his numbers and assumptions and realised that the big long-term problem was carbon dioxide. And until his death in 2010, he performed his task with intelligence, wit and vigour.

Categories
Australia Denial

July 12, 2007 – #Australia gets swindled on #climate change…

On this day, 12th July 2007, the absurd documentary “The Great Global Warming Swindle” was shown in Australia. 

“On July 12 ABC TV in Australia aired “The Great Global Warming Swindle”. This followed saturation promotion in days leading up to the broadcast, including items in various current affairs and news programs. They followed the broadcast with an interview with the film maker, and then a panel discussion of “experts”. It was one of their highest-rating programs for the year, but altogether it was an uninspiring two hours of television.” [source]

(There’s a nice account of David Karoly versus Ray Evans in Mark Davis’ Land of Plenty page 190)

In 1990 there had been a similar imported schlockumentary, called “The Greenhouse Conspiracy.” – we will come back to that later. The ABC had not shown it, despite the IPA’s best efforts. Instead it ended up on SBS.

Why this matters. 

Pseudo controversy like this helps slow debate. That’s the point of it.  There’s even a recent (April 2022) academic article that shows this effect –

Time and skeptical opinion content erode the effects of science coverage on climate beliefs and attitudes

What happened next?

The Swindle served its purpose – creating demoralisation, confusion and, well “fear uncertainty and doubt.” Bravo! Pity about the planet and all its creatures, but hey, what can you do?

Categories
Australia UNFCCC

July 11, 1996 – Celebrity Death Match: Australian fossil fuels industry versus The World (Spoiler: world lost)

On this day, 11 July 1996, at the second “Conference of the Parties”, the fossil fuel lobby started to get up front about being perfectly happy for future generations to fry.

GENEVA, July 11 (Reuter) – Heavy industry groups from around the world Thursday pressed a major campaign to stop moves to cut the amount of carbon dioxide, widely blamed for global warming, pumped into the atmosphere by rich countries.

The focus of the drive, which is getting its major impetus from U.S. energy producers but was strongly backed by an Australian grouping, are warnings that economic disaster would hit developed and developing countries alike if cuts were mandated. The Australian Industry Greenhouse Network — which includes coal, aluminum and gas industry associations — is also lobbying hard among delegates, who at the end of next week will be joined by ministers at the key stage of the conference.

The AIGN is distributing a study arguing that cuts in “greenhouse gas” emissions would bring a trade slump to all the countries of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

Its stand is backed by the Australian government, whose delegation is opposing agreement on any uniform carbon reduction targets for the developed world alone — the main purpose of the gathering.

Evans, R. 1996. Energy industry fights to block cuts in coal, oil use. Reuters, 11 July.

Why this matters. 

The Hague won’t be above water forever, and trials for crimes against humanity and the biosphere really ought to get going sooner rather than later….

What happened next?

Everybody knows the war is over, everybody knows the good guys lost.

The fossil fuels kept getting burnt, in increasing quantities. The burning of them left a residue in the atmosphere. This was not an accident.

Categories
Australia South Paciific

July 11, 1989 – Australia says “sure, we’ll take #climate refugees.” Yeah, nah.

On this day, July 11, 1989, the 20th South Pacific Forum closed                    

“Both Australia and New Zealand indicated that they and the rest of the world would undoubtably be prepared to take humanitarian action in moving people driven out by rising waters” reported Steve Burrell in an article titled “ENVIRONMENT DOMINATES FORUM” from Tarawa, Kiribati, The Australian Financial Review, 12 July 1989.

And everything Australia has done since then I am sure gives confidence to people living in that part of the world that everything will be just fine…

Why this matters. 

Why should anyone trust Australian diplomats?

What happened next?

Australia expanded its domestic use of coal and – more importantly – its exports. So, for example, seven years later (see next post).


Oh, and folks made jokes about islands getting swamped.

See also –

2006, Jan 5: strategic hand-wringing about “Our Drowning Neighbours”
Categories
Activism Australia

July 10, 2008 – first Australian #Climate Camp begins, near Newcastle

On this day in 2008 the first Australian climate camp began near Newcastle.

Climate Camps were all the rage at the time, after the first one, in Yorkshire, England in August/September 2006.


Time travel cheat, a bit, here’s an account of what happened days later – 

July 13 & 14, 2008: Newcastle, NSW, Australia Climate Camp stops coal trains at worlds’ largest coal export port

On July 13, 2008 approximately 1000 activists stopped three trains bound for export at the Carrington Coal Terminal for almost six hours. Dozens of protesters were able to board and chain themselves to the trains while others lay across the tracks. Hundreds were held back by mounted police. Police arrested 57.[19]             

Sunday 13th July 2008: 1000 people gathered at Islington Park in Newcastle for a rally and march to the Carrington Coal Terminal. It was a colourful and eclectic crowd of local residents, parents and children, percussionists, clowns, students, and concerned citizens from every state in Australia. Their message was simple and clear: let’s see renewables instead of more new coal.             

Source: Greenpeace

See photos and account on peacebus.

Climate Camp Australia 2008

Why this matters. 

We have tried to resist. That resistance has been regularly exhausted, repressed, derided. But those who resisted were right, even though they lost.

Those who derided, smeared, laughed? They can go… well, this is a family website, so let’s just use the word “away” – they can go… away.

What happened next?

The coal kept being dug up, exported, burned. The carbon dioxide molecules kept warming the planet.

Categories
Ignored Warnings

July 9, 1965 – “Spaceship Earth” is launched, trying to get us to see our fragility (didn’t work)

On this day 9 July 1965, two time Presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson gave what was to be the last speech of his life, to UNESCO. In it he used the imagery of “Spaceship Earth”, which he had cadged from Barabara Ward.

“We travel together, passengers on a little space ship, dependent on its vulnerable reserves of air and soil; all committed for our safety to its security and peace; preserved from annihilation only by the care, the work, and, I will say, the love we give our fragile craft. We cannot maintain it half fortunate, half miserable, half confident, half despairing, half slave—to the ancient enemies of man—half free in a liberation of resources undreamed of until this day. No craft, no crew can travel safely with such vast contradictions. On their resolution depends the survival of us all.”

https://www.bartleby.com/73/477.html

Why this matters. 

The language of fragility, of danger? Yeah, we have been saying and hearing that for a long time. And for a lot of that time it has been about the comfort and convenience of a sliver of the population, amid worries that those on the pointy end of “development” might somehow rise up…

What happened next?

The economist Kenneth Boulding popularised the phrase “Spaceship Earth”. It became popular. The Earthrise photo happened.

Then Earth Day. And the world? It was not saved, as per Jeremiah 8:20.