Categories
Canada Carbon Capture and Storage

September 30, 2014 – Boundary Dam goes online

Twelve years ago, on this day, September 30th, 2014,

2014 Boundary Dam CCS goes online (ribbon cutting on 2nd October)

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/oct/01/canada-switches-on-worlds-first-carbon-capture-power-plant

The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 399ppm. As of 2026, 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 that carbon capture and storage as a mitigation technology, had been first proposed in the mid 1970s by Italian physicist Cesar Marchetti. There had been a small amount of interest in it. It was looked at in 1989-90 and regarded as impractical, far too expensive, And it would have stayed there, I think, had not the Kyoto Protocol meant that sooner or later industrializations were going to have to talk about or reduce their emissions, and CCS might be a relatively pain-free way of doing that. Okay, so there had been endless sequestration forums and plans for this and that and the other, the European efforts had fallen over because the funding wasn’t there, especially after the global financial crisis.

The specific context was but eventually, for various reasons, the Boundary Dam project persisted, and it opened, and fairly instantly ran into problems.

What I think we can learn from this is that CCS has had so many false dawns. But it’s the only technology that oil, coal, and gas have in answer to the climate issue (don’t even start me on Direct Air Capture).

What happened next. Well, some of the attention has moved on to Direct Air Capture. Gaia help us (though why would she?).

On this topic, you might like these other posts on All Our Yesterdays

Xx

References

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You can see the chronological list of All Our Yesterdays “on this day” posts here.

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.

If you want to get involved, let me know.

If you want to invite me on your podcast, that would boost my ego and probably improve the currently pitiful hit-rate on this site (the two are not-unrelated).

Also on this day: 

September 30, 1969 -US activist publication mentions climate change

September 30, 1977 – “Carbon Dioxide and climate: carbon budget still unbalanced”

September 30, 1991 – Hawke’s ministers and ESD 

September 30, 2009 – Tony Abbott says #climate science is “absolute crap”

September 30, 2014 – a big CCS demonstration project opens.

Categories
Academia Activism Uncategorized United States of America

September 30, 2012 – Barry Commoner dies

Fourteen years ago, on this day, September 30th, 2012,

Barry Commoner, a pioneering environmental scientist and activist, died Sunday at age 95.

Described in 1970 by Time magazine as the “Paul Revere of ecology,” Commoner followed Rachel Carson as America’s most prominent modern environmentalist. He viewed the environmental crisis as a symptom of a fundamentally flawed economic and social system. A biologist and research scientist, he argued that corporate greed, misguided government priorities, and the misuse of technology undermined “the finely sculptured fit between life and its surroundings.”

Barry Commoner Dead: Pioneering Environmental Scientist and Activist Dies at 95 | HuffPost Impact

The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 394ppm. As of 2026, 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 Barry Commoner had been a very important figure in global environmental awareness, especially around Project Sunshine and Fallout, and his book Science and Survival in 1966 really was important for sensitising people to the build up of carbon dioxide. There’s a direct line to the 1967 documentary by Roy Battersby, and Commoner had stood for president in 1980 

On this topic, you might like these other posts on All Our Yesterdays

Xx

References

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You can see the chronological list of All Our Yesterdays “on this day” posts here.

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.

If you want to get involved, let me know.

If you want to invite me on your podcast, that would boost my ego and probably improve the currently pitiful hit-rate on this site (the two are not-unrelated).

Also on this day: 

September 30, 1969 -US activist publication mentions climate change

September 30, 1977 – “Carbon Dioxide and climate: carbon budget still unbalanced”

September 30, 1991 – Hawke’s ministers and ESD 

September 30, 2009 – Tony Abbott says #climate science is “absolute crap”

September 30, 2014 – a big CCS demonstration project opens.

Categories
Australia

September 29, 1994 – “voluntary scheme” says IGN

Thirty two years ago, on this day, September 29th, 1994,

A BROAD cross-section of Australian business yesterday took a cautious first step towards a Federal Government proposal for voluntary commitments by the corporate sector to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

But earlier aspirations by Canberra for a major new greenhouse initiative to be announced in the short term were dampened with the corporate sector signalling it would not be rushed into any new undertakings.

The Industry Greenhouse Network – a coalition of nearly 30 business interests including such corporate giants as BHP and CRA and groups such as the Business Council of Australia – met with senior officials from the departments of Primary Industries, Environment, Industry, and Prime Minister and Cabinet, in Canberra yesterday.

The meeting considered a major new tack in the Federal Government’s response to the greenhouse gas problem built around voluntary undertakings by the corporate sector which would include energy efficiency and energy-saving measures.

Gill, P. 1994. Business edges towards Collins plan to reduce greenhouse gases. Australian Financial Review, 30 September.

The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 359ppm. As of 2026, 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 that having defeated the relatively vague idea for a domestic carbon tax in ‘91-92 the big end of town, represented by the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Mining Industry Council, etc. was presumably quite irritated to see that carbon tax proposal was back on the agenda, thanks to the advocacy of the Australian Conservation Foundation and Senator John Faulkner’s receptivity to it. So the BCA and MCA, or AMIC, as it was then known, had set up a back room operation called the Australian Industry Greenhouse Network, and here they were doing the standard emollient “let’s have a voluntary scheme” ploy, which works almost every time. 

What I think we can learn from this is that voluntary schemes are sort of a second manoeuvre of trade associations and sectors, after trying to keep the issue off the agenda by ignoring it and pushing back at it has failed. See also Nigel Balchin and Darkness Falls. 

What happened next They got what they wanted. The proposal for a carbon tax was defeated, and a voluntary scheme known as the Greenhouse Challenge was brought in in its place. The Greenhouse Challenge was basically worthless. It provided consultancy fees for a few people, a bit of a pale green glow for a while, but everyone had to stop pretending.

On this topic, you might like these other posts on All Our Yesterdays

Xx

References

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You can see the chronological list of All Our Yesterdays “on this day” posts here.

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.

If you want to get involved, let me know.

If you want to invite me on your podcast, that would boost my ego and probably improve the currently pitiful hit-rate on this site (the two are not-unrelated).

Also on this day: 

September 29, 1969 – British Prime Minister Harold Wilson blah blah “second industrial revolution” blah blah pollution blah blah

September 29, 2000 – On campaign trail, George Bush says power plants will require carbon dioxide cuts

September 29, 2006 – Democrats say political appointees suppressing evidence of warming

September 29, 2007 – World’s first nuclear power station is demolished

Categories
Academia

September 28, 2008 – Four Degrees and Beyond

Eighteen years ago, on this day, September 28th, 2008,

The 4 Degrees and Beyond International Climate Conference, subtitled Implications of a Global Climate Change of 4+ Degrees for People, Ecosystems and the Earth-system, was held 28–30 September 2009 at Oxford, United Kingdom.[1] The three-day conference had about 140 science, government, NGO and private sector delegates, and included 35 oral presentations and 18 poster presentations

The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 386ppm. As of 2026, 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 that scientists had been banging on the table with increased noise and frustration, fear, whatever you, desperation, whatever you want to call it, for quite a while now, and had hoped that the March 2005 Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change conference at Exeter University would be a turning point, but it hadn’t been, and so some were beginning to think, well, what do we do? What can we expect? Mitigate for two, adapt for four is the slogan that came out. Well, we haven’t mitigated to two, we can’t adapt for four. No one ever assumed we could. We are heading straight into the Hellmouth.

The specific context was that the UNFCCC process was on a temporary high, with the “Roadmap to Copenhagen”, but everyone knew that even a ‘successful’ negotiation would be grossly inadequate.

What I think we can learn from this is that the scientists have been frustratingly right, if somewhat naive about political power and unable to connect with the civil society, which is frankly largely incapable of connecting with anyone or anything.

What happened next There was another conference of similar ilk in 2011 in Melbourne, but nothing useful came out of that either, we’re all doomed. 

Anyway, what’s interesting from this is that it gave a real fillip to CCS in the UK, it put it on the agenda as a possible solution

On this topic, you might like these other posts on All Our Yesterdays

Xx

References

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You can see the chronological list of All Our Yesterdays “on this day” posts here.

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.

If you want to get involved, let me know.

If you want to invite me on your podcast, that would boost my ego and probably improve the currently pitiful hit-rate on this site (the two are not-unrelated).

Also on this day: 

September 28, 1977 – John Mason being an idiot again.

September 28, 1992 – IIASA again

September 28, 1997 – Australian denialist spouting tosh to his US mates.

September 28, 2000 – Liberal MP goes full cooker on Kyoto as threat to sovereignty.

September 28, 2007 – Bush invokes “technology” to fix climate. Like morons everywhere.

September 28, 2008 – “Wake Up Freak Out” posted online

September 28, 2021 – Greta Thunberg and “blah blah blah”

Categories
Australia Carbon Pricing

September 27, 2010 – Gillard creates the MPCCC

Sixteen years ago, on this day, September 27th, 2010,

J Gillard (Prime Minister), Prime Minister establishes Climate Change Committee [and] Terms of Reference, media release, 27 September 2010.

Transcript 17390 | PM Transcripts

The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 390ppm. As of 2026, 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 that Australian political elites had been well aware of carbon dioxide build up as a problem stretching back to the early 1970s They had, of course, ignored the problem for as long as possible, because there are no easy solutions, and it would interfere with the power, privilege, and profit of the donor class. 

Also it’s just not easy to fix. It’s really not, or not easy to fix within the parameters set.

After successfully tamping down concern by elites in the early 1990s and then again through the 2000s in 2006 the issue had exploded onto the public agenda, Labor had used it as a stick to beat the Liberal National Government. However, Labor in power had then monumentally fucked it up, Kevin Rudd, Penny Wong, etc.

The specific context was Julia Gillard was forced to try to clean up the mess because there was no way of having a government without carbon pricing. Therefore, she set up the multiparty climate change committee, the MPCCC. She extended invites to everyone; the Independents and the Greens took her up, and the Liberals and Nationals, of course, did not.

What I think we can learn from this is that politics is the slow boring of hard boards, as per old Maxie [Weber] and but meanwhile some solutions, some problems rather just keep growing if you ignore them or a half-assed and solution solving them, i.e. wicked problems, and of course super wicked problems.

What happened next The MPC beavered away, produced its reports and recommendations, and this became the legislation for the clean energy package, which passed in September 2011 and the emissions trading portion of that began on first of July 2012 and may have helped reduce emissions for a bit. Then it was of course abolished by Tony Abbott.

xxx

On this topic, you might like these other posts on All Our Yesterdays

Xx

References

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You can see the chronological list of All Our Yesterdays “on this day” posts here.

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.

If you want to get involved, let me know.

If you want to invite me on your podcast, that would boost my ego and probably improve the currently pitiful hit-rate on this site (the two are not-unrelated).

Also on this day: 

September 27, 1962 – “Silent Spring” published as a book

September 27, 1988 – UNEP should become world eco-regime

September 27, 1988 – Margaret Thatcher comes out as a lentil-eating greenie…

September 27, 1995 – Greenhouse progress in Australia? None. Zip. Zero. 

September 27, 2007 – Kyoto Inaction Protest

Categories
El Nino

The three phases of El Nino

This is me spit-balling. What do you think?

  1. There’ll be “waiting for the other shoe to drop” the phoney war, the Rocky Horror, “antici….pation.”

 We’re in this phase at the minute, like the 1939-40 phoney war, where we all know it’s coming but somehow think it won’t be That Bad. People are doing “disaster porn”, circulating stories of deaths foretold etc,

plaintive appeals for governments etc to plan and to minimise the coming damage. These appeals will be, largely, ignored.

  1. Then there’ll be the “whatever happens happens” (sturm and drang, thunder and lightning, very very frightening)

And if it is as bad, then it’ll be “disaster of the week” every week (especially if there are White People in Peril).  Hawaii getting bulls-eyed by hurricanes is one early example of this, if/when it happens.

And then we’ll be in it, and there’ll be floods (see what I did there, har har) of videos. 

The fake sharks will make an appearance. 

Then, if it’s as bad as the boffins say, then there will be 

  • disaster relief appeals 
  • disaster relief appeal scams 
  • Denunciations of coloniality, settler colonialism (which actually have a point, given the history of it all).

If it’s for some reason not that bad, some of the “El Nino minimizers”, climate deniers, lukewarmers will try to tell us “hysterical media”, “hysterical science”. 

I don’t know what the “chemtrailers” will do. I don’t particularly care. They’ll claim, presumably, that this is “weather as a weapon in order to get us all to hello have microchips implanted or whatever,” see also – HAARPing on about the weather: of conspiracies, climate, class and ‘what is to be done’

  1. Then there’ll be the aftermath, the clean-up, the accounting. (“She should have died hereafter. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow blah blah .”)

Lives will be ended, ecosystems will be radically altered (and will not ‘bounce back’). So much will be lost. It will all get pinned on El Nino, in an effort to avoid talking about the sweaty elephant in the room, carbon dioxide build-up

Fwiw, I think one of the things El Nino will destroy is the illusion that some (vaguely defined) previous era of stability/growth is going to return if we just do x, y, and z.

Categories
Australia

September 26, 2014 – Tony McMichael RIP

Twelve years ago, on this day, September 26th, 2014 Tony McMichael RIP

In later years, and particularly after returning to Australia in 2001, he worked on the health effects of climate change.[9] He had always been influenced by ideas of anthropogenic crises, first population growth, and latterly of general planetary overload.[10] He argued that a warming world would have significant negative effects on human health. He said “Climate change is not just about disruptions to the local economy or loss of jobs or loss of iconic species. It’s actually about weakening the foundations of the life support systems that we depend on as a human species.”[1] His team showed that tens of thousands of people were dying each year from climate-induced flooding, malnutrition, and infectious diseases.[11]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_McMichael

The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 399ppm. As of 2026, 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.

McMichael grew up in Adelaide, and graduated in medicine from the University of Adelaide (1961–1967). As a student, he spent a summer volunteering at a leprosy colony in New Delhi, India where he saw how patients were treated as social outcasts suffering from the stigma of a disfiguring disease although they were no longer contagious. The following year, whilst on a similar service trip to Papua New Guinea he met social sciences student Judith Healy, whom he married shortly after graduation. They had 2 children. He was elected president of the National Union of Students, based in Melbourne, in 1968.[1]

After 18 months in general practice, he was invited to become the PhD student of Professor Basil Hetzel at the new department of social and preventive medicine, Monash University in Victoria, graduating in 1972. Studying factors that influenced the mental health of undergraduate students, he gained skills in epidemiological research. He also showed early evidence of independent inquiry informed by reading the works of thinkers such as Paul R. Ehrlich and Anne H. Ehrlich who questioned the capacity of the Earth to support a growing world population with increasing consumption of resources.[2]

He then worked at the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, studying the health of workers in the tyre industry. Returning to Australia he worked for CSIRO and then became the Foundation Chair in Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Adelaide from 1986 until 1994. From 1994 to 2001, he was the Professor of Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, before returning to Australia to follow Prof Bob Douglas as the director of the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health[3] at the Australian National University in Canberra. Most recently he held an NHMRC Australia Fellowship at the ANU, where he also ran the Environment, Climate, and Health research program. McMichael was chair of think tank The Australia Institute.[4]

On this topic, you might like these other posts on All Our Yesterdays

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References

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You can see the chronological list of All Our Yesterdays “on this day” posts here.

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.

If you want to get involved, let me know.

If you want to invite me on your podcast, that would boost my ego and probably improve the currently pitiful hit-rate on this site (the two are not-unrelated).

Also on this day: 

September 26, 1950 – Operation Sea-Spray

September 26, 1969 – Death on All Fronts, says Allen Ginsberg

September 26, 1970 – Medical Journal of Australia

September 26, 1989 – Australian Union body tries to add green to red…

September 26, 1998 – Howard decision only to ratify Kyoto if US does leaks.

September 26, 2007 – GetUp spoof Howard’s climate greenwash

Categories
Activism Australia Coal

September 26, 2010 – Protests close Australian Coal Port

Sixteen years ago, on this day, September 26th, 2010,

Climate change activists in Australia associated with Rising Tide attached themselves to equipment inside the world’s largest coal port, in Newcastle, Australia, shutting down its operations, the terminal operator and protesters stated. The protestors stopped operations at all three terminals operated by Port Waratah Coal Services, which typically runs a continuous operation, a company spokesman told the Reuters news agency. “All operations have temporarily stopped,” the spokesman said, after about 50 protesters took action at dawn on Sunday morning. Some attached themselves to loaders and machinery inside the facility, while others demonstrated with banners.[59] News reports stated that two were arrested during the protests.[60]

source

The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 390ppm. As of 2026, 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 there had been efforts to shut down power stations and coal export ports before (and have been since).

The specific context was this coming just as the Gillard government was taking power, not that that was a factor for the protesters. 

What I think we can learn from this is that, as per Mario Savio, people do try to throw their bodies on the gears of the machine, but the machine has sharp teeth and it chews them up and spits them out,

What happened next more valiant protests – and the exports climb, the emissions climb and the concentrations climb. 

xxx

On this topic, you might like these other posts on All Our Yesterdays

Xx

References

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You can see the chronological list of All Our Yesterdays “on this day” posts here.

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.

If you want to get involved, let me know.

If you want to invite me on your podcast, that would boost my ego and probably improve the currently pitiful hit-rate on this site (the two are not-unrelated).

Also on this day: 

September 26, 1950 – Operation Sea-Spray

September 26, 1969 – Death on All Fronts, says Allen Ginsberg

September 26, 1970 – Medical Journal of Australia

September 26, 1989 – Australian Union body tries to add green to red…

September 26, 1998 – Howard decision only to ratify Kyoto if US does leaks.

September 26, 2007 – GetUp spoof Howard’s climate greenwash

Categories
Australia

September 25, 2010 – Big business tells political meat-puppets – “do what you’re told”

Sixteen years ago, on this day, September 25th, 2010,

BIG business has warned Labor it will escalate a public campaign against the federal government to protect the economy from being damaged by vested interests and ill-considered policy formulation in the new parliament.

A range of chief executives, chairmen and directors canvassed by The Weekend Australian said business leaders had a basic responsibility to step up to fill the policy vacuum left by the unstable political situation.

Kitney, D. and Hepworth, A. 2010. Corporate leaders stepping up. The Australian, 25 September, p1.

The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 390ppm. As of 2026, 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 that at the big end of town, the miners usually get what they want, especially under Liberal governments, but they sometimes have to work a little bit harder under nominally left wing but actually centrist governments, i.e. Labor.

The specific context was that there had been a federal election, which resulted, unusually, in a hung parliament, i.e. neither of the major parties had the numbers to form a government, and so the situation was politically very fluid and unpredictable, and business could see that it might not get as much of what it wanted as it otherwise might, so here we are. This is democracy, apparently.

What I think we can learn from this is that money rules and expects to rule, and occasionally reminds everyone of this in public.

What happened next Gillard formed a minority government, the price of which was carbon pricing. She introduced the legislation, could have done better presentationally, but it wouldn’t have mattered in the long term, because the Murdoch media was gunning for her. It was an extraordinary time amidst all of this. There was the fact that she was the first and so far only female Prime Minister in Australia, which is pretty damn misogynistic at the best of times. 

On this topic, you might like these other posts on All Our Yesterdays

Xx

References

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You can see the chronological list of All Our Yesterdays “on this day” posts here.

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.

If you want to get involved, let me know.

If you want to invite me on your podcast, that would boost my ego and probably improve the currently pitiful hit-rate on this site (the two are not-unrelated).

Also on this day: 

September 25, 1980 -Reagan turns out to be an ignorant fool. Who knew?

September 25, 1991-  European Commission proposes a carbon tax…

September 25, 1995 – Clean Coal. No, seriously.

September 25, 2003 – Bob Carr “strikes greenhouse deal” with European investors

Categories
Australia

September 25, 1990 – Miners write to Alan Griffiths

Thirty six years ago, on this day, September 25th, 1990,

 Miners write letter to Alan Griffiths, Resources Minister

The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 354ppm. As of 2026, 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 that the settler colony known as Australia had always been extractivist and relying on export earnings. This used to come from agriculture and sheep. By the 1980s this had turned to minerals exports, coal, iron ore, uranium, and so on.

The specific context was that the Ecologically Sustainable Development policy process was about to start. This had been a quid pro quo between the Hawke Labor government for tacit support and preferences from greenie groups ahead of the 1990 federal election. The big end of town and also the miners union was deeply nervous that Ecologically Sustainable Development might mean some constraints on what they wanted to do, permission for projects and jobs available. This was a real fear, given what had happened in 1989 (or the perception of it) around the pulp mill in Tasmania, etc. So here you see the unions trying to remind the resources minister that there’s going to be a fight and they expect him to fight for them. 

What I think we can learn from this is the species is gonna respond like this. Or rather, maybe it could have been different, but it wasn’t and here we are.

What happened next ESD revealed the intellectual bankruptcy of the fossil fuel interests. They assumed that the whole process would be them dictating their recommendations to the chair of the individual working groups, but it turned out that they didn’t have any ideas or answers, and the environmentalists ran rings around them. Ultimately, however, the ESD was being kneecapped by late 1991 and when Keating took over from Hawke, the whole thing was basically thrown in the bin. 

On this topic, you might like these other posts on All Our Yesterdays

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References

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You can see the chronological list of All Our Yesterdays “on this day” posts here.

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.

If you want to get involved, let me know.

If you want to invite me on your podcast, that would boost my ego and probably improve the currently pitiful hit-rate on this site (the two are not-unrelated).

Also on this day: 

September 25, 1980 -Reagan turns out to be an ignorant fool. Who knew?

September 25, 1991-  European Commission proposes a carbon tax…

September 25, 1995 – Clean Coal. No, seriously.

September 25, 2003 – Bob Carr “strikes greenhouse deal” with European investors