November 6 1988
On this day in 1988 the Canberra Times ran a cartoon by Geoff Pryor nailed the Australian response to “the Greenhouse Effect” (and is still tolerably accurate today, 35 years later)
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110611748/12738842
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 351,7ppm. As of 2023 it is 419ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The context was that there had just been the “Greenhouse 88” conference in all capital cities and Darwin. Everyone was grappling with “what is to be done?” The coal industry was sitting tight, thinking it was all a fad that would blow ever…
What we learn is that we have learnt nothing.
What happened next? Ideas for a carbon price and extra funding on energy efficiency and renewable energy were defeated. The coal export and LNG export infrastructure were radically expanded, and a small number of people got very very rich. Pryor kept drawing for the Canberra Times until 2008, and then did some more drawing for the Saturday Paper.
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.