On 29 November 1973, Don Jessop, a Liberal senator for South Australia, made this statement in the Australian parliament:
“It is quite apparent to world scientists that the silent pollutant, carbon dioxide, is increasing in the atmosphere and will cause us great concern in the future. Other pollutants from conventional fuels are proliferating other gases in the atmosphere, not the least of these being the sulphurous gases which will be causing emphysema and other such health problems if we persist with this type of energy source. Of course, I am putting a case for solar energy. Australia is a country that can well look forward to a very prosperous future if it concentrates on solar energy right now.”
http://historichansard.net/senate/1973/19731129_senate_28_s58/#subdebate-21-0
Jessop may have learned from Sept 1972 Friends of the Earth conference at University of Adelaide
[The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 327ppm. At time of writing it was 417ishppm- but for what it is now,well, see here for the latest.]
The context was this –
Energy was in the, um, air, because the “first Oil Shock” was under way
Why this matters.
We need to remember we have been failing to do anything serious about climate change for a very very long time, and while this or that recalcitrant politician or devious mofo of an oil industry shill is certainly blameworthy,they are a symptom as much as a cause of the underlying problem…
What happened next?
A collective shoulder shrug. Though to be fair, legendary Australian civil servant Nugget Coombs did, the following year, get the Minister of Science to ask the Australian Academy of Science to look into the climate issue…