Thirty five years ago, on this day, June 7th, 1990 a neoliberal attack-tank was launched, and a letter about weathering also appeared,
A privately funded economic think tank and joint venture between Australia and New Zealand called the Tasman Institute was launched in Melbourne yesterday.
Anon. 1990. Trans tasman think tank backed by big business. New Zealand Herald, 8 June p.5.
And
Letter in Nature about silicate and enhanced weathering by Sieffert https://www.nature.com/articles/345486b0
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 356ppm. As of 2025 it is 430ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The broader context was that everyone was scratching their heads about what to do about th “Greenhouse Effect”
The specific context was that in Australia right-wing forces knew that they needed some new pieces on the chessboard
What I think we can learn from this – organisations get formed to push a certain line, combat others. Once the initial impetus is gone, they may survive, but this will require them to pivot. If they can’t, they tend to die…
What happened next Tasman was a dead duck by 1997 – with Howard in the Lodge (the residence of the Australian Prime Minister) it was surplus to requirements.
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: