But the climate seems to be deteriorating so rapidly I’m not sure I’ll get off that easily. I love my five grandkids,but I’m not looking forward to the day they’re old enough to quiz me on “what I did in the war”. What was I saying and doing while our leaders were going for decades kicking the problem down the road as the easiest way to get re-elected?
“Well,I was very busy writing about the shocking cost of living – oh,and rising interest rates.” Really? Is that the best excuse you can offer,Grandad?
We elected a bloke called Albo who promised to try a lot harder than his predecessors to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases. He said he’d cut them by 43 per cent by 2030. He was quick to put that target into law,and his people worked through the Christmas holidays to outline the “safeguard mechanism” he’d use as his main measure to achieve the reduction.
While the rest of us were at the beach,Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen announced a few weeks ago that Australia’s 215 biggest industrial polluters – running coal mines,gas plants,smelters and steelworks – will have their emissions capped,with the caps lowered progressively by 30 per cent come 2030.
Businesses whose emissions exceed their cap will face heavy fines. To the extent they can’t use cleaner production processes to reduce their emissions,they’ll be allowed to buy “carbon credits” from other heavy polluters who’ve been able to reduce their emissions by more than required,or from farmers who’ve planted more trees.
Trouble is,it wasn’t long before the experts started pointing to all the holes in the scheme. For a start,the combined emissions of these biggest polluters account for only 28 per cent of Australia’s total emissions.