<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/fossil-fuel-behemoth-the-climate-cost-of-australias-bipartisan-addiction-to-coal-and-gas/>
"Political bipartisanship across successive Australian governments has overseen
a massive expansion of oil, gas and coal production despite promises to act on
climate change over the last three decades, a new report suggests.
The report,
Exporting Harm: The Climate Toll of Australia’s Fossil fuel
Expansion, by the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, a
diplomatic and civil society campaign to create a treaty to stop fossil fuel
exploration, expansion and set up a managed phase-out of oil, gas and coal use,
to examine Australia’s track record on climate change.
It found that despite its rhetoric, Australia has worked to establish itself as
“a fossil fuel behemoth” over the past three decades since the International
Panel on Climate Change released its
First Assessment Report in 1990, with
the country exporting increasing amounts of fossil fuels even as its domestic
emissions have fallen.
In the fifteen years after the release of the
First Assessment Report, the
burden of Australia’s fossil fuel exports doubled. It doubled again between
2005 and 2020, driven by a massive increase in coal and gas exports.
During this time the Australian government was variously led by both Labor and
the Coalition, in what Michael Poland, campaign manager for the Fossil Fuel
Treaty Initiative in Northern New South Wales said was “a bipartisan consensus
on expanding coal and gas.”
“At least Russia is somewhat honest about being a major fossil fuel producer,”
Poland said. “I think for me that fossil fuel exports have doubled twice in the
past three decades really just shows how deeply ingrained bipartisan support
for the fossil fuel industry is.
“Both major parties have had a bipartisan position on expanding oil and gas. In
the wake of years of cyclones and floods and heatwaves, it’s really time to
break that repetitive cycle.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
