Scott Morrison Tells The UN That Australia’s Climate Policy Is Tip Top, Thank You Very Much
"Australia is doing our bit on climate change and we reject any suggestion to the contrary," Morrison said.
It’s hard to imagine how Australia could have a Prime Minister more dedicated to defending the fossil fuel industry than Scott Morrison.
Morrison’s entire brand before stumbling into the top job in the country revolved around his obsession with coal. He even brought a lump of it into parliament, enacting part of a promotional stunt that will absolutely haunt him when the planet is falling apart in a decade or two.
So, to that end, it was rather rich when Morrison stepped up to the podium at the UN and petulantly asserted that Australia is doing its part when it comes to averting total environmental collapse.
Taking to the UN two days after young climate activist Greta Thunberg delivered a fiery speech aimed at politicians who act like they’re doing their part without committing to any real change, Morrison’s tone was that of a misbehaving highschooler forced to explain their shoddy homework.
For instance, Morrison made no commitment to cut emissions moving forward. Instead, as The Sydney Morning Herald report, his emphasis was on cleaning up the ocean. To that end, he spewed a lot of hot air about cleaning plastics, and cracking down on fishing regulations.
Needless to say, such an approach is something like applying a bandaid to an amputated arm. The oceans are in dire straights, and plastic is not helping that. But they’re also being acidified at a rapid rate. Solving that problem isn’t a question of fishing out trash. That’s a question of immediately rethinking how we get our energy.
Which Morrison will not do. In fact, as far as he’s concerned, we’re doing just fine on that front.
“Australia is doing our bit on climate change and we reject any suggestion to the contrary,” Morrison said. “Australia is taking real action on climate change and getting results.”
‘Real action’ is a nebulous term. But even on its loosest definition, Australia is not taking real action. We are digging up coal. We are allowing Adani to set up mines. We are killing the barrier reef. And we are pretending that the consequences aren’t right around the corner.