The Australian parliamentary term isn’t fixed, but if it’s nominally three years then, as the latest election was on 24 November 2007 and the Rudd government was sworn in nine days later, the current parliament’s almost half-way through. Because the global financial crisis doesn’t threaten human existence on Earth but climate change does, global warming must be the government’s top priority. But to me, it doesn’t seem so, because the government hasn’t done, and isn’t doing, nearly as much as it should if global warming/climate change’s really top of its list. Putting almost all its eggs in the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme basket is pitiful, as is a 5% carbon emission reduction target. I’ve previously praised the ABC-TV program Australian Story. Recently I watched the 9 February episode – about marine biologist Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg (pictured) who 10 years ago predicted the death of the Great Barrier Reef if the water continued to warm from climate change. His prediction, initially derided by his colleagues, has since gained mainstream acceptance. And his work’s been embraced by Al Gore and David Attenborough. The Great Barrier Reef, an Australian icon, is in trouble. Desperate trouble. As is the entire planet. It doesn’t matter if the Rudd government’s dragging its heels or sitting on its hands. With an election due in late 2010 it must get moving. Pronto.
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