An apology from Australia to the rest of the world is now warranted | Josh Bornstein | Comment is free | theguardian.com

An apology from Australia to the rest of the world is now warranted | Josh Bornstein | Comment is free | theguardian.com: "This is how the New York Times responded to the scrapping of the carbon price scheme:

At a time when president Obama is seeking emissions limits on new and existing power plants, and when many scientists are arguing for major reductions in fossil-fuel use by 2050 to keep global warming within manageable limits, Australia – among the world’s highest emitters per capita of carbon dioxide – has chosen to become an outlier.

Slate went further, condemning the “rapacious policies of the current government”. In an article headed The Saudi Arabia of the South Pacific, it told its readers how Australia became the dirtiest polluter in the developed world. Strictly speaking, both publications are wrong. Australia is not alone; it constitutes one half of the Canada-Australia axis of carbon.

Not too put too fine a point on it, since the election of the Abbott government in September 2013, Australian politics has become fruitier than a tarte tatin. Nuttier than a pecan pie. It feels as if the Enlightenment never reached these shores. And climate policy is but one victim of the malaise.

An explanation to the world, if not an apology, is warranted."



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