How bad are the fires in Australia?
“Thousands of people are in the path of deadly Australian bushfires that have produced clouds of smoke seen as far away as New Zealand”.
It’s a three hour flight from the east coast of Australia to New Zealand; slightly over 2000 km.
In New South Wales:
“As of Monday morning, 64 fires were burning across New South Wales, 40 of which had not been contained”.
In Queensland:
“There were 50 fires raging across Queensland, with three significant blazes located across an area of 500 kilometers (310 miles), Megan Stiffler with the Queensland Fire and Emergency Service told CNN. She added that there is no rain predicted in the area until January”.
January!
So how is the Australian government dealing with these fires and the fact that climate change is leading to them happening more often and with greater strength?
Well, for a start, Australia is the world’s biggest coal exporter, providing 29% of internationally traded coal.
On June 19, Queensland gave the go ahead for a massive new coal mine in Carmichael.
Australia became the world’s biggest liquified natural gas exporter last year, overtaking Qatar.
The CO2 emissions from these exported fossil fuels correspond to 3.6% of total global CO2 emissions.
Here’s how Australia’s great leader reacted to being accused of inaction:
“Morrison sidestepped questions this weekend when asked about climate change. On Saturday, he said, "My only thoughts today are with those who have lost their lives and their families. The firefighters who are fighting the fires, the response effort that has to be delivered and how the Commonwealth has responded in supporting those efforts".
This was the guy that brought a lump of coal to parliament in 2017, as savagely reported by the Guardian:
“This is coal,” the treasurer said triumphantly, brandishing the trophy as if he’d just stumbled across an exotic species previously thought to be extinct.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said, soothingly, “don’t be scared.”
No one was afraid, or scared. People were just confused. What was this fresh idiocy?”
As for the deputy prime minister—Michael McCormack, he had this to say:
"What people need now is a little bit of sympathy, understanding and real assistance. They need help, they need shelter."
The sickening thing is that they’re using the bullshit American “thoughts and prayers” strategy that comes out every time there’s a mass shooting. The idea is to divert attention from the underlying problem (climate change, gun control) by attacking the moral standing of those who want to solve the underlying problem. Then they cross their fingers that the story will fade out of the news cycle before the next round.
And…repeat.
You have to be a pretty nasty piece of work to push back with this technique. Or a politician.
McCormack also had this to say about Greens party members who had the gall to face the reality that climate change seems to be using Australia as its poster child:
"I don't need the ravings of some pure, enlightened and woke capital city greenies".
What he needs is an editor.
In a desperate hunt for an adult in the rather hot room that is Australia 2019, Greg Mullins, the former Commissioner of New South Wales' Fire and Rescue Department, was discovered hiding out as an extra in Reality Bites. He had this to say:
"If anyone tells you, 'This is part of a normal cycle' or 'We've had fires like this before', smile politely and walk away, because they don't know what they're talking about".
If you have any good stories out of Australia of communities trying to do something about climate change or trying to push the government on to the right path, please get in touch, because—quite frankly—there’s not much good news on this coming out of Australia these days, and I’ll take anything I can get.
[Photo credit: CNN]