Australia: international outlaw on climate change - Dr David Suzuki

Australia: international outlaw on climate change - Dr David Suzuki
by Elliot K - Perth Indymedia 2006-10-18 10:53 PM +0800
October 18, 2006 - One of the world's most prominent environmentalists - Canadian Dr David Suzuki - has criticised the Australian Government's cred on climate change, saying it was an "international outlaw," and that Australia's stance is a "crime against future generations" for refusing to sign the Kyoto Protocol...

"..I feel like we’re in a car that’s going at a hundred miles an hour towards a brick wall. And everyone is arguing about where they are going to sit, when there needs to be some steering, and the brakes need to come on. And people like me are locked in the trunk..."
Dr David Suzuki, the 70 year-old Canadian environmentalist, has criticised the Federal Government and said the whole country should be engaged in the debate, not just politicians.

The Australian Government had done nothing and been in denial when the world was in the midst of deep trouble over global warming, he said. "By rejecting Kyoto, Mr Howard declares that Australia is an international outlaw, not to be bound by these kinds of treaties the rest of the world agrees to." Dr Suzuki said future generations will look back on the inactivity, the unwillingness to do anything, as a crime against future generations.

Dr Suzuki, speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra, questioned the human race's determination to ignore things such as climate change, increasing rates of extinction and genetically modified crops.

"It's outrageous that we are not taking advantage of foresight, our predictive capacity to see where the dangers lie, seize the opportunities and make our way into a more liveable future."

Dr Suzuki also rubbished suggestions by the Prime Minister that the environmental movement must rethink its opposition to nuclear power, saying nuclear energy was costly, unreliable and vulnerable to terrorist attack. He described the Prime Minister's endorsement of nuclear fuel as "the biggest crock of baloney I've heard".

"How can you talk about a serious alternative form if you can't even answer questions about cost, reliability, protection from terrorism and nuclear waste? I mean it's crazy. Especially when there are so many other opportunities."

Dr Suzuki said Australia should be making use of its climate to become a leading exporter in solar technology.

"You've got something most countries would kill for called sunlight. Every bit of water in this country should be heated by the sun. The roof of every house in this country should be solar collectors and water collectors and right away you're dealing in a serious way with two big issues, water shortages and energy."

Dr Suzuki said a clear link existed between industrial activity and the current drought, which some have labelled the worst in the nation's history. "I think the scientists are very reluctant to say this is the result of global warming. It seems to me rather obvious the climate is changing, that's indisputable. We've added more carbon, that's indisputable. What do we think's going to happen? Weather patterns are going to change."

Dr Suzuki agreed with Mr Howard's comments earlier this week that nuclear energy emitted fewer CO2s than fossil fuels, but he denied it was a clean form of energy.

"It's not free, you still have to dig the stuff up out of the ground, you have to process it, you have to manufacture the plants."

He said of John Howard: "This is a man who for four terms has denied the reality of climate change when people in his country, leading scientists, have been telling him urgent action is needed..."

He said that in 1992 a group of world-leading scientists issued a warning to humanity. "They said we could have as little as 10 years to avoid an absolute catastrophe. And it wasn’t covered by any of the major American TV networks or newspapers. The media is obsessed with celebrities, and yet over half of all Nobel Prize winners sign a document, and this is not considered newsworthy. It’s the tragedy of our times. What are we getting in the media? Why do we spend one second on Paris Hilton? That blows me away. Who the hell is she, and who cares?”
In terms of climate change, he said the big question was ‘When do we reach the point of no return?’

"There’s a report saying the Amazon – a rainforest – is currently going through drought. That’s unprecedented. Have we pushed mother nature too far? I don’t know. We’ve changed the atmosphere, there’s no pulling back from what we’ve done..."

Sources:
The West
SMH
Canberra Times
ABC
David Suzuki - Wikipedia
David Suzuki Foundation World collapses while Hilton hogs front page: Suzuki
Paris Hilton