It’s been a while since I expressed disappointment at Australian Prime Minister Turnbull’s endorsement to build the world’s largest coal mine in Australia. Well, now Turnbull has been evicted from the Prime Minister’s residence (which he never physically occupied) because he was too ambitious on the issue of CO2 emissions for his Liberal Party to stomach, and he’s being replaced with social conservative and, until now, Treasury Minister Scott Morrison. His position on anthropomorphic climate change?
In a country where the debate over climate change and clean energy has brought down several political leaders — including Turnbull — Morrison has been unequivocal in his support of Australia’s traditional power source.
He famously brought a lump of coal into parliament in February 2017. “This is coal,” Morrison shouted across the chamber. “Don’t be afraid. Don’t be scared. It won’t hurt you. Those opposite have an ideological, pathological fear of coal.” [WaPo]
I suppose he denies that burning the stuff releases releases mercury, along with all the climate change gasses. The former Prime Minister’s description of his opponents certainly has a ring of familiarity for me:
Friday’s vote was the second one on Turnbull’s leadership in three days and the culmination of years of what Turnbull asserted was an “insurgency” by opponents aided by right-wing commentators and media outlets, including Sky News, the Australian equivalent of Fox News.
“There was a determined insurgency by a number of people, both in the party room and backed by powerful voices in the media . . . to bring down my prime ministership,” he told reporters.
I’m not sure how American right-wing and Australian right-wing commentators line up, but it’s probably not too far off. That Mr. Morrison is also an Evangelical Christian is also not surprising, as an existential crisis brought on by our own activities, supposedly blessed by the Divinity, seems a paradox.
Looks to be another step backwards. Fortunately, Morrison’s Liberal Party holds a razor thin majority in coalition with the National Party, so Labour may be able to take control soon. I’m not sure if they’re any better, though.
