Hush a bye, don't you cry

Photo of Tenderbreak Permaculture Farm (click to visit their blog)

It truly has been an interesting week for those are concerned about peak oil and climate change here in Australia.

Early in the week the senate actually had a motion moved to acknowledge and look seriously at the peak oil issue in relation to Australia. Unsurprisingly the motion was defeated 31:6.

The thing is this isn't all bad news. Sure it would be better if our senate had passed the motion but really the breakthrough is the motion was raised in the first place. The Greens senator involved was obviously convinced they were not going to get embarrassed by being the only person to support this motion. Not only was it raised but 16% of the voting senators supported the motion.

To me though, the important bit is that the issue has been raised. It has been made public and the Australian senate now has a vote on record about this issue. Even though all major party senators simply voted along party lines if just a few senators get interested enough in what they were voting about to do a bit of research that gap might slowly close. Most importantly it forever makes any future claim of ignorance impossible. The issue has been put before the senate and voted upon so while I don't celebrate the result I do think it is a step in the right direction.

The second and more contentious issue currently under discussion is the Emissions Trading Scheme. Honestly the bill that was put forward in August only considered the science in a 'passing wave' fashion. Even at that point it was never going to be enough but at least it could almost be said to be a partially credible starting point. The work that has been put into watering it down since it was defeated to make it passable has been a real education in "political reality".

It seems political reality has absolutely no basis in actually achieving anything useful. In fact its only link to reality seems to be that it has to convince people that you are doing something even if it isn't an effective response.

I have to say that this piece of legislation has me quite conflicted. I truly believe that Australia needs legislation in place. The problem for me is that this legislation basically guarantees that we won't act in a globally responsible manner for a very long time. I could probably live with it if it was going to be reviewed in 12 months. In my view for the timeline this legislation currently covers it ensures that big polluters will be able to afford to stay that way for far too long.

This world, it's a complex place. Regardless of what is happening at the national level I will continue to try to raise awareness and build support. The main political reality is that politicians are reactionary. Without most people in Australia telling their politicians that they believe the future of their children is more important that cheap products or food the moves will be few and far between. I can't change legislation but I can, in my local community, advocate for change. I can build the awareness needed to ensure that the politicians are forced to stand up and be counted on these issues.

I have power, so do you.....