An Outbreak of Sanity in the Antipodes

The non-majority government of Australian PM Kevin Rudd has been dealt a serious blow, the after effects of which may push him to call early elections.  After wrestling power from Liberal PM John Howard in 2007, much of Rudd’s initiatives have been met with reserved support from the opposition.  His party’s global warming bill, however, may have been the proverbial camel-breaking straw. 
 
The bill, which failed to pass the Australian Senate earlier this year, had undergone severe consensus building amendments prior to its reintroduction.   Its newest form included broad measures to make carbon-based energy (such as those derived from coal) more expensive by means of a tax.  Now, with its senatorial defeat, Mr. Rudd is off to Copenhagen empty handed.  Perhaps an energy policy based on higher taxes was never a wise approach. 
 
On the other side of the senate aisle a different type of climate change was occurring: a shift in power and political loyalties.  A coalition of Liberals and Nationals used this opportunity to define itself as an opposition to be reckoned with when they elected a new leader, Tony Abbot, and stood fast against climate alarmism.  Mr. Abbot was not only a critic of Rudd’s tax solution but is a sound proponent for Australia’s coal industry, an industry which is fast being realized as a domestic solution to energy security on both sides of the antipodes.
 
It seems the political tide may indeed be turning in favour of reason, though there are still severe obstacles to overcome.  Rudd´s failure, along with the emails of East Anglia and inaction in the UN’s climate summit prove that climate alarmism is never a sensible political course.  Unfortunately the revelations of the last few months will do little to correct years of panic-caused, unnecessary climate industry and infrastructure (such as Environmental Ministers in the highest levels of government).  There is hope, however, that these developments will serve as a reminder to those in power that irrational fear does little to build true political consensus.