Now’s the Chance for Australia to Get Over Coal and Gas
Fires are ravaging Australia, but its government is only doubling down on coal and gas. A transition away from fossil fuels is needed more than ever, in Australia and everywhere else.
A CFA Member works on controlled back burns along Putty Road on November 14, 2019 in Sydney, Australia.Brett Hemmings / Getty
Australia is your future echo of climate catastrophe. Between four and five million hectares have burned in the last six months, an area about the size of the Netherlands, or just between the size of Maryland and West Virginia. Dozens of people have died, hundreds of homes have been lost, and tens of thousands have been forced to evacuate. Half a billion animals have died. Millions of people have been choking on toxic, smoke-filled air covering major cities across the country for months. Late last week, a woman reportedly suffered respiratory distress and choked to death after disembarking a plane in Canberra.
This is the just the beginning of the fire season, not the end, and it may well be the new normal for many summers to come. But it could also be the beginning of a shift in climate politics away from cronyism and inaction, towards sustainability.
Scott Morrison Won’t Save Us
As the country burns, Conservative prime minister Scott Morrison has done little more than attract the ire of all those suffering the fires and, further afield, the toxic smoke. Last month, as the inferno hit New South Wales (NSW), Morrison set off on holiday to Hawaii; succumbing to pressure and bad media attention, he eventually cut his trip short but pretended to come home days before actually arriving. (The conservative NSW emergency minister only returned from his European jaunt days ago.)
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