On an Australian TV show, Lateline, last night, Tony Jones talked to US energy and environment consultant, Terry Tamminen. They discussed our embarrassingly sycophant Prime Minister‘s relationship to the US president, George Bush, regarding climate change.

Seems that as our tourism ads now fail to sell us overseas and we are no longer voted the friendliest nation in the world, the way international opinion of Australia is following that of America. Our supposed “leader” not only continues to give Carte Blanche support to Bush’s corruption and war crimes in Iraq, but consistently stands joined at the hip with America in remaining one of the two only industrialised nations to fail to ratify the Kyoto agreement on climate change.

Interestingly, Terry Tamminen reported that whilst Bush claims that the US only contributes to 1/4 of the world’s carbon emissions which are melting ice caps and causing global climate change, that in fact this figure is far higher. He explained that whilst China is about to overtake the US as the world’s biggest polluter, it is in fact the Chinese supply of cheap enviro-toxic products like plastic flamingos and Nike running shoes to US citizens and the importing of US fashion for SUV vehicles to China which is the source of Chinese in Beijing having air quality, reportedly the equivallent of smoking 2 packs of cigarettes per day per person.

Among those pollutants filling the air, waterways and leeching into soils and the food chain, are mercury. But if that’s all too depressing for you, here’s something to cheer you up. This is what our Australian government is doing for climate change. Here’s the Prime Ministers latest tax-payer funded rhetoric (complete with fun text commentary) as they bide for time and wait for George to give them a wink.

… Donna Williams

http://www.donnawilliams.net