[LINK] Post-Copenhagen

[Marghanita da Cruz]

David Goldstein wrote:
> China's position seems to have been to stuff you all, while most, if not all, of the western countries wanted a deal that was worthwhile according to a columnist in The Guardian who was involved in the negotiations. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/22/copenhagen-climate-change-mark-lynas
> 
> But really, there is so much apathy from the general public. A recent report in The Economist noted only 3% of people booking flights on BA paid for carbon offsets. And BA has a simple option for those booking online to tick the box and pay, just like Qantas. So given flyers tend to be more affluent, and they won't pay a minimal carbon offset, what hope is there of a government selling significant price increases to the masses? Buckleys! We can complain all we want about government inaction, but when politicians want to keep their jobs like everyone else, what hope is there...

<snip>

However, here, the senate debate of the 
ETS did generate some media coverage and 
fallout in political circles. Also the 
research community seemed to be looking 
for a niche or angle.

But according to a Geography 
(biotechnology) Academic, visiting 
Sydney from the UK, in early December - 
Climate Change was a hotter topic here 
than it was in Europe. Last year, the 
lack of Snow for a German ski event did 
generate some coverage, but having talks 
on global warming, in a miserably cold 
place is unlikely to be productive.

Besides the filerbusting and political 
grandstanding that went on during the 
senate debate, it was educative in the 
stuff that is excluded.  It would appear 
that everyone wants to couch the 
mitigation in ways that suit themselves 
and as someone has already said, 
outcomes are rarely fair but a result of 
the power of the various parties.

Hopefully when "the World" comes to an 
agreement on the price of CO2, it won't 
be 3% extra but 3% less for an offset 
flight.

Marghanita
-- 
Marghanita da Cruz
http://ramin.com.au
Tel: 0414-869202