[LINK] Submission to Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Inquiry

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Tom writes,

> The Australian Senate invited submissions on a Carbon Pollution 
> Reduction Scheme, by 25th March 2009 .. I plan to say the aim to
> reduce greenhouse gas emissions to between 5% and 15% below 2000
> levels by 2020 is inadequate. The legislation's aim should be
> changed to 25% to 50% per cent, as advised by IPCC scientists 

Go Tom, and ANU .. 100 months .. fight the good fight ..

"Alarm at 'weak' greenhouse targets"  by Ben Cubby, March 14, 2009

LEADING scientists at a global climate change conference have issued a 
direct and unprecedented plea to the world's politicians, saying weak 
2020 targets for greenhouse gas cuts such as those proposed by the Rudd 
Government would let the world slip into catastrophe.

The message was stark: climate change is real, it is happening faster 
than thought even a couple of years ago, and the effects are likely to be 
severe if political leaders do not act decisively and soon.

"There is no excuse for inaction," said the strongly worded communique 
signed in Copenhagen yesterday by more than 2000 researchers from 80 
countries, including leading climate scientists from the University of 
NSW and the Australian National University.

They called on political leaders to reduce "the influence of vested 
interests" - which, they claimed, hampered efforts to cut carbon emissions

The Federal Government plans to make the slow start to emissions cuts 
that the scientists warned against. It will reduce emissions by 5 per 
cent on 2000 levels by 2020, or up to 15 per cent if other nations also 
agree to make higher cuts. 

This still falls short of the 25 to 40 per cent cuts recommended by the 
climate summit.

Curbing emissions would bring "societal transformation", it said, and 
this would require a shift from "ineffective governance and weak 
institutions to innovative leadership in government, the private sector 
and civil society".

Delegates agreed that most indicators of climate change appeared to show 
it was happening faster than predicted in the most recent report of the 
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, released in 2007.

They said the "worst-case IPCC scenario trajectories (or even worse) are 
being realised.. They painted an alarming picture of rising seas eating 
into cities, productive land and rainforests turning to desert, and a 
real possibility of war and social breakdowns within a few decades as 
shortages widened social divides.

Prince Charles has also called for action. "The best projections tell us 
that we have less than 100 months to alter our behaviour before we risk 
catastrophic climate change," he told an audience in Rio de Janeiro.


http://www.smh.com.au/environment/global-warming/alarm-at-weak-greenhouse-
targets-20090313-8xup.html

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Cheers,
Stephen