Changing the climate in the Liberal Party

Now, at least and finally, the line has been drawn on climate change and the environment.

By decision of the liberals drop net zero and the ill-fated “wet” group and their Leader being captured by the National Party lobby, Australians now have two clear alternatives to shape their future lifestyle.

Problem solving – will reason prevail?

Option One: Labor Government (under pressure as the Greens want more).

Confront the threat to the survival of the Earth and the human species by taking timely and rational action on climate change, which unfortunately may come at a cost to everyone. Pursue the goal of reducing greenhouse gases net zero By 2050. As coal-fired power plants fail, replace them with renewable energy as the cheapest and environmentally safe alternative to meet growing demand for electrical energy, including for cars and data centers.

Basing all economic activities on the need for sustainability; that is, not to include unregulated, excessively exploitative or polluting industries; compensatory measures such as carbon trading, recycling and so on. Implement mitigation measures such as electricity rebates and subsidies for solar panels and batteries. Expect the Lone Ranger to save Earth; perhaps a “good” AI could help create unimaginable solutions, or a scientific breakthrough that would allow the controlled use of nuclear fusion.

Ensure that all of this is guided by an assessment of the facts as necessary, drawing on the expertise of professionals in, for example, climate science and communications management, cultural complexity and ethics. In a few words, address that part of being human that involves thought, conscience, and emotional balance.

Ditch the perimeter; to be Trump in the south

Option Two: Liberal and National Parties (integrated with the fossil energy industry lobby).

This is the environmental side of the proposal, which tells voters: if you couldn’t care less about the environment and don’t hate black people or immigrants, then the Coalition is for you. The environmental advice is: If you’re broke, carry on as if there was no crisis.

Borrowing to purchase large vehicles and homes as a life strategy for consumers; No more environmental problems associated with concrete or steel by implementing large-scale engineering solutions for buildings and infrastructure; demand more government subsidies for household energy consumption, vehicle depreciation, “truck” fuel, anything you don’t like paying for; turning a blind eye to the destruction of wildlife species; likewise genocidal wars caused by conflicts over land and water abroad; Laugh at the black villages be submerged by the ocean.

Calm the great anxiety about change in your conservative heart by denying that the change is happening in nature, so there is no need for net zero. Broadcast insults and launch distorted polemics through sarcastic mass media (“skeptics” in the News Corp press, Sky News) to discredit knowledge and thought and even distribute blame for things going wrong: Black kids stealing SUVs and BMWs, immigrants wearing “unwelcome” costumes, unions trying to stir up trouble, “environmentalists” being punks and spoiled jocks, teachers and intellectuals who have stood up themselves.

You will not know your grandchildren’s grandchildren

More solutions to fit the new Liberal menu: Adopt strategies for your future survival based on the principle that there is no society, only individuals and families; anthem Thatcherite He is “established” against the social responsibility ideas of the “wet” people in his party.

This will mean making money as the first priority in life; spend it living in walled settlements with armed guards; When everyone starts running out of water supplies, pump as much water as you want into the pool, the garden, the cars, the computers, whatever; increase air conditioning for later summers; Provide support to fascist echelons to suppress popular dissent with lawless violence.

Will there be consequences for fighting this rearguard action as the world is destroyed? Not if you’re hard-headed towards yourself. You will be able to find an artificial space and a sweet life for your children, of course, if they insist on having children. What about the next generation? You won’t know your great-grandchildren, will you? So who cares about them?

tough choices

These can be two difficult choices. In the early days of science fiction, if the Earth was in danger, everyone would band together to save it. A bipartisan agreement on climate change has been made twice in Australia, but both times it was rejected by right-wing parties that made a U-turn.

Just to jog the memory: Malcolm Turnbull Cooperating with the Labor government on emissions trading, he was removed from the Liberal Leadership in 2009. Tony Abbottwho says climate change is happening “nonsense” (His rival in America, Donald Trump, told the United Nations that this was a “fraud business”).

Likewise, Abbott’s successor, Scott Morrisonhe backed away from climate change and, most famously, ignored mega-wildfires as normal. There were votes both times. Facts or not, everyone likes to be reassured. Should we go back to abandoning homosexuality? Many people will sign up for this.

This third time looks like a terminal break. Liberals’ abandonment of the practical, yet highly symbolic and aspirational goal of achieving zero net emissions was appalling, conspicuous and immoral. There was no end to blah blah blah: talking, spinning and rationalizing. But he says clearly enough that if climate change is true, we won’t all be in this together to fight it; For our part, we will treat people as if this isn’t happening.

Susan Ley case

To illustrate this, the so-called Liberal Leader, Susan LeyHe began to claim that the use of renewable energy was the cause of increasing energy bills. More can be expected, none of it is aimed at this surviving fact checks.

A “nominal” Leader, we should say, because within the Opposition Coalition, the National Party, a reactionary formation linked to the resource industries, and the ideological radical right within Ley’s own party, together got the numbers. The women’s own group, commonly referred to as “moderate”, is the remainder of the “Menzies majority”. Dear Robert MenziesAs Prime Minister, he managed to navigate the post-war economic expansion by making sure he did not do anything too extreme.

This was a pragmatic approach, but it was not adapted to changes in the economy and society with developments such as the growth of service sectors, professionalization and the mass participation of women in the workforce.

In any case, the “moderates” were never truly moderates; “little liberals” who can talk about ideology, reason, truth, “good government” and rights. They always stayed in the party tent and supported opportunistic election plans such as anti-communist cadres.Petrov affair”or anti-refugee“tampaThe party on the right went to the election in 2025 with no statement of values and no coherent policies; It was involved in racism with anti-refugee campaigns and now promises economic prosperity by destroying the natural environment under a regime of billionaires.

From 1970, aided by advancing digitalization, a financial ideology called neoliberalism was introduced from the United States and adopted by zealots within the ranks of the Liberal Party; this was a takeover operation against a “moderate” party, as happened to American Republicans.

This regulation, now most widely understood as a recipe for disaster through extreme inequality, overproduction in pursuit of fame, destruction of nature, and depletion of natural resources, made them talk of “small government,” abandoned business regulations to the point of criminal free-for-alls, and burned public property to the ground. This is where the vast majority of the party’s far-right wing comes from, and if internal figures continue as they are, the transition from a moderate, mediocre conservative Opposition to a reactionary Opposition will be complete.

Australians will choose – maybe they will grow

The use of Sussan Ley was accompanied by the election of two female yuppie (State Liberal Leaders) Kellie Sloane in New South Wales and Jess Wilson In Victoria. (Both need to win in big cities, promising against their federal parties to keep state laws net-zero; that’s hard to sustain in a place where the climate doesn’t recognize State borders.)

Today, the party may be hoping to offset the impact of the coup. Teal IndependentsIntelligent middle-class women who are interested in government for the common good, who may go to the Liberal Party but don’t mind dealing with the misogyny in its ranks or apologizing for racism and social injustice.

What Australian citizens will make of all this in the coming years may have nothing to do with politics or ideology. Other mass actions such as the purchase of solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles, as well as reducing water use by 25 percent Brisbane during drought crisis In 2007, we showed the power of common sense. However, the actual choice now imposed by the Opposition parties will pose a problem for many people.

One option is to be thoughtful, accept the ecological imperative, and confront the changes. In their wisest moments, people will understand that this is a historical survival point, that changes will mean adaptation, risk and some inevitable costs, and that the increase in energy bills is a foretaste.

The second option, as the saying goes, is to rage, act as if nothing is happening to the Earth, hope for a return to simpler days, and give in to some evil impulse for social change and the supposed reasons why things go wrong, like immigrants, “LGBTQI,” or anyone else who isn’t like you.

Facing the facts can be difficult; In this case, you may need to adapt, help with solutions, and realize that complaining and getting anxious won’t make everything go away. Maybe it requires growth.

In addition to Dr Lee Duffield’s extensive journalistic experience, he served as the ABC’s European correspondent. He is also a respected academic and member of the editorial advisory board of Pacific Journalism Review and an elected member of the University of Queensland Senate.

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