below is a recent press release fom the South Australia premier - saying that climate change is as ibg a threat to oz as terrorism.

about time!

Statement
Premier Mike Rann
Minister for Economic Development
Minister for the Arts
Minister for Volunteers
Friday, 27 August 2004

GREENHOUSE THREAT TO AUSTRALIA WORSE THAN TERRORISM: RANN

SA Premier Mike Rann has called on all Australian governments – Federal, State and Territory – and all political parties to make a commitment to reach a joint agreement on tackling the overwhelming threat of climate change to Australia’s economic and environmental future.

On the eve of a national Energy Ministers’ Council meeting being held in Adelaide, Mr Rann said: “The threat to Australia from climate change must be tackled with the same resolve we are tackling terrorism, and the same goodwill with which the River Murray rescue has now been embraced.

“In the long term, climate change poses a greater threat to Australia than terrorism.

“I am today calling upon both John Howard and Mark Latham to make a commitment to convene a special COAG meeting on climate change within three months of the Federal election. It’s time for action, not words. We brokered a deal on the River Murray, ending decades of bickering. We now need to do the same with Kyoto and climate change. That COAG meeting should determine the strategy and set hard targets and timelines on emission reductions.

“Action on climate change is not just about the environment – it is about economics and a future for our children. The metabolism of the world’s modern economy is on a collision course with the metabolism of our planet.

“The main cause of this threat is emissions of carbon dioxide – or CO2. Our atmosphere is the most delicate, thin and dynamic organ of our planetary system. Given the scale of industries pouring CO2 and other greenhouse gasses into our atmosphere, it is little wonder that air pollution is proving to be the chief factor limiting our activities on earth. For a million years – as far back as analysis of ice cores goes – carbon dioxide levels never exceeded 280 parts per million. By the time I was born 51 years ago, they had risen to around 310 parts per million. Today, they stand at 380 parts per million. Last year alone, they rose by 3 parts per million – nearly twice as much as predicted.

“The release of greenhouse gasses in the 20th century has seen the temperature of the surface of our planet rise by 0.6 of a degree Celsius. It seems like a tiny amount, yet it has heralded a new climatic regime. Over the past six years, we have seen:
The hottest summer in European history – so extreme that, in a stable climate, it is to be expected just once every 50 000 years. It killed 19 000 people;
The melting of the Larsen-B ice shelf in Antarctica, the thinning and melting of the Arctic ice cap, and the melting of Greenland’s glaciers at ten times the rate predicted;
The most severe El Nino event, the worst drought in the American west, and the strongest hurricane ever recorded. We have also witnessed the first South Atlantic hurricane recorded and record-low rainfall across most of southern Australia;
Severe impacts on the Australian environment. Perth, for example, has lost one-half to two-thirds of the flow into its water catchments. Just weeks ago, the WA Government committed to the construction of a desalination plant that will supply around 15 per cent of that city’s water; and
Seventeen per cent of the world’s coral reefs are now dead and beyond recovery – a direct effect of climate change.
“The outlook for Australia looks little better. A hotter atmosphere is a more energetic one. We can expect more extreme summer heat, fiercer storms and cyclones, more intense and longer droughts, and more devastating floods. Just to survive, our agriculture will have to change in ways we find difficult to even imagine. Current projections indicate that global temperatures will rise between 1.4 and 5.8 degrees during the next 100 years.

“Climate change has the potential to have a major impact on the daily lives of all South Australians. The list of risk areas is quite chilling. They include:
changes in agricultural production and the loss of high-production lands;
increased flooding intensity;
increased bushfire risk;
less available water;
greater potential for infectious diseases;
more air pollution;
higher rates of heat-stress morbidity; and
greater risk of land degradation.

“In addition, SA energy requirements will increase due to longer, hotter conditions. And our whole system of transport infrastructure may have to be redesigned.

“The CSIRO has forecast dire consequences for South Australia if greenhouse emissions continue at their current rate. A report – prepared last year for the SA Government by the CSIRO – predicts average temperatures in SA’s north may increase by up to 2 degrees by 2030 and up to 6 degrees by 2070. Temperatures in the south of the State are tipped to rise by up to 4.4 degrees by 2070. Rainfall will tend to decrease over most of the State, with drought frequency increasing later this century. The intensity of storms around coastal areas is forecast to increase.

“It is becoming increasingly clear that climate change will strike Australia earlier, and more severely, than other developed nations. This is because of the marginal nature of much of our rainfall, our variable climate and our greater biodiversity. Australia is one of just eight ‘mega-diverse’ regions recognised worldwide.

“The changes we are discussing are 100 times swifter than any recorded in the past 65 million years of geological history – including the changes at the end of the Ice Age. And they are being caused by us. Every tonne of coal we burn results in the release of around three tonnes of CO2.

“The Howard Government has bet Australia’s future on the unproven technology of geosequestration. This involves capturing gas at the smokestack (which no-one can yet do), transporting it to a region where it can be dumped underground, then pressurising it and injecting it into suitable geological structures. Will the people of Australia be willing to have such dumps in their neighbourhood? Australia is the world’s greatest coal exporter, and we have some of the cheapest power in the developed world. Yet the price future generations will pay for that power looks to be great, indeed.

“The latest figures from ABARE indicate that Australia’s power production must increase by more than 50 per cent between now and 2020. This means investment of $11 billion in new power generation assets to create 78,400 megawatts of power. Even the most dyed-in-the-wool advocates of zero-emission technologies (ZETS) don’t expect geosequestration to be commercial before that date. Yet, by 2020, Australia’s emissions of CO2 will be double 1990 levels – making it impossible to maintain our Kyoto target. Worse, a coal-fired power station commissioned in 2020 may still be polluting in 2070.

“We stand at an historic crossroads. We cannot absolve ourselves of responsibility because most of the important decisions about climate change will need to be made over the next ten years. Just a fortnight ago, the leading journal, Science, published an article proving that the world already possesses the technology needed to solve the carbon and climate problem for the next half century. For all its flaws, we must join Kyoto because it is the only international treaty there is. Australian governments today have a moral responsibility to future generations to commit to the Kyoto Treaty and its targets.

“After promising for more than two years to adopt an energy and greenhouse policy, the Prime Minister has failed to provide any vision or direction, and no rules for future greenhouse emissions. Without clear rules, private-sector investment in future power generation is stifled. The current national policy vacuum does nothing to encourage investment. To attract investment in renewable energy, we need to provide financial incentives for electricity generators to move away from dirty-coal-fired electricity to alternatives such as biomass, solar, wind energy, hydro and hot rocks. A renewable energy industry in Australia could be worth billions of dollars, create thousands of jobs in regional areas, and put Australia at the forefront of renewable energy in the Asia Pacific region. Yet the Federal Government is paralysed. It continues to refuse to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, and it has even refused to support a Ministerial Working Party on greenhouse abatement issues. It has even ignored the recommendations from its own review panel to extend the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target, the primary mechanism for the development of the renewable energy industry in Australia. The Prime Minister simply refuses to discuss Kyoto or greenhouse policy. His recent white paper on energy provides no concrete action to be taken for 20 years. It’s put any real action on hold and simply panders to vested interests and the Bush Administration obsession with oil and coal.

“Kyoto isn’t perfect. But it does provide a framework for all participating nations to cut emissions by 5 per cent by 2008-2012, and to trade emission quotas so that there is a genuine incentive for countries to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas they produce. Tackling greenhouse emissions requires a long-term strategy. And it is something we must do now if we are to have any chance of reducing the threat to our planet posed by global warming.

“In the long run, inaction on greenhouse will be much more dangerous and costly than doing something immediately. Global warming will adversely affect agriculture, our fragile ecologies and, eventually, the availability of water.

“We must work to our utmost to change that Treaty from the inside, making it a formidable weapon in the war on climate change. We must convince our American allies that our collective future depends upon getting serious about the threat. And we must do all in our power to hasten the transition of Australia’s economy to a sustainable basis. Carbon trading is a key element in that future; as is proper exploitation of Australia’s true energy wealth – our abundant sunlight, wind and hot rocks. In all three areas, we have world-class reserves that can fuel our economy forever.

“South Australia has announced many targets and policies that put us at the forefront of sustainable energy. Our recently released State Strategic Plan outlines targets to lead Australia in wind and solar power generation within 10 years, increasing the use of renewable electricity so that it comprises 15 per cent of total electricity consumption within 10 years and extending the Solar Schools Program so that at least 250 schools have solar power within ten years.

“There are many sustainable energy initiatives already well underway. We are already solar powering schools, we have solar powered our historic museum and art gallery and our Parliament House will soon become one of the first in the world to be solar powered. South Australia also has the best geology for hot rocks geothermal energy with the potential to produce emission-free energy in vast quantities for the future.

“Wind energy certainly features in South Australia’s sustainable energy future. Over half the nation’s proposed new wind farm developments are planned for South Australia. And we already have the second highest installed capacity. We have one completed wind farm and about 360 megawatts in the construction phase.

“This is a call to arms. I do not wish to be judged by future generations as one who sold out their country’s future. To avoid such a fate, we will need to work with a determination and unity of purpose rare in politics, guided by the best science available to us. It is we who must grasp the nettle, who must show true leadership in this battle for our future.”