Tobacco lobbyists move on to climate-change denial
February 27th, 2007Last night’s Four Corners program on ABC TV showed how the climate-change denial industry uses many of the same spin-merchants who used to work for Big Tobacco obscuring the link between smoking and lung cancer.
One of their new campaigns is about cutting ‘Greenhouse intensity’ rather than absolute cuts in Greenhouse emissions. Watch out for this weasel word - it means that if an economy grows by a percentage, it can raise its permitted emission levels by the same amount. We need deep and absolute cuts if we are to minimize the effects of climate change.
Meanwhile Greens Senator Christine Milne has put one of Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s bright ideas into perspective. He wants to phase out incandescent light globes in favour of low-energy bulbs, nationally.
Christine Milne: “It’s all well and good to replace light globes but the government continues to avoid adopting measures that will help make the deep greenhouse gas reduction targets needed at the same time as it supports activities that increase emissions, including an expansion of the coal industry and injecting billions into roads.
“The proposed Anvil Hill coal mine in New South Wales will generate 28 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year, whereas the light bulb change will reduce emissions by 800,000 tonnes per annum,” Milne said.
The Four Corners program will be repeated on Wednesday at 11.35am.
