Keep it Clean: Pollies telling some climate crackers

This week’s Keep it Clean finds us tripping from state to state, and from the bizarre to the just plain depressing, with threats of violence; threats to WA marine life; threats to the Greens’ control of the balance of power in the Senate; threats to Queenslanders’ intelligence; and the greatest threat there is to long-term security in the Pacific region: climate change.

Wind farms in Victoria

“This is a policy that strikes the right balance between the development of wind farms, providing certainty to wind farm investors and also protecting the local community and local environment.”  – Newly installed Victorian Premier Denis Napthine, talking on ABC Radio Melbourne about the Liberal Party’s wind farm policy, amended under his predecessor Ted Baillieu, to include no-go zones and an arbitrary 2km setback rule

“Mr Baillieu’s (wind farm) policy was the best in the world. He understood the fallacies of the industry. If Dr Napthine reneges on that policy, I’ll break his arms.” – Randall Bell, president of the Victorian branch of anti-wind group Landscape Guardians, quoted in the Herald Sun last weekend

WA election fallout

“We have six months to turn around the view that a massive investment in renewable energy would be bad for WA.” – Western Australia Greens Senator Scott Ludlam

“Simply, Australians want jobs and they want a balance with the environmental issues. The Greens’ days are numbered.” – Nationals MP Darren Chester speaking about the results of the WA election

“We really need to think about how we we are going to protect the big reforms that have been brought in, particularly the $10 billion going into renewable energy.” – Australian Greens leader Christine Milne

Queensland quirks

“On every occasion when you do something in favour of the environment, the Queensland Premier stands opposed. Whether it is protection of koalas, protection of the Great Barrier Reef or protection of underground water, the reaction of the Queensland National Party is exactly the same every single time.” – Federal ALP environment minister, Tony Burke, in Parliament

“I do not know whether it was man’s emission of carbon back in the dinosaur’s time that caused the climate change then. I always concede I do not have the scientific knowledge to make a view on that. But what I do know is that, even if carbon is the cause of climate change… Australia is taxing itself with the largest tax in the world for the less than 1.4 per cent of carbon emissions which we emit.” – Ian Macdonald, member of the Queensland Liberal Party and shadow parliamentary secretary for northern and remote Australia, speaking in the Senate

In the Senate…

“What did the minister for fisheries in Western Australia, Mr Moore, say (about the news that Western Australia was experiencing a marine heat wave)? ‘Hopefully, it is an aberration’.” – Rachel Siewert, West Australian Greens, speaking in the Senate

“The decision of the opposition to claim that the science behind measures to reduce carbon dioxide is crap was not based on evidence and was not acquired at a meeting with experts. Neither was it the result of careful study; it was the result of a cynical realisation that political advantage was to be gained from misrepresentation and deception, no matter the eventual consequences for the nation.” – John Murphy, the Labor Party’s member for Reid, speaking in the Senate

Meanwhile, in the US

“There are a number of us who plan on speaking every day on the House floor on the need for Congress to take action on climate change. We’re making this commitment because this chamber is filled with such a large collection of climate deniers. It’s here in Congress, though, where a long-term strategy to address this issue will have to be crafted if we’re to avoid the worst-case scenario and the catastrophic consequences of climate change.” – US House Representative Jim Moran, Democrats

“You have the real potential here in the not-too-distant future of nations displaced by rising sea level. If it goes bad, you could have hundreds of thousands or millions of people displaced and then security will start to crumble pretty quickly.’’ – America’s top military officer Navy Admiral Samuel Locklear who, when asked to name the biggest long-term security threat in the Pacific region, responded: climate change.

And this week’s Fun Fact:

Francis of Assisi, after whom the new Pope is named, is the patron saint of animals and the environment. At least it’s not Cardinal Pell.