Net-Zero Climate
Climate Change
Today the Liberal Party of Australia has signed on to committing to net-zero covid… uhh net-zero emissions by 2050.
Barnaby Joyce however has made it clear that he doesn’t support this strategy [Link].
Climate Change has become a major issue on all news publications a few months out from the 2021 Local Government Elections.
As we mentioned in Episode 5 everything we will see in the news and politics leading up to the election will be political. This includes mundane stories but also omission or highlighting of issues that political parties think are favourable to win.
As the Labor Party of Australia and Green Party of Australia are very avid Climate Change enthusiasts, the pushing of Climate Change policy/news articles will very likely benefit them. We also saw a similar strategy in previous years leading up to elections.
Pollution is bad for the environment and also bad for humans, obviously. A lot of the ‘Climate Change’ news, headlines, information and more we see focuses on pollution, like plastic waste in the ocean and brand this as “Climate Change”.
However, Climate Change, time and time again is becoming the go-to for politicians and political parties that have nothing to add to actual public discourse.
CLIMATE CHANGE IS AN ETERNAL ISSUE.
Statements like the above can be taken two ways.
- Humans will always be facing climate change as long as we don’t act and save the planet.
- Politicians, big business and activists will always have something to cling to, of which the goal posts can always be moved further and further away.
Now, over the last few months the news has been pretty steadily focused on Covid, Covid Vaccines and other Covid related articles mixed in with some culture, arts and celebrity gossip.
However, as we approach the local government elections (December 1 2021), a quick shift has taken place, shifting from daily covid case numbers being story #1 on every news station and website, to climate change and climate issues taking this top spot.
We won’t discuss the politics of Climate Change, but whether you agree or disagree with Climate Change, it seems disingenuous for politicians and political parties to use this ‘climate crisis’ to get into power or to hold an upper hand.
This is all politics and politicians will use whatever they have to stay in power or to gain it.
As mentioned in the first part of this article, Barnaby Joyce doesn’t support the net-zero emissions policy change. Its clear that the reasoning behind the Liberal Party shift TO pro-climate change is from media pressure alone. Does this imply that the media is the arbiter of what is ‘good’ or what government ‘policy’ should be. Well with the current push, it certainly seems like it.