Ben's Blog

The Hunter Valley just endured yet another record flood.

40% of people in the Hunter electorate voted for One Nation, a party that does not believe the climate crisis is caused by human activity.* This result is ironic in the extreme. That the climate crisis effects people in the country far more than anyone else, yet the further we go from the city the more people steadfastly refuse to deny its very existence. 60% of Hunter voters backed Labor, a party that, whilst making some attempt to reign in emissions domestically, is pouring fuel on the fire globally with a massive increase in fossil fuel exports.(see Woodside Energy, North West Shelf expansion) Just 7% of Hunter voters backed the Greens,

the only party in Parliament that are willing to tackle the climate crisis head on.

It is an unfathomable paradox that the people leading the fight against climate collapse tend to congregate in the inner city, where the climate crisis has had little effect, while the people suffering from droughts and floods and bushfires are content to sit back and let the city folks do all the heavy lifting.

It is painfully obvious to inner city dwellers that disasters are getting more frequent and more severe, yet far too many country folks keep on repeating we have always had these calamities, nothing to see here. But at the same time they are screaming, “we just weren’t prepared for such an extreme event.” Well, you can’t have it both ways. Either you are accustomed to these extreme events and know how to prepare for them, or these extreme events are unprecedented and that is why you weren’t prepared. It is grossly irresponsible to refuse to even acknowledge the cause of the dramatic changes that surround you. It is grossly irresponsible to leave it to city folks to tackle climate change that disproportionately effects country people.

* onenation.org/climate

** These extreme weather events will only get worse if we do not cease all emissions ASAP! According to the C.S.I.R.O., if we are to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees we must achieve net zero emissions by 2032, in 7 years time!** And that is a very conservative estimate. An international team of 60 leading climate scientists have published an article in the journal Earth System Science Data warning that we must reach Zero emissions in 2 years to have a 66% chance of keeping globnal heating at 1.5 degrees.***

** C.S.I.R.O.

*** Earth Systems Data

Further reading….