Bruce Sterling on The Drought
There were no massive hurricanes in the US this year, but typhoons kicked the hell out of Asia, and Australia is having the worst drought in a thousand years. Everybody's been figuring climate change for a poor man's problem, mostly because the Left own the green issue and they're very big on social issues, but Australia is a right-wing state full of rich white guys, and they may be more direly vulnerable to climate change than any nation in the world.
-- Bruce Sterling (again) talking about the Drought
I singled this out cause its just so damn right... and yet we do nothing worth a damn: Australia deserves its dominion of dirt and dust and dry rot.
UPDATE: I agree with the anonymous commentator (Dave W?):
Being right wing != being conservative.
Being conservative != being neoconservative.
(!= == not equal to; == == absolutely equal to)
I also wonder where Sterling pulled the 1000 years bit from. I've heard it argued that the last centuries rainfall was atypical and the weather conditions we are experiencing now are far more reflective of Australia's history... Which is kind of scary
Nonetheless, it's point is still valid -- that you'd think/hope Australia would be one of the most proactive countries in trying to solve the related issues of drought and climate change. But y'know, that would require a level of politics and civil society beyond the parochial aspirational class bullshit which is sinking our country.



4 Comments:
Bruce seems to be confusing conservatism with being "right wing". Actually, Bruce just seems to be confused.
By
Anonymous, at Fri Jan 05, 09:39:00 am AEDT
"but Australia is a right-wing state full of rich white guys"...if only it was a right-wing state full of rich black guys, that would fix the problem.
The fact is every state and territory has a left wing government and while the federal government has the biggest say in environmental policy, by and large the states can set their own policies (see renewable energy target schemes for instance).
I agree with your comment Stu. Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth. 3/4 of the land is arid or semi-arid. So should we be surprised when we encounter a prolonged drought?
The fact is we need to reconsider lifestyles and industry. Household gardens should be full of native plants with low water requirements rather than full of thirsty plants which remind us of England. Irrigation for farming is a major cause of soil desalination and drains previously full flowing rivers. If water was priced correctly by governments (i.e. was more expensive) we: a) wouldn't have to prop up the agricultural community; and b) people would be more careful when using it.
By
Anonymous, at Wed Jan 10, 01:11:00 pm AEDT
Imagine if we didn't have water restrictions...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8vh6E3iKjM&NR
By
Anonymous, at Thu Jan 11, 09:39:00 pm AEDT
it's becoming very serious here. that's not how you guys seemed some months ago. is it caused by the dehydration?
on a completely other topic, check this out
http://funnies.paco.to/Headlines.html
By
Anonymous, at Sat Jan 13, 07:03:00 am AEDT
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