Climate Commission defines the critical decade

May 24, 2011 in Rants & Raves
Tags: Australia, climate change, Climate Commission, environment, environmental sustainability, greenhouse gas emissions, information, politics, public policy

Yesterday the Climate Commission released a new report. If you’re active within environmental circles it quickly did the rounds. The report, The Critical Decade, reviews the latest climate science.

It might not sound like that much of a big deal but it truly is something worth taking note.

I grabbed the following main points of The Critical Decade report from the Climate Commission’s website:

There is no doubt that the climate is changing. The evidence is overwhelming and clear.
We are already seeing the social, economic and environmental impacts of a changing climate.
Human activities – the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation – are triggering the changes we are witnessing in the global climate.
This is the critical decade. Decisions we make from now to 2020 will determine the severity of climate change our children and grandchildren experience.

The report slams the sceptics by saying there is no debate within the scientific community on the reality of climate change. And what’s more even Abbott tried to take on the report’s finding to press his disastrous alternative. Abbott and Hunt still can’t find any organisation, other than right wing think tanks, to support their policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The Critical Decade argues a carbon pricing mechanism is necessary to curb emissions and says we must act urgently or “we will struggle to maintain our present way of life”.

Now is the time to get on with the job; lets start pricing pollution for a cleaner Australia.