If Stephen Harper, like Tony Blair is George Bush's lap dog, John Howard has to be W's blow-up doll. This guy is as wilful as Bush and every bit as churlish, especially when it comes to global warming.
Howard doesn't believe the global warming science. He accepts that a majority of Australians do but he says they're bound to with all the media hype on the subject. What he makes clear is that he's not interested in anything that upsets the apple cart of Australia's coal-fueled economy.
The best part is that Howard claims his government is doing a dandy job of curbing greenhouse gas emissions, a lot better in fact than most other industrial countries. Like Bush, Howard has learned that it doesn't matter what he says so long as he says it.
United Nations studies contradict everything Howard says. According to the UN figures for 2004, Australia generated 26.4 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per capita. Put another way, that works out to 72 kg. of greenhouse gases per day which roughly matches the average weight of the populace.
Howard warns Australians that doing anything about it will significantly increase their electricity bills and he's not kidding on that one. Australia has just about the cheapest electricity rates in the industrialized world thanks to an abundant coal resource and the willingness to burn as much of it as necessary.
In John Howard, George Bush has a steadfast ally. We need to sweep both of them, and Harper, out of office if we're going to take this problem seriously.
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