Australia's Senate Drops Climate Change Wrench into General Election

The contenders to form Australia's next national government have night & day differences on climate change.   The incumbent, Labor's Kevin Rudd, trails his rival, Tony Abbott's Liberal Coalition, 48 to 52.  Abbott is a strong climate change denier.

Now into the mix comes a bipartisan report from the Australian Senate, "Dangerous Degrees", that warns Australia is more vulnerable to climate change than just about any other country in the world.

The Senate panel, which includes Labor, Coalition and Greens members, recommended that "credible and reliable flood mapping" be introduced, along with better access to insurance and amended building codes, in order to help Australia cope with floods, storms and bushfires. The insurance industry has welcomed its findings.
 
The Greens called for the committee in the wake of the Queensland floods in 2010 and 2011. Christine Milne, the Greens' leader, told Guardian Australia that urgent reform was needed to better prepare Australia for extreme weather.
 
"Local governments aren't changing planning schemes fast enough to prevent people building on floodplains," she said. "And we still haven't got to the point where either of the old parties have a consistent, precautionary approach to climate change.

The report, called Dangerous Degrees, warned that current warming trends would see a temperature increase of at least four degrees by 2100 – well above the internationally agreed limit of two degrees warming.
 
This change, the study stated, could significantly affect Australia's social stability, diminish natural resources such as water and trigger greater sea level rises.
 
[Former Liberal leader] John Hewson helped unveil the report and said that climate change could carry an economic cost that would make the global financial crisis seem like a "blip".

John Connor, chief executive of the Climate Institute, said Australia was more exposed to climate change risks than any other developed nation.

"There is a big and growing gap between the emissions pathway we're on and the one we need to be on to avoid unmanageable, costly climate risks," he said.

Abbott's coalition, seeking to dodge the Senate bullet, claimed to welcome the report as a great starting point for further study.  In other words, they're trying to Harperize it, make it go away.

The Last Days of the Troll Down Under

It looks increasingly like the end of the road for Australian prime minister John Howard. His anything-but Liberal Party is expected to be turfed out to make way for the Labour Party when Aussies go to the polls on Saturday.

True to his little neo-con heart, the Troll has resorted to the far right's favourite tool - fear. He warned voters this week of "enormous risks" of changing government, implying some sort of security and economic cataclysm would surely result if Australians chose a full-size prime minister.

So what's the new guy, Kevin Rudd, promising if he's elected? For starters, he'll pull Australian troops out of Iraq. He might even use those bods to increase his country's forces in Afghanistan. He's also promised to sign on to Kyoto and to take a leading role in the push for carbon-emission cuts at next months' Bali conference.

Rudd is also expected to steer Australia away from the United States and more toward Asia.