Climate Change
I do beleive that human activity has and is affecting the climate. However I have to agree with the Federal Opposition from the point of view that it is better to wait until after the Copenhagen Conference before deciding on the best course of action. The Federal Government rush to have it passed by the end of the year was nothing more than political grandstanding so that Kevin Rudd/ Penny Wong could go to Copenhagen and tell the world how good they are (not) in getting the first scheme up.
As a young University student in the late 60's we were told of the natural cycles of cooling and warming of the planet and that we were and still are in a natural warming cycle. Evidence of that can be found in thge likes of Glacier Bay Alaska where the extent of the glaciers has been tracked since the mid 18th century and it has retreated a long way over 70 miles or so since that time in a steady progression.
That is not to say that human activity by way of the Industrial Revolution has not contributed to the an acceleration in the warming process. I would venture to say that human activity is a significant harmonic on the natural warming and cooling cycles the planet goes through.
In my lifetime I have noticed a significant change in the climate particularly since the acceleration in industrialisation in developing countries like India and China in the last 20 years. That is not to say that India and China are to blame, we are all to blame as we live more and more opulent lifestyles.
The highly developed countries laid the foundations for climate change in the last century with rampant industrial and economic growth based upon the use of fossil fuels for energy to support that growth.
We all have to take a step back in the industrialised world and take steps to mitigate our use of energy and processed resources.
However I am not sure that an Emissions Trading Scheme based upon taxation only is necessarily the best option.
[color=red] I wonder why Clay is calling a new person a dope? for having his say? [/color]
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New members to the forum most always tread warily at first so as to check the tenure of the topic...........this person has jumpted right in and has made some wild statements without any reference to their source ...........we have had debate about this before Phyl...........so he has had his say and I am having mine
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Without proper reference I can only disregard what he has said and consider it to be wrong..........clay