What if there was a country that was like America in many ways, such as the obstinate refusal of its government to acknowledge that pursuing economic growth at the expense of the environment is simply a way to commit suicide faster, a fondness for beer, and an enormous capacity to live the high energy lifestyle as if there was no tomorrow?
Could Americans learn anything from it?
Bart A's always-excellent Energy Bulletin brings this chilling story about the very non-chill Australia, where a drought is putting big thermal plants out of business due to water restrictions.
Is it possible -- maybe just barely? -- that Americans could look at a people much like themselves, see what disasters are befalling them, and not simply go back to sucking on the 55" plasma screen glass teat?
Do we even possess the empathy needed for self-preservation, to recognize that the pain that others are experiencing as the the environmental chickens come home to roost is a foretaste of the pain we will experience if we don't get smart (and busy) fast?
I sure hope so.
Comments
View as Flat
Delay And Deny Posted 8:13 am
26 May 2007
Wait...you're condemning Australians from having built hydropower and thermal plants -- which reduce CO2 -- because they're suffering from a water shortage brought on by natural causes?
John Bailo, The "Denier Guy"
You Read It Here First
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GreyFlcn Posted 10:20 am
26 May 2007
Austrailia also happens to be the world's largest exporter of coal.
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biomark Posted 2:33 pm
26 May 2007
He who laughs last will be whomever gets the last breath of available oxygen in our atmosphere.
Biodiesel Information
Alternative Fuel All The Way
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Pangolin Posted 4:22 pm
26 May 2007
Who knew Mad Max and Road Warrier represented the actual future of Australia? Of course it's water the nomads will be after instead of oil but what the heck.
Put the Carbon Back
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00kak Posted 10:38 pm
26 May 2007
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amazingdrx Posted 12:33 am
27 May 2007
What's left? Renewables and conservation. An energy revolution?
Waste water recycling, organic agriculture using mulching and pinpoint water injection irrigation, composting toilets, low water use compressed air/water for showers and dish and clothes washers, and of course distributed solar, wind, wave, and biogas power generation.
Wave, wind, and solar powered desalinization.
Will Australia turn to these alternatives before it slides into economic depression? Will the US?
http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog
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GreyFlcn Posted 3:59 am
27 May 2007
http://greyfalcon.net/murdoch
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gogreener Posted 1:17 pm
27 May 2007
Unfortunately, our Prime Minister seems content to copy US policy on climate change, echoing the same arguments against doing anything. The US and Australia both need to look at the rest of the world instead of each other if they want to avoid the worst of climate change.
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amazingdrx Posted 3:15 pm
27 May 2007
They produce one of the most powerful propagadists for the cause of global corporate feudalism, the main force keeping GHG disaster from being averted. Mother nature fights back.
http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog
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