GraniteGrok: Meet the New Press radio... Braving the storms of our time

Our friend Chan of the WeekendPundit shares cohosting duties this week. Regular readers of his blog know that global warming-- and the question of whether it's caused by man or nature's cycles-- is a topic near and dear to his heart. Given that it's one of ours here at the 'Grok too, we thought, "Hey, let's talk some global warming stuff!" And thus, we will... We'll note that the debate is actually heating up (no pun intended) and that the skeptics (of the notion that man has been the cause) are starting to speak out. And in some quarters, global warming related regulations are actually being rolled back. Of course, this doesn't stop the crazies! And the recent weather, featuring record cold and early snows? Yep-- you guessed it-- caused by global warming!

Greenhouse: can the people show the way forward? | theage.com.au

Yet significant numbers of Australians — particularly people living outside the major cities, as we report today — remain unconvinced by the science of climate change. Still, farmers are also showing initiative in adapting to weather changes, whether they believe intellectually in global warming or not.

Rudd finds it's not easy (or practical) being green | theage.com.au

AT THE last election, Kevin Rudd declared climate change to be "the great moral challenge of our generation".
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But on this, political necessity dictated he effectively raise the white flag — for now at least.

It's so much hot air | theage.com.au

SOME juxtapositions just demand to be noted. On the same day that Kevin Rudd announced a skimpy new carbon emissions reduction target of 5 per cent, US President-elect Barack Obama was introducing to the world the crack team that would launch his administration's climate change assault. "This will be a leading priority of my presidency and a defining test of our time," Obama declared before the press gallery. "America will not just lead at the negotiating table. We will lead as we always have, through innovation and discovery, through hard work and the pursuit of a common purpose."

Remind you of anyone? Forgive the excursion into ancient history, but to me this is strikingly reminiscent of a pre-election Kevin Rudd. Remember when climate change was "the great moral challenge of our time"? In those days Australia was sold the idea of being a world leader on the global warming issue, rather than a nation that waited for the rest of the world to drag us into environmental virtue. We would set the pace and be proud to do so. The Howard government's stubborn inaction shamed us. Its successor would bring absolution. If anything, this was one of those rare issues where Rudd's discourse was even more soaring than Obama's.
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Viewed in this context, Rudd's retreat from the environmental front line, however disappointing, was inevitable. Obama's tune may be different, but it remains to be seen how well it plays when he is in power, especially if the international community is less than co-operative. Prepare for his story to follow a similar plot to that of our own once valiant climate warrior.