Nice timing: Clueless warmist Tom Friedman takes unnecessary fossil-fueled trip to Australia, then suggests that the climate hoax is still a winning political issue there

Elephants Down Under - NYTimes.com

[Tom Friedman] unfortunately, you have to take a 13-hour flight from Los Angeles to get there.

...For instance, there is much debate here over climate policy — Australia has a carbon tax, New Zealand has cap and trade — but there is no serious debate about climate science. Whereas in today’s G.O.P. it is political suicide to take climate change seriously, in Australia and New Zealand it is political suicide for conservatives not to.

 In Australia and New Zealand, “there are plenty of climate skeptics in politics, but they know it’s a political loser to say so,” explained the Australian environmentalist Paul Gilding. “This became the case after Australia suffered its worst-ever drought, lasting more than a decade.” Now, “there is strong public acceptance of the basic scientific conclusion that the climate is changing and humans are a significant contributor.”

There go those gravy trains in Queensland & Victoria « JoNova: Science, carbon, climate and tax

Australia is stepping back from the cliff

We shouldn’t underestimate shift that has just taken place. The psychology of Australian politics moved as the large swinging center was revealed. Not only was the Queensland election worse for Labor than anyone predicted, the message was clear, voters rejected the lies, and rejected the carbon tax. The smear campaign by the Labor leader (Bligh) did more harm to her than it did to her target. Finally, the Hype-&-Spin Machine ran off the rails.

This is real progress. Today both Queensland and Victoria are peeling back the warmist bureaucracy. I’m happy.