Election to be a referendum on carbon tax, economic management, Abbott says

“The coming election will be a referendum on the carbon tax. Above all, it will be a referendum on economic management,” Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said in Thursday’s National Press Club address.

The key to the meaning of Keystone XL-Chrystia Freeland | Reuters

If you think oil is like tobacco, it is a strictly noxious commodity, which seriously harms its users and those around them. We should stop consuming it at once and at all costs. But if you think oil is like red meat, you take a more nuanced view. For the health of the planet, we should find greener alternatives to it whenever we can, but used wisely and in moderation it has an honorable role in the 21st-century economy.
...For the Al Gore wing of the Democratic Party, it has become a symbolic battle in the fight to save the planet; for the Joe Biden wing, Keystone and the unconventional oil revolution are a source of the middle-class jobs many feared modern economies could no longer provide.

The pipeline is also a litmus test for what you think is the most important problem in the early 21st century.

Turn on, plug in, drop out: An electric car manifesto | Grist

Remember a few years ago, when flat-screen TVs became cheaper, and no one bought the old CRT clunkers anymore? It’s like that. The tipping point is getting closer. Bye-bye internal combustion, and good riddance...I still buy gas [ie "use crack"--see below] occasionally, since the Volt uses gasoline for long-distance trips...“Crack is too expensive,” says the crack addict, “so we should solve this problem by opening up more sources of crack.” Yes, my SUV-driving friend — that is what your argument sounds like to me.