marklynas.orgFingers crossed in Australian election 06 October 04
Australians go to the polls on 9 October in what has proved so far to be a nail-biting election finish. There’s a lot to play for: if Labor win then the country is likely to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, leaving the US completely isolated as the only rich country to still stand outside global efforts to combat climate change. With America confirmed as a climate rogue state, the stage would also be set to begin economic sanctions and other enforcement mechanisms to ensure that the US can’t free-ride on the actions of more responsible nations. The New Economics Foundation wrote a report recently which suggested how these international mechanisms might even bring errant superpowers back into the fold.
Comments
Vicki Falde
October 7th, 2004 at 04:02 AM
Hate to have mean thoughts, but the fact that Howard’s sweating so heavily (his attempts to win the Greens over are laughable) kind of makes me feel soooooooooooooooooo good!! (ha)
Actually, I’m less dwelling on whether Labour wins in Australia than on whether Labour LOSES in the UK…any thoughts on how a Conservative Gov’t might handle these issues, Mark?
Mark Lynas
October 7th, 2004 at 01:51 PM
Oh, there’s not much chance of seeing a Tory government here in the UK for a good while yet – however often Blair gets skewered for lying about Iraq. The UK Conservatives aren’t like John Howard (despite the leader having the same surname) – they agree with Kyoto, for instance – but they do tend to be more pro-car and so on.
Vicki Falde
October 8th, 2004 at 06:03 AM
Thanks, Mark, for the reply. They (British press)like to make the election sound like a close call. Kind of nice to know. I truly believe that either your Mr. Howard or Mr. Blair would get along MUCH better with John Kerry, though. Hope we get the chance to find out, starting next January!