Ups and downs

The good:

• World leaders agree that we should attempt to keep global warming limited to 2 degrees
  Celsius or less (even if their actions don’t fit their stated goals).  It’s a little odd though that the Australian govt. enthuses about a goal of 80% carbon reduction (for developed nations) by 2050 yet only plans to reduce by 60% itself.
• The Powershift youth conference is a huge success and harnesses the vitality and energy of young Australians.

The bad:

• Australian leaders push ahead with expanding uranium exports.
• The Queensland premier Anna Bligh shows her true colours and comes out fighting for coal.
• India and China, the world’s two most populous nations, appear disinterested in setting limits on carbon emissions.
• Our smug PM Rudd basks in the sun thanks to his decision to invest in a science fiction project (Carbon Capture & Storage), to create a perception that he’s doing something serious on climate change.  This was predicted and satirised by the political satire program “the Hollowmen” on the ABC as follows: