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Mike's Minute: United Nations full of nothing but hot air

Author
Mike Hosking,
Publish Date
Tue, 24 Sep 2019, 9:44AM

Mike's Minute: United Nations full of nothing but hot air

Author
Mike Hosking,
Publish Date
Tue, 24 Sep 2019, 9:44AM

"Climate change is getting worse." "Climate change is increasing." Those are your headlines.

Scientists have produced yet another of those beautifully timed reports full of doom and darkness on the eve of the climate change gab fest in New York.

Now such is the dishonesty around reportage of climate change these days, who would know whether it's true or not.

But let's take it at face value and say it is. Queue the furrowed brows, the deep looks of concern, and the calls to redouble our efforts to fight this ever increasing scourge on humanity.

This is the stuff the United Nations lives for, and no one will be diving in deeper than our own antipodean version of earnestness itself, the Prime Minister. This is her nuclear moment, she's allegedly announcing some highly strange ideas around tariffs on climate change technology.

But as we heard yesterday we couldn’t quite work out what sort of climate change technology there is that would currently attract tariffs, largely because we are tariff free. I am assuming this is yet another thought bubble that will grab the days headlines and then vanish like a chunk of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

And here's the bigger problem for the United Nations, this is now an annualised waste of time, not to mention bit of hypocrisy given the numbers of attendees that will have turned up with massive delegations, and in private jets.

But if the scientists are right and climate change is accelerating, then we are losing. All that noise, all those promises, all those calls to arms, all those agreements from Kyoto to Paris, what have they been for?

Could it just be that this is beyond us? And it's beyond us because not enough people are on board? And if not enough people are on board, could you mount a case that says the evidence simply hasn’t been convincing enough? Or not convincing enough to warrant the economic damage required to implement some of the ideas that are put forward?

Our government is prepared to wreck the Taranaki economy with their oil stance, Julie Anne Genter wants to ban the motor car, and David Parker wants to drive farmers to the wall with his taxes and water rules.

But not all countries are like us, no one knows that better than Scott Morrison. He won the election in Queensland and on the Adani mine, which is responsible for jobs and energy.

Australian Labour wanted them to vote on climate change, they are anti mine. The people, who still thank God have a say, rejected that.

So in essence this battle of the elites is being fought in many countries against the will of millions. They're either not convinced, or in cold hard reality not prepared  to pay the price.

That’s why climate change is increasing, and the United Nations, with its exemplary reputation for saying plenty, but doing nothing, is the last place where anything is going to change.

It's Monday in New York. By Thursday ask yourself if anything tangible has happened, and call me if it has.       

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