Letter

In response to Angus Taylor looks like a leader on paper – but the job is bigger than that

Taylor's approach to climate disastrous

Angus Taylor’s “weathervane” approach to climate is potentially disastrous. In his first speech as Opposition leader, he reasserted the party’s “no net zero” policy. Yet, almost to the day, a scientific paper by top climate scientists, including William Ripple, Johan Rockström and Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, warned that we are close to crossing critical temperature thresholds that will make global warming even worse. They said precaution was essential. Crossing these temperature thresholds could commit the planet to “a hothouse trajectory with long-lasting and potentially irreversible consequences”.

Not having a net zero policy gives a green light to the fossil fuel industry who will continue to produce emissions that lead to higher temperatures. ‘No net-zero’ is profoundly irresponsible. If Taylor is to succeed, he must turn climate policy around completely, even if it means yet another divorce from the Nationals.

It would be nice to know that Labor is the light on the hill when it comes to climate, but they are not. While there have been some good initiatives by Energy Minister Chris Bowen, these are more than off-set by the Albanese government’s approval of fossil-fuel projects, including the extension of the Middlemount coal mine in Central Queensland this week.

— Jenny Goldie from Cooma NSW