Let's talk about climate - right now

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This was published 4 years ago

Let's talk about climate - right now

A message from the editor

The Herald was inundated on Wednesday with letters to the editor responding to our story ''''This is not normal': Minister urges action on climate change'' and a variety of other stories related to the NSW bushfire crisis. The correspondence surpassed 17,000 words, not including more than 700 comments on the main story online. The Herald agrees climate change, which has fuelled the fires raging across our state, is one of the biggest challenges facing Australians today - and our readers want to see action. The letters below represent as many of the views submitted as possible. - Lisa Davies, editor

Illustration: Cathy Wilcox

Illustration: Cathy WilcoxCredit:

Kean's abnormal admission a breath of fresh air in cloud of smoke

At last a Minister for the Environment, accepting that climate change is a fact and not a belief like The Tooth fairy or Santa ("'This is not normal'", December 11). At last a Coalition politician accepts we are facing Armageddon with catastrophic fires, brutal drought and the tragic loss of property, habitat, animals.

Sadly, he is only a state environment minister. Australia still lacks leadership in this crisis with Scott Morrison’s environment minister doing a soft shoe shuffle in Madrid to avoid mentioning climate change. - Sue Martin, Clareville

Illustration: John Shakespeare

Illustration: John ShakespeareCredit:

Too many Australians are going to sleep and waking up to the smell and taste of smoke. At state level, we finally have an environment minister who at least acknowledges that climate change is to blame, that these conditions are what "scientists warned us would happen" and "doing nothing is not a solution". The Premier remains silent. At federal level, we have not a word from the environment minister. From Scott Morrison, we have plenty of words on more religious freedoms to discriminate but on climate change nothing but tacky accounting. Wake up and inhale the smoke, PM, this is a matter of national security. You are out of time to protect the health of this nation, its land, its economy and its people from the ravages of climate change. - Deb McPherson, Gerringong

The NSW government can do something about climate change in the short- and medium-term. The burning of coal is a major contributor to global CO2 emissions. Longwall mining under Sydney’s catchments is resulting in a substantial loss of precious water. Start to divert funds from infrastructure projects such as WestConnex, which lead to increased use of fossil fuels, to the construction of solar and wind farms on what have become desertified farms. And quickly phase out mining of coal under our catchments. Start now. - Elizabeth Elenius, Pyrmont

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Were Matt Kean not a Coalition minister, would his statement of the obvious be front-page news? What will not be normal is if both sides of politics use this as an opportunity to come together to address the problem rather than seeing it as an opportunity for more division and point-scoring. The public also has an important role to play. After all, we keep voting in the climate deniers and voting out those who have attempted to de-carbonise our economy. - Philip Cooney, Wentworth Falls

From behind the smoke where all the others are hiding emerges a politician willing to speak the truth about climate change. Matt Kean, an emerging leader? - Lynette Byrnes, Waverley

''This is not normal'': starting with a simple sentence, let's hope it becomes a national chant. - Brian Collins, Cronulla

Can we replace Angus Taylor at the Madrid climate change conference with Matt Kean? - Peter Nash, Fairlight

Kean for Premier! Why stop there? Parachute him into the PM’s job. The pussyfooters are costing us with every day of their silence and inaction. We need realists, and real action, fast. - Dawn Hope, Wahroonga

Kean gets the "stating the bleeding obvious" award while the Premier gets the "nothing to see here" award, while Sydney chokes. - Chris Watt, Banora Point

It's time to talk, PM

The time to discuss climate policy is not when the ash disappears and we again lapse into climate amnesia. The time is now, while we are embroiled in the flames of a crisis and cannot look away (''Smoke forces drastic measures as city chokes'', December 11).

But there have been no climate emergency meetings and the Premier has avoided associating the extremes this summer with any mention of climate change.

What is going so wrong that people whose jobs depend on their responses to community issues feel the most expedient path to their re-election is to halt the policy talk and treat the fires as apolitical natural disasters? In an age of climate consciousness, why don’t these extremes cause politicians to prove to voters that they have a plan to tackle unsustainable rates of greenhouse gas emissions? Business as usual is not the solution if the status quo is the problem. - Lulu Edwards, Zetland

How good are our political classes? Rather than being at the forefront of fighting climate change globally, for the past 20 years they have been caught up in factional political in-fights, currying favour with the mining industry, and frightening the electorate with $100 lamb roasts.

The outcome is now complete dysfunction on climate change policy in Australia. Scott Morrison is simply the latest version of this sorry saga, sitting with his head in the increasingly hot sand, even refusing to listen to the firefighters who are risking their lives to protect us. Meanwhile, Anthony Albanese is happy for the Labor Party to support the opening of one of the largest coal deposits in the world, so long as they burn it somewhere else. What a mess we are in. - Neil Ormerod, Kingsgrove 

Extensive fires, choking smoke, strict water restrictions, rivers drying, fish taking a last gasp, dying trees. Forget the argument about climate change and look at where the problem lies; at the lack of leadership for years to confront the relevant problems. These problems require combination of immediate and long-term strategies.

Our PM feels confined by the ideology of anti-climate change held by members of his party, his “promise” of maintaining a budget surplus and the proven foolish goals for the Murray Darling system. He needs courage to break free from these confines to make the needed future strategy decisions. Only then will he deserve to be seen as a leader. At the moment, Morrison is seen as a slogan and motherhood statement sprouter and hardly anyone is impressed. - Christine Perrott, Armidale

Scientists have been warning us for more than 30 years that this would happen, yet here we are, choked in smoke, caused by the biggest bushfires so large and intense that there will be extinctions of animal and plant communities. Bushfires caused by the worst drought in living memory. Bushfires caused by climate change.

These fires have been anticipated by scientists, by parks and wildlife staff, and by the fire services. And their warnings have been steadfastly ignored by negligent governments, too busy chasing growth to see what is happening before their eyes.

Surely it is clear now that our current system of government has failed us dreadfully. It has proved itself divisive, polarising and incapable of understanding or delivering for the 21st century. - Andrea Wilson, Greenwich

What a grim irony that our federal government moves at glacial speed to combat global warming. - Tony Merrington, Glenhaven

Smoke gets in our eyes

In response to unprecedented bushfire smoke smothering Sydney, Gladys Berejiklian urged "everyone to please follow the advice given by our health experts" (''Air quality at five times hazardous levels smothers Sydney'', December 11). The Premier would do well to listen to her own advice. On the same day, Australia’s peak body representing lung health professionals joined "other national and international health organisations in calling climate change a medical emergency”. It urged “governments at all levels to take immediate action to address this climate emergency”. Why are the Premier and the Prime Minister strangely silent in acknowledging this "climate emergency"? All of this is truly beyond words. - Roger Rajaratnam, Bronte

The carcinogenic bushfire smoke that blanketed Sydney on Tuesday prompted Jodi McKay to suggest that Gladys Berejiklian “should have addressed the public to allay health and safety conditions”. I am at a loss to imagine what they could have said that would have allayed my well-justified fears. Perhaps that is why they said nothing. - Raechelle Rubinstein, Roseville

Science is right

How is that when Sydney water levels drop to under 50 per cent, we all readily accept the need to adhere to restrictions no matter how physically or economically difficult (''Sydney faces level 3 water restrictions within months'', December 11). But when fires burn uncontrolled and air quality becomes so hazardhous it threatens people's health, governments and others will not accept the overwhelming scientific advice telling us we need to restrict greenhouse gas emissions. - Miranda Rose, Killcare 

Professor Frank Jotzo provided many solutions to the problem of emissions ('''Here in Madrid, the view of Australia's tricky tactics is not pretty'', December 10). If only the Prime Minister would act on them rather than push for carry-over credits so we can reach our targets. It is made all the worse because the targets are pathetic to start with. As Jotzo says, this will rebound on Australia diplomatically and we will become an international pariah. It’s really not that hard to reduce emissions, particularly in the electricity sector, it just requires a divorce from the coal industry. - Jenny Goldie, Cooma 

Christmas wish

Mark Mordue has so eloquently captured my own emotional state in his story (''Sydney’s dead future is already here'', December 11). SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder used to be about depression related to the grey, gloomy cold of winter which coops people up inside their houses. Summer in Australia, once an iconically exciting and enjoyable season, is now a SAD reality. - Lorraine Hickey, Green Point 

With 13 sleeps till Christmas Day I checked the weather forecast and our collection of songs and found nothing to be seasonally optimistic or appropriate. I need the lyrics of Bing's old standard to be updated to "I'm dreaming of a wet Christmas''. - Tony Denzel, Bonny Hills

Time for a paid civil-defence force to save us not volunteers

Does the national fire situation deserve the status of a national disaster, generating a coordinated well-resourced national response (''More than 720 homes lost in NSW fires as Sydney told to brace for huge losses'', smh.com.au, December 11)? There was an extremely predictable fire emergency, with an observable massive fuel load not reduced and there were very early signs of impending disaster. We then left the consequences to an amazingly brave and under-resourced volunteer group of firefighters to sort it out. Good call, PM. We’re a federation to facilitate national action to address national issues. Maybe someone should tell our Prime Minister. - John Golden, Newport

For goodness' sake, PM, send in the military to relieve the pressure on our exhausted firefighters. What are you saving them for? When an expert like Phil Koperberg says send in the military, you need to listen. We need air tankers. We need protection from this horror. - Mary Forbes, Eungai Creek

The reported remarks from the PM that there is nothing more that the Commonwealth can do to help with the bushfires, that all needed assets are available and, especially, that volunteer firefighters “want to be there” are disgusting. When will Morrison and colleagues understand that the greatest threats to national security are drought and bushfires? This a greater crisis than any military threat. Is any politician clear-headed enough to see that what we need is a national, trained, paid, civil defence force. - Steve Rawling, Kurrajong Heights

We depend on the volunteers who have been fighting bushfires, in some cases for months. It beggars belief that the Prime Minister should refuse to financial assistance to those who are self-employed or no longer being paid by their employers. It would be a national disgrace if firefighters, who have been so courageous, should suffer serious financial hardship on account of their service for us all. - Humphrey Beckett, Mosman

Fire is the enemy. The RFS should be a paid, full-time army of fire fighters. You cannot rely on an over-stretched volunteer model going forward into our climate-changed future, it is an out-dated model. Redirect a portion of our defence budget to fight the immediate enemy and employ our RFS fire fighters in the essential public service sector. - Scott Rigney, Picton

Morrison has said that no more help is needed for bushfires. The volunteer fire fighters want to do it.
I finally got a tradie here this morning. He was exhausted. Why? Fighting bush fires. He told me there was $1000 to be had for the fire fighters. He claimed most don't bother as the red tape is too hard. - Robyn Hoopmann, Mt Burrell

National emergency demands action

It's time quiet Australians roused themselves and started paying attention. Then, perhaps at the next election, we might have a government that responds to national emergencies with something more than thoughts and prayers. - Kristina Vingis, Church Point

Sydney, formerly known as the Emerald City, is now known as the Grey City. Visitors are advised to bring tight-fitting face masks and appropriate respiratory medication. - Karen Eldridge, Leichhardt

On voting day Scott Morrison said he’d burn for Australia, not the other way round. - Marian Attfield, Mount Colah

It's simple really: voters must accept the verdicts of experts on the galloping ravages of climate change, not the cacophony of babble from a Canberra bubble, and act accordingly. - Max Fossey, Oakville

The new mantra of the federal government: “See no science, hear no science, speak no science." - Julie Taylor, Epping

Our coal-hugging Prime Minister was quick to admonish children for missing school to attend climate rallies. PM, is it OK for them to miss school if they can’t breathe? - Graham Meale, Bombaee East

Call for action

Come on, Sydney. Ferries cancelled, offices evacuated, people hospitalised, worst pollution ever. Get over it. You’re no more than a bunch of “inner-city, raving lunatics”, as MP Michael McCormack has so kindly explained.

And as for climate change, more rubbish. Just look to Prime Minister Scott Morrison: hugs for fire victims; pats on back for firefighters; two thumbs up and cheesy grin for cameras. Thereafter talking points to the effect that everything is fine and normal, discussion of climate not permitted and it would all have been worse under Labor. – Gary Stowe, Springwood

New Zealand has launched an immediate investigation into the White Island tragedy, which no doubt will be welcomed by the victims and their families (“‘Questions to answer’ as investigation launched into White Island disaster”, smh.com.au, December 10). By contrast our government claims it is insensitive and inappropriate to discuss climate change while the fires burn here. NZ never hesitates to put people first, but the initial response from the Morrison government to our crisis was typically political and defensive. – Graham Lum, North Rocks

Another day in hell for Sydney and all the folk in NSW on the east of the state and the folk in Queensland. Bushfires so bad it is utterly dismal and no rain in sight. And no support for firefighters from the Morrison government. Scott Morrison, where the bloody hell are you? – Dave Pyett, Maroubra

How much worse can the drought and bushfires get? With current global warming at about one degree and heading to a high of between 3 and 4 degrees of warming this century, the answer is surely a whole lot worse. For God’s sake Morrison and McCormack, wake up. – Harry Creamer, Port Macquarie

The bush burns, the sun turns red, Sydney chokes and people die. A shame the PM’s thoughts and prayers are so ineffectual. Perhaps he is too heavenly to be of any earthly good. – Bronwyn Scott, Croydon

As the bushfires rage throughout NSW and brave firefighters, many of them volunteers, battle on to the point of exhaustion, where is our Prime Minister? While no fan of Tony Abbott, I am confident he would be at the forefront of this disaster giving succour and encouragement to those in need. – Helen Robinson, Killcare

Thoughts and prayers

We’re hearing a vast number of politicians, including the Prime Minister, offering their ''thoughts and prayers'' to those suffering in the ongoing, and fully foreseeable, bushfire crisis. And their gratitude to the selfless, exhausted, unpaid, volunteers currently in the front line of protecting the country.

I suspect that many – me included – aren’t remotely interested in thoughts and prayers. What they’d like is action. Not the action of volunteer firemen and others being worked to exhaustion. We want action from suited bureaucrats and point-scoring privileged politicians of all hues. All of you, no matter your allegiances and power bases. Do your job.

You need to implement real measures to address the both immediate issue and the underlying causes which are, to keep it simple, and plain enough to be understood even in Canberra – drought and accelerating climate change. Get a full federal agenda, spend money, sort out our future supply of power, water, renewable energy, transport and employment. Time to embark on massive financially managed future-proofing infrastructure spending. It’ll take 20 years, it should’ve been started a decade ago, but start now.

And if you can’t, or more likely won’t, address those issues, get out. – Tim Parry, North Turramurra

In the face of the bushfire crisis our PM and our state premier have abandoned us. Scott Morrison’s “thoughts and prayers" have even dried up. As for sending in the army to help with the bushfires ... and our Premier is silent. What could this mean? Have they both abandoned even the pretence of representing the interest of Australians? Are they both waiting for the rapture? They seem to not give a flying fig about the fate of victims, the cost or stopping the fire. This has to be the worst political performance yet and here we all are, hardly a word spoken against them. It is time serious questions were asked. – Tom Loveday, Erskineville

Our Prime Minister when commenting about the current bushfire crisis stated ‘our actions on climate change are getting the results they’re intended to get’. How prophetic is that? – Meg Pickup, Ballina

This is no joke

I went out at lunchtime on Tuesday at Barangaroo and had a cough-ee. – Steve McCann, Lane Cove

This morning when I woke and saw all the smoke, I thought "this is no joke''. The fires are raging because the climate is changing. Does this mean I'm "woke"? – Rory McCarthy, Pretty Beach

Help for volunteers

Speaking in Sydney on Tuesday, the PM said volunteer firefighters are on the ground, because "they want to be there". My partner is currently fighting to contain the Bangala Creek fire in far northern NSW and has given 18-hour days including travel of three hours there and back, day after day.
He goes there not because he wants to; he goes there because he's too concerned to leave the crews a man down.

He goes there because if it joins with the Blue Gum Road fire, it will become a mega-fire and with a westerly behind it, it will not only rage up the Richmond Range and take out countless communities, but also destroy ancient biodiversity recognised by World Heritage status.

Yes Prime Minister, you have to hold back these volunteers to take their rest breaks, but only because they're desperate for it to be blacked out. What my partner really wants to do is start work on his final trimester in his degree at Southern Cross University. What he really wants is the government to provide air tanker support, which this fire has not had. Air support to slam this fire and black it out.

NSW RFS does not have the aircraft to send to northern NSW. The PM needs to tackle this crisis with the seriousness that it needs and grant Andrew Wilkie's requests to release for use, defence force aircraft to waterbomb this fire and other fires threatening other communities and our biodiversity. – Pauline Haydock, Toonumbar

Having sat on their hands on the issues of water management and climate change for at least the last three terms of Parliament let’s hope that all federal Coalition and Labor MPs now volunteer for their local RFS and community support groups over the Christmas recess instead of taking their usual overseas holidays and “study” trips on the taxpayer purse.

Anyone sighting a federal MP overseas over Christmas should immediately shame them on social media or by any other appropriate means. – Jeremy Cornford, Kingscliff

It is undoubtedly time to act to reduce our reliance on volunteers to deal with bushfires. The impact of global heating has already gone beyond the capacity of our volunteer army. It will only get worse in the future. There needs to be a quantum increase in the resources, training and capability of national, state and local full-time firefighters. – Stewart Sweeney, North Adelaide

You have to have grudging admiration for Morrison’s chutzpah. When asked if the government could or should be doing more to support the volunteer firefighters his response was, "everything is under control and the volunteer fire fighters want to be there”. The volunteers are there because they have to be there because the government has ignored credible warnings for years and done nothing – no strategic planning, no risk management no action planning. All because he and his key supporters refuse to acknowledge the term and effects of “climate change”. Put aside for a moment whether it is man-made or part of evolutionary cycles it is upon us and I remain intrigued that a powerful cohort of ultra-conservative lunatics are more expert and knowledgeable than 99 per cent of climate scientists. – Erik Kulakauskas, Port Macquarie

What about the kids?

Greta Thunberg might almost feel jealous, now that damaged nature is able to cause school absentee numbers greater than the numbers that she could influence in the matter of climate change.

Where are the shock jocks, right wing pollies, doubting Thomases, and your average sceptics and deniers who yelled from the roof-tops to complain that school kids would ruin their future by demonstrating their superior understanding of nature versus humans, with a day of protest in the interest of our future on this planet?

How small must these dimwits feel in hindsight, gasping for breath in a curtain raiser of what we can look forward to as we pray for enough water to stay alive? – Doug McLaughlin, Bonnet Bay

Empty gestures

In addition to dramatically reducing our own emissions, Australia should do whatever we can to help other countries reduce theirs. Professor Frank Jotzo has identified that there are a number of practical ways to do this including for example replacing “diesel-based electricity generation with renewable energy systems” (“Kyoto credit illusion unpopular at UN”, December 11). Empty and patronising gestures like eliminating our coal exports to those countries may have a feel good effect for some of us but it would not reduce one kilogram of the world’s emissions. – David Hind, Neutral Bay

Smoke? Not an issue

As a former head of tourism in Australia and New Zealand, surely the PM could sell "a bit of smoke" to potential tourists and downplay its downsides, in much the same way that he deals with the rampaging impacts on the whole country of human-induced climate change (“Not a good look: Bushfire smoke threatens to pollute Sydney's tourist image”,December 8). Sue Dyer, Downer (ACT)

Listening to two complaining people griping about the terrible inconvenience to each other of the “why don’t they do something about this smoke”, I interrupted their gripes to mention “it’s very much worse where the smoke is coming from”. Don’t think I made my point. – Richard Stewart, Pearl Beach

It's just not cricket

Why was Tuesday's Sheffield Shield match at the SCG not abandoned? Conditions for the players on the field were every bit as dangerous as the dodgy wicket in Melbourne. – Stephanie Edwards, Roseville

Our coal is better

I think it necessary your correspondents should receive a little education re the major justifications for exporting Australian coal. Some do not understand the major reasons for Australia to continue exporting coal. Firstly, coking coal is necessary for steel production. Without the coking coal, Australia's lucrative iron ore exports would not happen. Secondly, a point made by Anthony Albanese in his policy speech, it is preferable to burn Australian coal in existing power stations, rather than Chinese or Indonesian coal, due to Australia's relatively low content of toxic sulphur, arsenic, etc which pollute the air, causing health problems. – Geoff Harding, Chatswood

Bubble needs bursting

Thank you Matt Kean for declaring the undeniable, although it's not us in NSW that needs convincing – we've already woken up and smelt the burning eucalyptus. It's the likes of Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese that need their Canberra bubble to be burst. – Simon Pitts, Riverview

We watch as NSW prioritises cars above the environment and the mental and physical health of its people by the devastating destruction of trees and forests for motorways, with little regard to the polluting effect of diesel and fuel, with no policy for filtering stacks and saving money by refusing to buy the homes of those people whose lives have been destroyed by these motorways. How sad that this is only one of many issues that are failing to be addressed by any Australian governing body. – Jean Melloy, Kirribilli

Kean's belated admission is too little too late. The state and federal governments have been in climate change denial for years, land clearing in NSW is rampant, the state is burning, lives and property have been lost and the health of the population is being compromised by chronic smoke exposure. – John Berry, Cammeray

We now have the amusing spectacle of a few LNP MPs breaking ranks and saying they believe in climate change. While good to see, I should point out they haven’t said they believe in human induced climate change. Also, it's not correct to say you believe in the science of climate change. You should be persuaded and convinced by the statements scientists make based on data, experiments and the general operation of scientific principles.

Belief is best the left to those who worship their invisible sky friends as they regularly tell us. – David Farrell, Erskineville

Taps about to run dry

While NSW battles unprecedented bushfires, we are being treated to the spectacle of the Berejiklian government struggling to fund the re-build of the stadium they needlessly tore down in Sydney but investing not a whit of thought or effort into securing Sydney’s water supply. Make no mistake, Sydney is running out of water. Immediate action is required.

The most effective action to avert this disaster would be to double the capacity of the desalination plant at Kurnell, so that it can supply 30 per cent of water to properties south of the harbour instead of 15 per cent, and to build new a double-capacity desalination plant on the north side of the harbour and run them both permanently.

This would allow water in Warragamba Dam to be stored and used for the rest of the city's supply and for environmental flows as necessary for the Hawkesbury-Nepean. It would also allow us to put off works in raising the Warragamba Dam wall. These works are currently considered necessary for stabilisation of the dam in the sort of floods we might expect due to global warming, and for flood mitigation in the valley below the dam. If we go ahead with those works this will seriously damage the national park and catchment above the dam. But the works can be avoided by shifting the balance of where our water supply comes from. If we can keep Warragamba below full storage on average over each decade this will reduce the risk to the dam, and those living below it, caused by flood. The cost of the extra desalination construction can be partly offset by savings in flood works and catchment management above Warragamba.

Operating costs of the desalination plants might be more than offset if hydrogen production facilities are added to the plants. As long as this is kept as a public utility and not sold off, there is a bucket of money Sydneysiders can make, and save, if we think ahead and act now. – Dr Bronwyn Kelly, former Sydney Water executive

Education standards

I read with dismay the response by Sarah Mitchell, the NSW Minister for Education. No, minister, the connection between the fires and drought and climate change is not a philosophical debate, it is a conclusion based on an acknowledgement and understanding of simplistic cause and effect.

Your comment also shows a great misunderstanding of the place of education and science in our lives. Please ask to be relieved of your portfolio as such an attitude to education does not fit with the level of understanding we expect in an education minister

Matt Kean, the NSW Minister for the Environment, is right in his statements. We should have started a long time ago but our federal and state governments failing us in the past simply means the best time is now. – Howard Clark, Ryde

Sheltered by the Canberra bubble

A pigeon landed in our apartment alcove burnt from the bushfires; an indiscrete reminder that the bushfires have not just affected us but a whole ecosystem of plants and animals. Still Scott Morrison will reprimand us for suggesting that the bushfires signify something greater. But the arrival of the pigeon today brought me another message: it is one of community psychology. The smoke that has hung over Sydney has affected everyone. So if this month-long smoke-haze suffocates us en masse, it stands to reason that there is a community psychological malady that is exasperated by the unwillingness of politicians to address the matter when it is a hot topic.

How can the community talk of anything else when the nation’s largest city suffers under a blanket of smoke-haze while also raking itself through the harshest drought in a decade? Still they refuse to acknowledge what is present around and above us while the Canberra bubble shelters them. Grant Hawkes, Bondi

The new abnormal

Wake up and smell the smoke. Tune in to the smog report. View the visibility rating. How good is the new normal.– Meredith Williams, Dee Why

Is this a good time to talk about climate change? – Dimitris Langadinos, Concord West

Bring in petrol rationing

I know this is a pretty radical idea but we need to do something radical if we are going to slow down climate change. I think the government should bring in petrol rationing. This would have to be tailored to people's needs. For instance people like me, retired and without special needs, could plan their car trips to use much less fuel than they currently do. Those who need their car for work, like my daughter, could be rationed according to registered trips.

I have lived in times where very few people owned a car. My father owned a secondhand car which lived in the garage all week. He walked to the train station, about a mile, and took the train to and from work. My mother did not have a car. She walked to the shops for manageable items and the rest was delivered. Why can't we go back to that? Those who went to work took public transport and those who were at home either used public transport or walked. We were all a lot fitter back then and you didn't see many fat people. – Gill Graham, Bowral

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