Past the time to give precedence to the environment: garnaut report (FEB)
Past the Time to give Precedence to the Environment:
Garnaut Report
‘One can only hope that the ignorance shown by Anna Bligh, the Premier of Queensland is
not shared by our Prime Minister’ remarked Dr Coulter, this afternoon when he saw the
Premier’s comments on the Garnaut Report.
‘The Queensland Premier seems not to realise that if we don’t have an environment we
don’t have an economy and we don’t have a future for our children’ commented Dr
Coulter. Ms Bligh has said, ‘There must be a balance between the environment and the
economy’.
‘It is this naive nibbling away at the environment through misguided bleats about balance
that has brought humanity to the edge of a cataclysmic collapse. Fifty percent of fifty
percent of fifty percent leaves only twelve and a half percent for the environment yet
Premier Bligh wants to halve that again. It is well past the time when the environment
must take precedence.
‘Continual economic and population growth are not consistent with an environmentally
sustainable future. Anna Bligh, like every other Australian Premier wants more growth.
She has just seen in devastated Mackay one small result of climate change yet she would
pack another half million into the Gold Coast Region with its multitude of canal estates.
These may well be under the sea within the lifetime of our children.
‘At present rates of economic growth the black coal deposits of Queensland will all be gone
before 2040, the carbon will be CO2 in the atmosphere making Queensland’s climate even
more inimical to future generations.
Wake up Premiers! Sustainable economic growth is an oxymoron. You can have one but
not both! For the sake of the future of our children and the world, recognise that the only
economic model which is consistent with a sustainable future is one that is dynamic but
steady-state, in which the size of the economy is bounded by Nature’s ability to sustain it,
concluded the president of Sustainable Population Australia.
Further information: Dr John Coulter, National President, Sustainable Population Australia
08 83882153 [email protected]