Where's the climate change "smoking gun"?
As the Bali climate change summit heats up, I can't help thinking that there's a parallel here with the lead up to the Iraq war, specifically the question of the WMD "smoking gun".
Now, not just a few countries but many are heading down a course that could spell ruin for their economies, and cause ongoing turmoil on a scale that dwarfs what has happened in Iraq.
But where's the climate change smoking gun? Okay, so they've perceived a warming trend. Here in Oz we've had a long drought (that is breaking in many regions, apparently). Different parts of the world are experiencing weather extremes, much as they always have. But all the scary scenarios upon which these decisions are being made haven't bloody happened yet. The immense sea level rises, the waterlogged countries, the mass migration of millions of climate change refugees -- these are all hypothetical events, predicted to occur way into the future.
How ironic that those who accused so many of being gullible in the extreme by trusting Bush, Blair and Howard on WMD are far, far more trusting when it comes to this matter -- particularly when the stakes are so much higher.
