http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/paul-connor/ Paul Connor is a Melbourne student and founder of Climate Justice Fast!, an international hunger strike for responsible, just action on the climate crisis. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/can-the-west-really-be-taxed-on-climate/ Australia, congratulations. We now boast a brand new opposition leader from the far-Right, who proudly declared, say, eight or nine times in a single interview on Tuesday that he would not support climate change legislation, terming it a ‘big new tax’ on the Australian people. So here we have the new political tactic of our Right- simple, snappy, and to the point- “that other lot want to TAX you!” This tactic is nothing new, of course. Ben Chifley once observed that the Australian public ‘votes from the hip-pocket reflex’. The Right is simply banking that this is still the case.  Shrewd. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Paul Connor) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/can-the-west-really-be-taxed-on-climate/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/can-the-west-really-be-taxed-on-climate/#item1928 Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:30:00 +0000 Paul Connor | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/its-our-fault-not-enoughs-being-done-on-warming/ The Climate Justice Fast!, an international hunger strike for action on the climate crisis, is currently on day 17. Let’s be frank. Australia’s response to climate change so far is a disgrace. It is well understood, by even Kevin Rudd and Penny Wong, that the emissions reduction targets of the carbon pollution reduction scheme (CPRS) are scientifically inadequate to effectively respond to climate change. Even if it’s maximum reduction target of 25% by 2020 is implemented, and other nations make similar efforts, atmospheric greenhouse gasses will still overshoot a safe level, very likely pushing us past tipping points that lock into place disastrous runaway climate change. And once we take into account our world-beating per-capita emissions, combined with our chart-topping standard of living, our nation’s token efforts on climate change become simply impossible to justify. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Paul Connor) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/its-our-fault-not-enoughs-being-done-on-warming/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/its-our-fault-not-enoughs-being-done-on-warming/#item1801 Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:55:38 +0000 Paul Connor | Author bios | The Punch