I’m attempting to ignore the Australian election, climaxing this Saturday, at the same time as keeping track of every damned wrinkle in it. It’s driving me crazy. In a sane world, I would be voting on the basis of each party’s/candidates policies across a wide rang of important issues, but in this world of climate crisis, just thinking of my grandchildren reminds me that right now I’m a one-issue voter. And as one author put it, the best voting action you can take is to vote against the least inactive or most recalcitrant party/candidate.
That means I vote to oust the Liberals (+3C or +4C), which in turns means I could vote for Labor (+2C), but this opposition party is mealy-mouthed about climate change. So in my electorate it comes down to a Greens (+1.5C) or independent (“teal”) (+1.5C) candidate. A tough choice, it turns out.
So here’s hoping Australians ignore the meaningless froth of electioneering and its promises, sacrifice other pet issues in favor of climate change, and vote for the future. A viable future.
(Image is one of the info-packed pages in an election climate change scorecard produced by wonderful Climate Analytics.)