The Hobart Mercury 12 July 2011

As those hardy souls who are not fooled by facts argue when it comes to climate change, nature does indeed run in cycles. In the case of the human species, the cycle goes thus:

1. Somebody has a great idea.
2. It’s a spectacular success.
3. Some boring person points out that perhaps we’re overdoing it a bit and things are bound to go pear-shaped eventually.
4. There’s a big argument about it, until…
5. Things go pear-shaped.
6. After the dust has settled, the survivors vow never to make the same mistake ever again until…
7. Somebody has a great idea (see 1)

With fossil fuels and resulting climate change, we’re currently at 4. While you’d be mad to think that the carbon tax is going to solve the problem by itself, with any luck it might be a start to mitigating the disaster our children and grandchildren are going to have to deal with down the track. So quit whingeing about a few extra dollars on your electricity bill and put a bloody jumper on instead. The place will warm up eventually.