14 DAY TRIAL // It's been a busy weekend, at least for environmentalists who would love nothing more than shoving fossil fuels in a sun-powered hearse and bidding them their eternal farewell as soon as possible. Thousands of people gathered in Canada to protest tar sands and pipeline development, and similar demonstrations were held in Australia.
By the looks of it, Australians decided to take to the street and voice their complaints about Prime Minister Tony Abbott's climate policy after, during an ongoing UN Climate Summit in Warsaw, Poland, it was announced that the country was to end its carbon tax.
“The simple truth is this: that we cannot leave a matter as important as climate change to the fickleness and whim of Australia's politicians,” said Tim Flannery with the Climate Council, as cited by Mongabay.
“We must stand up and be counted [and take] every effort to speed the uptake of renewable energy,” the environmentalist added.
According to Think Progress, about 10,000 people gathered in Sydney. Another 25,000 met in Melbourne, and dozens other demonstrations were held all across the country.
The protests were all very peaceful ones, and no major incidents were reported. Apparently, all people wanted was to make sure that their voices were heard.
Christine Milne, the current head of Australia's Green Party, summed up the significance of these protests as follows: “Tony Abbott wants to be defined by climate denialism, and the community wants to be defined by climate activism.” “This is really a showdown,” she added.
Since he was elected earlier this year, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has cut funds to green energy development by $435 million (€322.14 million) and moved to end carbon pricing.
Meanwhile, researchers have warmed that, thanks to climate change and global warming, this year is likely to be the hottest on record for Australia. Hence, it's fairly difficult to act genuinely surprised that Australians do not approve of Tony Abbott's plans for the future.