Canute gets a bad rap

King Canute was misunderstood at this latest Climate Rally but it's a common misconception. Canute actually wanted to show he couldn't stop the tide. So he wasn't the denier but the man of science. Denialists and self-servers might win in politics but they don't win in physics and he was just demonstrating it. But because of that politics, we'll just all lose even if some get short term benefits. This was my second climate rally in three days. It was a nice outing, sunny, clear, well intentioned, but pretty much as disappointing as the last. I got an email from AYCC (Australian Youth Climate Coalition) about it, but most of the hair I saw was grey or at least greying. Greenpeace was there on their flagpoles but it all seemed predictable. IPA was there with a bus with anti-tax slogans. I'm still uncertain as to why they were there: in opposition to the climate gathering or perhaps just promoting tax cuts for the opening of Parliament. I saw the permission form to park the bus and was about to photograph it but the driver said no, and a cop concurred saying it was for their eyes and had names. The driver promptly hid it away out of prying sight. So much for approval by the People's House that allowed his bus to be parked there. There was also a young-lib-type guy in a suit with a busy tie, obviously running cover for IPA. So be it, I guess. He has work to do but I did wish he would question his conscience in the light of the science. After all, climate is starting to have effect and it's his kids who will suffer. But I don't know where he gets his info from - perhaps not NASA, BOM, ANU, US EPA, IPCC, etc *. The speeches were admirable, two by farmers, one by an Aboriginal elder as welcome to country, one by an ANU academic in climate (interestingly about wildfires and the involvement of upper atmosphere and the first of this type in Peru), another, as I arrived, by a woman, I think from AYCC. The vibe was good; the demands were good; the likelihood of Scomo man-of-coal listening was infinitesimal. It's a nice opportunity to meet with people of like mind but the numbers at these events are trivial and success remains distant, at least in Australia. It's better to be on the side of history and science than to be in delusional, but while the deniers or non-actors hold power there's little for which to be hopeful. Oh, and one other thing that annoyed me. There's an ongoing attempt to show non-partisanship in climate and more, to claim a pox on both their houses, but it was Labor/Gillard who put a price on carbon and LNP/Abbott who removed it.

The Break the Drought on Climate Action rally was organised by Farmers for Climate Action with involvement by AYCC and Greenpeace. IPA was also present.

*http://www.opr.ca.gov/facts/list-of-scientific-organizations.html [A starter list of] Scientific organizations that hold the position that Climate Change has been caused by human action