Clare Idriss was so concerned about carbon emissions generated by her wedding guests traveling across Australia in October that she bought A$350 ($283) of pollution credits to offset the greenhouse gases.Idriss, 26, says Prime Minister John Howard isn't doing his part to address climate change. Howard has refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on reducing carbon emissions, saying it will hurt the economy of the world's largest coal exporter.
``There are a lot of options out there, but they're choosing not to be supportive,'' said Idriss, an engineer who got married in Mittagong, 110 kilometers (68 miles) southwest of Sydney.
New weather patterns have become a hot-button issue as the world's driest inhabited continent suffers its worst drought ever recorded. The debate may help determine who will be Australia's next prime minister in an election due by Jan. 19.
Kevin Rudd, leader of the opposition Labor Party, pledges to ratify Kyoto and cut emissions by 60 percent by 2050 if he wins control of the government.
``Given how close the election is going to be, it could be a decisive factor,'' said Andrew Macintosh, deputy director of the Australia Institute, a Canberra-based research group...
Forty-three percent of voters back Howard's 11-year-old government, compared with 57 percent for Labor, according to a May 18-20 survey of 1,151 people by market researcher Newspoll. The margin of error was 3 percentage points.
A March survey commissioned by the Climate Institute, a Sydney-based lobby group, found that 80 percent of the almost 1,000 Australians polled supported laws to curb greenhouse gases.
``It's one of those genuine moments when an issue's time has come,'' said Murray Hogarth, campaign manager at Easy Being Green, a Sydney-based company that sells carbon credits to households and companies.
A temperature increase of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) may bleach 97 percent of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral system, every year, according to the national science agency. Prolonged bleaching, caused by the loss of algae that live in the reef, can kill coral...
Howard's Liberal-National coalition is trying to bolster its environmental credentials. In February, it announced plans to ban incandescent lights by 2010 in favor of more energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs. That may cut greenhouse emissions by 4 million tons a year by 2015 -- 0.7 percent of current levels.
Treasurer Peter Costello allocated A$150 million in his May 8 budget to double the rebate for homeowners who install solar panels.
``I'll embrace policies that make a contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in a proportionate, measured way that don't destroy jobs, particularly in the coal industry,'' Howard said at an April 12 press conference.
Coal exports will earn Australia A$22.3 billion in the year to June 30, the government forecasts...
``Howard's climate change policy is a joke,'' said Verness, 36. ``It's been dreamed up because he knows it's on people's minds, not because he cares about what impact we are having on the environment.''
Australia generates 85 percent of its electricity from coal, helping make it the industrialized world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter per person, according to the Australia Institute.
The nation released 559 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere in 2005, about 1.5 percent of the global total, the government's Greenhouse Office estimates.
On a related note, the drought is predicted by some to cause a property boom in parts of Oz. How so? Folks might start buying up property in areas which aren't stricken by drought (!):
The ongoing drought will propel the newest property trend with homeowners moving in search of water, a national property researcher says.
The owner of property investment advisory service Hotspotting, Terry Ryder, said the "sea change" and "tree change" phenomena would be followed by an "oasis change" as water availability became a major influence on property buying patterns.
"The ongoing drought, the subsequent introduction of water restrictions and the increased cost of water use has already propelled the issue up the list of buyers' priorities," Mr Ryder said.
He released a list of the top six "oasis hotspots", chosen for their high rainfall or secure water supplies from dam or groundwater stores.
Mr Ryder identifies Townsville, in north Queensland; Perth; Maleny, in south-east Queensland; Dubbo, in central NSW; and Hobart.
Other notable locations were Darwin; Atherton Tableland, in north Queensland; and Port Macquarie, Taree and Bathurst, in NSW.
"While hordes of people are not going to move immediately to the wilds of Tasmania or western Queensland purely for water reasons, the `oasis change' will be a factor amongst baby boomers looking to find a nice place to retire and working families who just want to plant some cherry tomatoes and keep their car and driveway clean," Mr Ryder said.
He said dwindling water supplies in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and south-east Queensland may affect the property market in the long term in those areas
