Bob Dylan brilliantly crafted an anthem for the substantial economic and social upheaval of the '60s in his The Times They Are A-Changin’. The third verse defined the reality of the inevitable changes for the political process:
Come senators, congressmenPlease heed the callDon’t stand in the doorwayDon’t block up the hallFor he that gets hurtWill be he who has stalledThere’s a battle outsideAnd it is ragin’It’ll soon shake your windowsAnd rattle your wallsFor the times they are a-changin’
Such is the reality of climate change, and such is the challenge for our political leaders. The transition to a low-carbon society is inevitable. Only this week, Britain's National Grid declared it had gone almost a record six days without using coal and predicted it would transition to a carbon-free electricity system by 2025.
In Australia, the longer our leaders “stall”, the greater damage they will do to themselves, to all of us. Our nation, our living standards, and the planet are worth savin’. If we don’t start swimming, we’ll “sink like a stone”.
Read the full article by Prof John Hewson in the Sydney Morning Herald.