As Hurricane Irma lashed the United States coast near Florida overnight, the Australian Greens Party has warned climate change is the single greatest threat to Australia’s national security.
Australian Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson called out the conservative Liberal-National federal government for failing to address the impact of climate change when it comes to energy policy.
AAP newsagency reports a Senate inquiry into the impact of climate change, described as the “first of its kind”, has just finished taking submissions and will meet this week to set dates for its first public hearings.
“Politics is failing this planet,” Australian Greens Senator Whish-Wilson told journalists in the national capital, Canberra today.
“When you see the potentially trillions of dollars of damage that are being done to the US economy by these super storms, then you understand why climate change is the biggest single threat to our national security in Australia as well.”
Climate change as a national security issue has been addressed in the US for some time, particularly by the country’s military.
Senator Whish-Wilson condemned the Nationals Party for voting on policies to phase out renewable energy subsidies and in opposition to a clean energy target (CET).
He argued Australia needed to phase out coal-fired power stations and stop all coal exports if it wanted to meet its international commitments to curb carbon emissions.
“This short-term stupid politics is going to put us back a decade in climate action,” he said.
