Optimism with student vote

Harvard students have voted to pressure their university to cease investments in coal, oil and gas companies.

The fossil fuel industries are choking our little blue planet with their faeces, and warm-drowning our coastal and island peoples.

My optimism returns because this tactic was brought to bear successfully against the apartheid regime in South Africa and is currently beginning the strangulation of the murderous tobacco industry.

Five years ago, following Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth, Kevin Rudd's 2007 electoral victory on the back of global warming concern, Europe's policy on carbon pricing, and the rapid shifts towards sane policies in China and California, I was slowly becoming optimistic.

Then came Tony Abbott, and a deliberately scrambled debate, aided and abetted by the media who pilloried a prime minister for "lying" when she was doing what leaders must do, respond to changed circumstances with thoughtfulness and skill.

There were mistakes following the Rudd Government's brave attempt to introduce an emissions trading scheme.

It was blocked by the Greens' collective left wing docking with the most right-wing Opposition since Moses was a lad.

Rudd didn't read correctly the crucial reason for his election win (global warming concern) and so freaked and failed to call a double dissolution.

He dropped the ball.

Since that time, the willful ignorants have successfully confused the debate resulting in crippling political constipation.

Political constipation is a huge win for Conservatives.

It moves nothing, just holds onto what we have.

And so it is that the Harvard students' decision to campaign for all universities to "divest" their interests in fossil fuels is very encouraging.

A new strategy which allows us all to play a part rather than wait helplessly as we watch our planet choke, drown, and be battered with extreme weather.

Someone important at the time said: "This is the moral question of our time".

I agreed. I still agree. Tomorrow I will still agree.

The electorate seemed to agree with Rudd.

He has gone.

The greatest moral question has not.

Apparently the movement is active within 50-odd universities in America. More to come.

We can widen this to include Australian Universities, all companies, organisations and entities who invest in the life-threatening filth of fossil fuels.

Email, 29 Nov 2012

Vanlyn Davy, Pearl Beach