We are doing a great job — everything bad is someone else’s fault. We are waiting for some magic technology to solve the problem for us — no, we won’t use the technology we already have. We have to give all our money to the fossil fuel industry. FFS!
To understand Morrison, you have to realize that he is a Pentecostal Christian who believes that the old ways of doing things are the best. As a Pentecostal Christian, he believes in the apocalypse (see Matthew 24 and the whole book of Revelation). Things will get worse and worse and then God will come and rescue His Faithful — everyone else can burn (just like they are doing now). If this is your mindset, you welcome disaster — it is the harbinger of heaven.
Methane emissions. Image from NASA, Scientific Visualization Studio.
What’s more — if it is the will of God that sinners are to be punished if not in hell then in the hell we are creating now through climate change, then it is a sin to resist it.
Add to that that the oil, gas, and coal companies are bankrolling your political campaign and you have a further reason not to fight the will of God and coal.
Our prime minister is a member of Hillsong church — proponents of prosperity theology. The more you give, the more prosperous you will become. The more prosperous you are, then the more righteous you must be. Jesus would definitely have not believed in that.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has not just a vested interest in supporting fossil fuels, but a theological imperative not to impede the will of a righteous and vengeful God, and political drive to remain in power. That is a heady cocktail of motivations.
To deflect from his culpability (this man has a great deal of trouble saying sorry), he needs to find a scapegoat. Fortunately, he can blame the underdeveloped world for increasing global temperatures by burning the fossil fuels supplied by Australia. I wonder what he will say when they stop importing our coal and gas. I guess he will blame them for the collapse of Australia’s export market.
The government is pinning its hopes on a feeble and inadequate Future Fuels Strategy. FFS!
Wildfires in Australia. Image courtesy of NASA.
