Elections Have Consequences

John Howard was one of the biggest political leaders blocking progress on global warming. His successor will not leave the same legacy:

Newly elected leader Kevin Rudd moved quickly Sunday to bring Australia into international talks on fighting global warming, and to head off potentially thorny relations with the United States and key Asian neighbors.

The emphatic victory for Rudd's Labor Party swings Australia toward the political left after almost 12 years of conservative rule, and puts it at odds with key security ally Washington on two crucial policy issues — Iraq and global warming.

The day after sweeping to power in general elections, Rudd went straight into work mode, holding meetings with government officials about the mechanics of signing the Kyoto Protocol on cutting greenhouse gas emissions [...]

Britain, New Zealand and Indonesia noted that Rudd's election would boost international efforts to address climate change — ousted Prime Minister John Howard had refused to sign the Kyoto pact.

Malaysia's leader said Rudd's plan to pull Australia's 550 combat troops from Iraq would also improve the country's international standing, the Malaysian national news agency Bernama reported.

It's really the coalition of the shrinking, considering that Poland is about to withdraw all their troops from Iraq as well.

George Bush is an anvil around the neck of any world leader who bothered to have a photo-op with him. In this case, Kevin Rudd is going to mark a significant shift on one of the most pressing issues of our time. Indeed it may have driven him to victory. We have never seen in the United States if global warming could become a political issue with any great import. The Democrats are too busy putting Social Security back on the table to take notice of this, but at least in Australia, we see that you can build a political coalition around it.

Why the stunning loss? A key reason was Howard’s “head in the sand dust” response to the country’s brutal once-in-a-thousand year drought. As the UK’s Independent reported in April:

"… few scientists dispute the part played by climate change, which is making Australia hotter and drier….. Until a few months ago, Mr Howard and his ministers pooh-poohed the climate-change doomsayers."

You can read about Howard’s lame attempt to change his position rhetoric on global warming here.

Now we are the last industrialized nation with a leader who refuses to take any serious action — hopefully that dubious distinction will be corrected in next year’s presidential election.

Hopefully, some Democratic strategist with an ounce of foresight is listening - if they can be found.

UPDATE: Hilarious. Mark Steyn on John Howard:

Of all the doughty warriors of the Anglosphere, Howard, his Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and their colleagues had the best rhetoric on the present war, and I often wished the Bush Administration had emulated their plain speaking.

Yes, it was so successful Howard might become the first Prime Minister to lose his Parliamentary seat in Australia in 106 years! And, as Ygs notices, politicians aren't warriors. The wingnutosphere is so desperate to be modern-day versions of Ernest Hemingway fighting the fascists in Spain that they consider anyone on their side to be the second coming of Achilles.