Today, January 26, is that day of the year when Australia’s have another holiday and are encouraged to get together with their mates for a beer or wine and to feel good about being Australian. It is also the day when the ruling elite thrust somebody whose values they share upon us and we are forced to suffer comment from that person for the rest of the year – or stop listening to the ABC. Today it is Simon McKeon. He is the fellow Julia Gillard has nominated “Australian of the Year’.
McKeon optimizes the values of the new elite. He is a bourgeoisie-bohemian*: throughout his life he has valued commerce and also worked to save the planet. McKeon was a merchant banker and he is now a climate change activist – at the highest level.
McKeon was recently appointed chairman of the CSIRO – officially Australia’s premier scientific organisation and an advocate for the introduction of a carbon price and emissions trading scheme.
McKeon was also once a sailor and this has given him first hand experience of climate change phenomena. Speaking to The Age newspaper in 2008 Mr McKeon explained that in the 1980s and 1990s a consistent wind blew from the southwest across Waratah Bay near Wilsons Promontory. But since at least 2004 that wind has evaporated. This observation helped convince Mr McKeon to begin minimising carbon emissions and become a business community ambassador for Earth Hour and in particular to suggest businesses switch all their lights off for one hour every year.
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*read David Brooks’ book Bobos in Paradise
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD is a critical thinker with expertise in the scientific method.
I thought that when Flannery got the A of the Year that it didnt do the image of the award much good.
Now that they have made two environmental activists Australian of the Year its pretty clear what tickles the organisers fancy.
You mean to say that out of all the other things that good people do and should be recognised for two greenoids in close order is all they can come up with.
What utter b/s.
Agreed Malcolm,
Complete and utter BS!
Politically Popular Greenoids make it sound like their cause is noble.
On closer inspection, most of it has no logical or practical conclusion for us or our environment.
There are many others and many other areas of study and work that deserve recognition.
Some work being done in mental health and social welfare would be another good place to look, just for a start.
Human health and well being is taking a back seat to supposed environmental health and well being.
This seems to be because the politically popular greenoids believe it is humans who are causing all the problems in the environment and we should all be ashamed of ourselves.
They are obviously willing to sacrifice large sections of society for this noble cause! (not themselves of course)
What a travesty of the highest order!
I personally think the local awards epitomises the Aussie spirit much better
and for those at Toowoomba see
http://www.thechronicle.com.au/story/2011/01/26/toowoomba-we-honour-oz-day-flood-heroes/
maybe each of us should link to the recipients in our local area so we can all share in their achievements
is it the cynic in me or does McKeon seem know the major source of a big slice of the CSIRO’s funding?
We have a former merchant banker – (why do I think in rhyme?) – McKeon heading the CSIRO and astronomer Penny Sackett as Chief Scientist.
I really despair for Australia with such a pair of climate science loonies in influential positions.
‘McKeon was also once a sailor and this has given him first hand experience of climate change phenomena. Speaking to The Age newspaper in 2008 Mr McKeon explained that in the 1980s and 1990s a consistent wind blew from the southwest across Waratah Bay near Wilsons Promontory. But since at least 2004 that wind has evaporated.’
It’s natural variability, a real sailor would know that. I’ll return with proof.
Going back a few years it is easy to see how McKeon opportunistically developed a profile, which eventually got him a gong.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/environment/bank-chiefs-green-passion-helps-businesses-get-wind-of-switchoff/2008/02/24/1203788146632.html
el gordo,
I used to design racing yachts and after 1976 the wind patterns along the east coast of Aust changed considerably. So much so that under the handicapping system the penalty for extra sail area had to be revisited. Boats that had small SAs and low handicaps were losing out to boats with bigger SAs and bigger handicaps in the lighter wind conditions. IOW, they benefited from the extra horse power of the bigger SA and could still win with that extra penalty.
That was a cyclical change as a result of the IPO going pos and the El Nino that occurred as a step in the weather and had nothing to do with any progressive ACO2 increase.
Simon McKeon is either spouting alarmist rubbish to pander to his Warmista fraternity or he hasn’t got a clue about weather.
Thanks for that spangles, you have saved me a lot of footwork.
Is this done as a parody?
Sadly, no.
The A of the Year has failed to either study facts or understand that there continues to be no measurable effect in any world climate parameter from anthropogenically created CO2. Such ideology will not strengthen the CSIRO, where he is Chairman, and could bring the languishing organisation into further scientific disrepute. Fortunately there are many good scientists in that organisation struggling against internal executive and political censorship, because those who promote the ideology pronounced be Mr McKeon gain further funds for providing non-scientifically connected data to proclaim apocolyptic type events, supporting politically motivated carbon taxes and fitting the Government’s ‘spin’.