Prime Minister John Howard's views on climate change have been dismissed as so fossilised they leave Australia without an adequate response to the problem.
Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) president Ian Lowe on Wednesday accused Mr Howard of taking an indefensible path by supporting greenhouse gas - producing coal-fired power stations at the expense of renewable energies. Professor Lowe also warned Labor against changing its current nuclear-cautious policies.
Mr Howard, an active promoter of expanding uranium mining, has canvassed the idea of nuclear enrichment. And this week he said he was sceptical about the more strident claims on global warming. He has also rejected the states' proposed carbon emissions trading plan and has refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
"It's difficult to escape the conclusion that the prime minister's views are fossilised in a previous era," Prof Lowe told the National Press Club. "The business community has moved on and the business community now recognises we have to respond to climate change.
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http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/PMs-climate-change-views-fossilised/2006/08/30/1156816958855.html