Comment: If not now, when?

Many have been swift to condemn those "seeking to politicise" the New South Wales bushfires. But now is precisely the time to talk about climate change, writes Ed Butler.

A NSW RFS firefighter assesses a bushfire burning close to homes on Patterson street at Springwood in the Blue Mountains (AAP)

Sydney is aflame. In October.

That sentence alone should be enough to send at least a mild tremor through any sensible soul. I sat in Melbourne, following the twitter feed, listening to the radio; it was the grim tally of a blazing January scorcher yet I was experiencing the freezing antarctic winds and hail of a June evening.

In October.

One element of the commentary on Twitter was the pleas of some to ‘not politicise’ the fires, as some were losing homes, and fleeing for their very safety. I understand this impulse, and certainly, it was ridiculous on its face to try to use the event to lay blame somehow at the feet of Malcolm Turnbull (NBN) or Barry O’Farrell (fire station closures). Partisanship has no place in that situation.

But if we can’t talk about climate change when fires are tearing across half of New South Wales, fires that have been burning on and off since late August (that’s winter, for those keeping track), fires that are burning through yet another record-setting heat wave, then when on earth can we?

On the day, and the two days prior, we had our government furiously making its case to rip up the laws Australia has in place to tackle the problem of a rapidly heating planet. On Thursday, Tony Abbott was still making his case that the ALP join him (“repent”, I believe the word was) in removing the laws that were so hard to instate in the first place.

The thought that our new government is so intent on tearing up these laws, on a day where the effects of climate change – the damage it can cause to life and property – are so clearly on display, leaves me white-knuckled with frustration.

If we can’t discuss climate change now, then when?

It is October. Odds are, there will be many, many fires between now and the end of February. Must we gag ourselves every time, somewhere in the country, there is a flare up, then wait until the self-appointed moral arbiters allow us to discuss the problem that will keep making it worse?

Climate change is not a ‘political’ issue, aside from the fact that there are deep-pocketed vested interests that have determined that there is value in making it so. Climate change is not a left or a right issue, not a progressive or conservative one. It is a health issue. A safety issue. A moral issue.

No one is suggesting that these fires were somehow magically caused by the climate change monster, like some crazed arsonist. But we know, with ‘very high probability’ (scientist-speak for virtual certainty), that fires like these are going to keep getting more frequent and more severe unless people step up and act, soon.

Fires tearing up the eastern seaboard during the fourth 35C+ day in a fortnight in October is not weather that people would have expected only twenty years ago. Talking about climate change today is only political insofar as we require our politicians to act. To prevent further fires (incidentally, there is also no real problem talking about backburning and clearfelling, too).

Take a look, also, at Monday’s Daily Telegraph front page. Glowing orange, men in fire suits, and a headline highlighting the threat of climate change via fires. It’s clearly OK to talk about climate change and bushfires – we know that the link is there. But only not while they’re happening? Sorry, but no. While they are happening is the precise time.

Another way to look at this is the gun debate in the US. Mass shootings seem to occur with similar frequency to fires here, and every time one happens, there are calls to not ‘politicise the tragedy’. Strangely, those calls often come from those who would rather not see access to guns limited. But if not on the day, then how much later?

No one is asking politicians to be doing too much today. Over the years, out Prime Minister has morphed from ‘leader’ to ‘empathiser in chief’, which is fine, whatever. Tony Abbott’s job today it to salve the wounds, and help people feel OK about tragedy. But his job tomorrow is to do something to help prevent future fires. Not rip up the legislation that may contribute to that help.

Now is when the message can hammer home. Now is when we can talk to those who have been confused by a decade or more of misinformation and obfuscation and Bolting and say “this is what climate change looks like”.

Of course our thoughts are with those who are struggling through this week’s events. But please don’t tell me to shut up because of them. I can worry for them, respect them, and advocate for a vital health and safety issue at the same time. In fact, they’re inextricably linked.

Ed Butler is a recovering economist and novelty blogger of the never-lamented Things Bogans Like. This article is an edited version and was originally published on AusOpinion.com.

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