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EPIB Trail
Volume 12, Issue 3
Deflecting Climate Concerns By Demonizing Activists:
Activism in Australia By Felicia Paradiso It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the fact that the future of our planet will be decided in the next few years, but the governments of many countries, the United States included, seem to have no problem with continuing business as usual. While the United States is beginning the process of formally exiting the Paris Climate Agreement, many other countries, such as Australia, are not on track to meet their self-set goals (Hersher; “Is Climate Change to Blame”). People around the world are understandably angry with the lack of meaningful action being taken and are channeling their frustration and desperation into protests.
Last month, protesters marching for the climate group Extinction Rebellion blocked roadways in England, Australia, Germany, and other countries (Marshall). On October 31st in Australia, activists barricaded the entry of a mining conference before being broken up with pepper spray by police, and boycotts of companies involved in fossil fuel industries, especially the coal industry, are becoming widespread in the country (Cave and Albeck-Ripka).
Bushfires, like this one in Canberra in 2003, are not uncommon in Australia, but because of climate change they are happening earlier and more frequently.
While climate change is a global issue, Australia feels it more urgently than some other countries, with extreme bushfires and droughts that are beginning earlier in the year and are increasingly worse in length and magnitude (“Australia Fires”; “Is Climate Change to Blame”). Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who has famously advocated for the expansion of coal mining in Australia, considers the recent protests disruptive and
