Climate sense from The Australian

The media is full of enviro-fundamentalists all to eager to blame the deaths in Victoria on our evil use of fossil fuels, but The Australian, in an editorial today, is measured:

To put climate change at the centre of any argument about the fires is an affront to the tens of thousands of Australians who are suffering. Climate change activists warn we have brought drought, and thus fire, on ourselves by using too much fossil fuel. But even if this is so, acknowledging the problem would not have stopped these fires. If there are any Australians responsible this catastrophe, it is the arsonists who appear to have lit some of them.

The article also exposes the usual hysterical bias at the ABC, especially Tony Jones, who has graced these pages many times (see here, here, and here):

Not that Tony Jones, host of ABC TV's Lateline, would necessarily agree. On Monday night, he interviewed climate scientists about the fires. Certainly he asked whether they were part of a long-term cycle, but much of what he said was less interview than interrogation. "And do you feel, do you believe that it is beyond doubt that what we're seeing in Victoria, these horrific fire storms, are directly related to climate change and global warming?", Jones said in a statement cursorily couched as a question. In contrast, the scientists spoke in measured tones, one saying evidence on the impact of climate change was not all in, another pointing out that while people living in areas exposed to fire were part of the problem, many died because they left it too late to evacuate. The scientists were sensible. The debate we need is how we can stop another catastrophe of this kind, rather than how many windmills can meet a fraction of our power needs.

Read it here.