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New Aussie PM takes the pledge |
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Written by Jonathan Maslow
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Thursday, 29 November 2007 |
 Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
Disclaimer: TEI had nothing to do
with this.
But just as we started sending letters to American presidential
candidates urging them to pledge to negotiate, sign and ratify a follow-on
treaty to Kyoto to cut global warming emissions,
Australia’s
newly elected prime minister Kevin Rudd coincidentally took the pledge.
Rudd, 50, the Labor Party leader
and former diplomat in China,
whipped Liberal Party PM and Bush crony John Howard’s butt in last week’s
election, campaigning on a platform to ratify Kyoto
and pull Australian combat troops out of Iraq. Howard, who played Bush’s
second poodle to Tony Blair’s top dog, had followed his Washington master into climate change denial, even as parts of Australia suffered the worst
droughts on record.
Now, here’s an intriguing thought. Rudd is smart, fresh and environmentally progressive. And he speaks fluent
enough Mandarin Chinese that he was able to deliver an address in Chinese to
President Hu Jintao during his September visit to Australia. In negotiating a new
global treaty on climate change, almost everything will depend on bringing in China, India,
Brazil and the rest of the
developing world, as well as the United States, of course. With his
diplomatic experience with China
and his language skills, Kevin Rudd is well-positioned to facilitate China’s entry
into the Kyoto II negotiations. Getting Australia
to ratify Kyoto
I is the best first step he could take.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 14 December 2007 )
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