In 2008 James Hansen wrote an open letter to Kevin Rudd calling on the Australian government to halt plans for the mining of coal, the export of coal and the construction of new coal-fired power plants.
Instead there are plans to build 12 new coal fired power stations around Australia, new coal mines are being developed, and coal port facilities in Queensland and New South Wales are being expanded. Twelve new coal fired power stations will increase Australia's total annual greenhouse emissions by approximately 39 Mt CO2-e, or around 7% compared to 2008 emission levels according to Greenpeace. The rhetoric of action on climate change is strongly out of kilter with the scientific reality of the actions required on limiting climate change.
Warning: the lecture goes for 1hour 44mins. The video can also be downloaded (mp4, 289.4 Mb) from the Sydney University lecture page. Enjoy!