DERELICTION OF DUTY

Climate Change: Australia Abandons Its Emissions Targets

PM bows to conservative pressure to save his party, not Great Barrier Reef.

Australia abandoned its plans to meet emissions-reduction targets Monday after conservatives threatened to topple Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The ditched plan would have included a legal commitment to reduce energy-emission levels in 2030 to 26 percent below the levels recorded in 2005. However, after a weekend negotiating with conservative colleagues, Turnbull said there wasn’t enough support for his energy policy bill, which would have also attempted to reduce the cost of energy. “We are not going to propose legislation purely for the purpose of it being defeated,” he said, reportedly looking tired following negotiations. The announcement angered climate activists. “All it does is reconfirm that they have no interest in doing anything about climate change or the Great Barrier Reef, really,” said Jon Brodie, a scientist at James Cook University.