Lawmakers in Australia -- the world's worst per capita greenhouse gas polluter -- are rushing to polish their environmental credentials as global warming and water scarcity become mainstream political issues.
Prime Minister John Howard moved recently to install a rainwater tank at his publicly funded mansion, while the opposition leader is looking at swapping his fuel-guzzling SUV for a hybrid car. Another politician wants lawmakers to work in shirt sleeves in Parliament so the air conditioning can be turned down.
Labor opposition leader Kevin Rudd named the environment as one of the key areas of difference with Howard's government in a major speech yesterday -- the latest sign that the environmental issues will be a key battleground in elections due later this year.
"Labor, prepared to face the future," Rudd said of his party's quest to draft a climate change policy in response to the "great moral, environmental and economic challenge of our age."
But observers are divided on whether the green tinge creeping into Australian politics indicates a fundamental shift or just short-term politicking.
Australia and the US are the only industrialized nations that have refused to endorse the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and accept its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, drawing ire from conservationists.
But faced with polls showing Australians are increasingly concerned about global warming, Howard's center-right government is losing its greenhouse skepticism.
Rudd supports Australia joining Kyoto as well as becoming part of the global carbon trade so that an international market will charge Australian polluters a price for the amount of carbon they produce.
That led to an embarrassing moment on talk radio last week, in which he justified driving a sport utility vehicle by saying the government fleet did not include part-electric hybrid cars. He then learned on-air that an opposition party leader had convinced the government to give her one.
"I'll see if I can do that. I was unaware," a rattled Rudd told listeners, adding a promise of an entire fleet of hybrid cars if he wins government.
Both sides have named charismatic spokesmen on the environment -- former rock star and environmentalist Peter Garrett for Labor; millionaire former merchant banker Malcolm Turnbull for the government -- ensuring a highly polished media debate.
Labor lawmaker Roger Price wants dress regulations in Parliament House changed so that male legislators can take off their coats and loosen their ties so the air conditioning can be turned down. Government-appointed speaker David Hawker rejected the idea.
There has been a seismic shift in the political landscape since the last elections in 2004, said John Asafu-Adjaye, a political scientist at the University of Queensland.
"Everyone's a greenie" now, Asafu-Adjaye said.
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