PM denies link to climate policies as fires scorch arid Australia
Al JazeeraFires have now sprung up in four states as firefighters battle to contain blazes that have killed six people. Australia’s Prime Minister on Thursday denied his climate change policies had caused unprecedented bushfires ravaging the country and insisted his government was doing enough to tackle global warming. As blazes that have left six dead and scorched swathes of countryside sprang up in new locations, and Sydney was again cloaked in hazardous smoke, Scott Morrison defended his conservative government’s climate record, saying Australia was “doing our bit”. pic.twitter.com/jdwNW8NOpB — MFB November 20, 2019 The fire danger was also elevated to “severe” and a total fire ban declared in the island state of Tasmania off the southeastern coast of mainland Australia. Morrison is facing calls to cut greenhouse gas emissions and move the country quickly towards renewable energy – a sensitive debate in light of Australia’s lucrative fossil fuels industry.