Carbon is powerful, with boundless capacity. We must respect and understand it - not abuse it | Rebecca Huntley

In a new documentary, Sarah Snook voices the element as it tells its own story - making us fall in love with carbon before showing the damage it can wreakGet our weekend culture and lifestyle email and listen to our podcastEven casual observers of our nation's politics will recall the moment the then treasurer Scott Morrison walked into question time with a lump of coal, waving it in the direction of the opposition and yelling, "this is coal, don't be afraid". It was a stunt that launched a thousand memes and op eds. It was a cheap trick as well as being fundamentally inaccurate. Burning coal and gas is the main driver of climate change, if we are to believe trusted institutions such as the CSIRO, not to mention every credible climate scientist in the country and around the world.That being said, and in the light of my research on public attitudes to climate change and energy in Australia, I recognise there is a tiny sliver of - truth? perhaps insight is a better word - in what our now prime minister had to say about coal. Continue reading...