The Australian government has announced an Oprah Winfrey-style emissions target for 2035 . It has tried to promise (nearly) everyone a prize.

By choosing a target range of a 62% to 70% cut compared with 2005 levels – based on long-awaited advice from the Climate Change Authority and its chair, Matt Kean – it has opted for a political solution.

The range is extraordinarily wide. At the bottom end, it is likely to dampen criticism from business organisations that have argued for less action. At the top end, it nods to a campaign that has argued that the target must include a number that starts with a “7” – that is, in the 70s – if it is to have any claim at being serious about the scale of the problem.

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The criticism will come anyway. The press releases

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