Climate change policy has morphed into ‘energy policy’ to make it more palatable to conservatives. But for Tony Abbott it’s not a contest over policy differences; it’s a battle for the nation’s soul. In the United States, conservatives fight a fierce culture war over abortion, guns, sexual identity, God in schools and climate change. Most of these are settled in Australia, the more so after the same-sex marriage resolution.

So for Tony Abbott, climate politics now carry almost the entire burden of defending his view of the world. As early as 2005, his spiritual adviser George Pell attacked the influence of ‘religionless and spiritually rootless’ greens, a year later writing that emission reductions are akin to pagan sacrifices.