Prime Minister Rudd has been very busy on climate change lately. He’s started a countdown to the vote, as a crass method of pressuring Malcolm Turnbull. He’s had a chat with Al Gore and posted a twee video of Kev and Al shooting the breeze like a couple of regular guys about who is stopping the world from getting serious about climate change.

And he has kicked off the rather dire Prime Ministerial blog with the earnest imprecation “it’s our responsibility to act now on climate change.” And of course he tweeted it too. “Starting my blog tomorrow on Climate Change. Like to hear your ideas on practical action.”

Well, you asked, Prime Minister. Here’s two: first, stop treating climate change as a political weapon to assist your re-election. It’s clear by now — if it wasn’t clear back in November 2007 — that you’re a formidable politician. Why don’t you use those skills in the service of what you called the great moral and economic challenge of our generation, rather than the reverse of putting climate change at the service of your re-election strategy? At times it seems like Peter Garrett is the only one in Cabinet who actually takes climate change seriously.

And second, how about an ETS that would actually start the transition to a low-carbon economy, rather than one that constitutes a giant paper chase dedicated to ensuring no big polluter faces any substantial cost?

Yes, we know the issue is tough. And we know you’ve done more in 18 months than the last lot did in 12 years. The transition to a low-carbon economy will cause some short-term pain and dislocation, just like previous economic reforms have. People will lose their jobs even as other people find them in emerging industries, and it’s the nature of political debate in this country that all the focus will be on the former rather than the latter.

And while you are a deft manager when it comes to handing out wads and wads of taxpayer money, you seem awfully gun-shy when it comes to reforms that might inflict any pain, no matter how justified.

And if you’re not prepared to do that, at least spare us the unutterable smugness of your ceaseless claim to want to do something.