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Woke study analyses carbon emissions caused by surgery in Australia – and you’re paying for it

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Senator Matt Canavan has attacked a study into the impact knee operations have on Australia's carbon footprint
  • Matt Canavan attacks climate study
  • Knee operations produce a surprising amount of CO2

Nationals senator Matt Canavan has labeled a taxpayer-funded study into the impact knee operations have on Australia’s carbon footprint ‘rubbish’.

A recent study in Australian Health Review, published by the CSIRO, found that the greenhouse gas impact of a single three-hour knee replacement operation was equivalent to driving a car 914 km, or from Sydney to Brisbane.

Canavann told Daily Mail Australia he was ‘screwed’ when he read the report.

‘What the hell is happening to this country? “I’m sick and tired of having lectures given to us about global warming when I just want the country to work,” Canavan said.

‘I’m not surprised that the CSIRO is wasting massive amounts of money on climate change research, they have been doing so for years, but what is the point of this?

‘It is very sad to see the once prolonged Csiro reduced to this type of absurdity.

“I suppose you start to be immune to the commotion in Canberra when it comes to wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars, but I’m screwed by this particular study.”

The health sector contributes about 5.3 per cent of Australia’s annual greenhouse gas emissions, the report said.

Senator Matt Canavan has attacked a study into the impact knee operations have on Australia’s carbon footprint

A knee operation was found to have generated an average of 131.7 kg of CO2E.

A knee operation was found to have generated an average of 131.7 kg of CO2E.

Dr. Forbes McGain, who led the study, found a three-hour operation generated an average of 131.7 kg of CO2.

Anesthesia contributed to about 11 percent of the emissions, while nine percent came from air conditioning and lighting for the operating room.

But 80 percent of the emissions were associated with elements of the surgery itself, including reusable equipment, single-use materials and the knee prosthesis.

Dr McGain said it was a surprising finding, particularly how much sterilization and cleaning of reusable equipment contributed to emissions.

“One load on the steam sterilizer is about the same energy that a four-person Victorian household uses for an entire day,” Dr McGain said.

The study also found that there were many operating rooms that still had air cycling at night and on weekends when no operations occurred.

Hospitals are using the findings to make operational changes and show surgeons where they can reduce their carbon footprint.

But Canavan argued that hospitals should only focus on treating people and if they only did that, they would provide better services for the sick and injured.

“At least part of our failure to do basic things is because we are trying to do too many things,” Canavan said.

‘We are trying to get hospitals to fix global warming. When institutions like hospitals become distracted, they fail to fulfill their central purpose, which is to provide essential care to people. Now we are waiting to perform basic procedures.

‘I don’t know if the CSIRO has had much interaction with our hospitals in recent years, but I would like to be able to do knee replacements.

On Thursday, Canavan unleashed on the study on social media.

‘Why do my taxes pay for this garbage?’ Public.

One of his followers wrote: ‘Did CSIRO compare life-saving surgeries to road trips? This is the kind of taxpayer-funded nonsense we need to reduce. Focus on real science, not virtue signaling statistics.

“I’m here for the comments on this ridiculous story from one of the worst wastes of taxpayers’ money, the CSIRO,” added another.

‘This is CSIRO research paid for by the taxpayer. “This organization has zero credibility and should be audited to ensure future funding is directed towards research projects that will benefit Australia,” said a third.

(Tagstotranslate) DailyMail (T) News (T) Brisbane (T) Sydney

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