Pollies Cool on Warming Fixes
stevem
in Environmental, Global Warming
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12, June 2008
Last week the US Senate debated a 500-page global warming bill known as the Warner-Lieberman Cap-and-Trade bill. The Democrats knew it would likely be vetoed by President George Bush, but they hoped to push it through the Senate anyway and in this way build further momentum for reducing America’s greenhouse gas emissions. But they weren’t successful: some Democrats refused to support it on the basis that it would push up petrol prices.
It was perhaps the worst possible time to introduce the legislation with oil prices doubling in the past 12 months and fear of a global fuel supply shortage.
Emissions trading is based on the theory that, by forcing up the price of fossil fuel, alternatives will be found.
But in reality biofuels can only supplement petroleum based products, and while there is always the option of natural gas and nuclear energy, both have their limitations right now.
So the reality is that an emission trading scheme (ETS) which puts a price tag on greenhouse carbon emissions – whether in the US or Australia – is likely to just be an additional tax pushing fuel prices even higher.
Last week in the Australian federal parliament, Liberal member for the southern Perth seat of Tangney in Western Australia, Dennis Jensen, made the point that an emissions trading scheme, as proposed by the Rudd Labor Government, would not only push up petrol prices, but was based on the false belief that we have a climate crisis.
He said that the belief was based on pseudoscience and added global temperatures had not been increasing as predicted by computer models.
Dr Jensen, a former CSIRO researcher, quoted Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scientist, Kevin Trenberth, explaining that, contrary to predictions, the lost heat is probably going back out to space with a number of natural thermostats, including clouds, reflecting sunlight and helping cool the planet.
Dr Jensen also referred to new data showing that not only has the global atmosphere stopped warming, but there has also been, if anything, a slight decrease in ocean temperatures.
The comments by Dr Jenson, and failure of the emission trading bill in the US Senate, follow defeat of climate alarmist, Ken Livingstone, in the recent London mayoral election.
It was claimed the mayoral poll would be a referendum on climate change policies which included more taxes.
The winner was the UK Conservative Party’s Boris Johnson, who denies there is a climate crisis and a consequent need for more taxes on transport.
The Rudd Government can’t realistically promise to both put maximum downward pressure on petrol prices and also to introduce its planned emissions trading scheme. But will anyone listen to Dr Jensen in Canberra before it is too late?
Published in The Land
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PM vows to hit carbon deadline
Matthew Franklin, Chief political correspondent
June 30, 2008
KEVIN Rudd has emphatically ruled out delaying the introduction of an emissions trading scheme beyond 2010, despite Opposition warnings that rushing into the reforms could cripple the economy.
As Brendan Nelson warned yesterday that the scale of the reform involved in Australia’s response to climate change would make the introduction of the goods and services tax look like a “walk in the park”, the Prime Minister said there was no time for delay.
“We are committed to starting the scheme in 2010,” the Prime Minister told The Australian through a spokesman last night.
“The fact the Liberal Party questions this shows they don’t understand the cost of delaying action on climate change.”
Senior ministers have denied that the climate change issue is generating strong divisions inside the cabinet.
“What’s happening is that we are going through a proper cabinet process to consider this issue in full and to look at it from every angle,” a senior minister told The Australian last night.
“That’s part of a good policy process that gets a good result. This is the most important economic policy in years, and we want to get it right.”
The comments came as Treasurer Wayne Swan guaranteed the new scheme to put a price on carbon emissions would be revenue-neutral and that every extra dollar raised from excess emissions would be redistributed to compensate heavily exposed industries and battlers struggling to meet higher fuel and electricity prices.
Climate change is set to dominate national politics in coming months as the Rudd Government searches for a politically acceptable formula to deliver on its election commitment to slash Australia’s carbon emissions.
The Prime Minister is today due to receive the long-awaited climate change report from economist Ross Garnaut, which the Government will use for the basis of a green paper to be released later this year. Cabinet has held several long meetings on the design of an ETS in the past fortnight, amid frantic lobbying from high-emitting businesses wanting exemptions or free emission permits.
Other business sectors fear that offering too many exemptions from the scheme will leave them bearing a greater burden.
The Greens, who will assume a share of the balance of power in the Senate tomorrow, demanded yesterday that petrol be part of the trading scheme, and that some of the money collected under the new regime be spent on research into sources of renewable energy.
The Opposition Leader said yesterday it was unlikely the Coalition would back Labor’s proposed trading scheme.
Dr Nelson said he was worried about the feasibility of Mr Rudd’s promise to have an ETS in place by 2010. “I am very concerned about Australia’s best interests not being served by them trying to ram it through,” he told the Ten Network’s Meet the Press program yesterday.
“Because if we get this wrong, if it’s not right, we will suffer and suffer not just for one or two years, we will suffer for more than a decade.”
Noting that the New Zealand Government had deferred parts of its climate change response, Dr Nelson said he expected the Coalition would not back Labor’s plans. “My real concern at the moment is that the Government internally is very much like the Whitlam government. It’s confused, disordered. There are deep splits and divisions within the Government, within departments and individual ministers about the way to go.”
But last night Mr Rudd stressed there was no time for delay. “Peter Costello told the Australian people he would have an ETS by 2010,” a spokesman for the Prime Minister said.
Earlier, the Treasurer made clear for the first time that the scheme would involve the collection of revenue from polluters.
“There will certainly be revenue raised from an ETS and every cent of that revenue will certainly be used to assist either households or the business community with the impacts of this scheme,” Mr Swan said. “There is no doubt that there will be some revenue raised and it won’t be used for any other purpose than to ensure the scheme has integrity and those people who need assistance will receive it.”
Accusing the Opposition of framing its climate change policies on the basis of “cheap populism”, Mr Swan said the Rudd Government would not shirk its responsibility to reduce emissions while also protecting the vulnerable. “The longer we delay in this area the greater the cost,” he said.
Mr Swan said that he would not speculate about delays in a start-up date. But he said: “We’ve got a realistic timetable out there, a timetable of engagement with the community, a timetable of consultation with the business community.
“We think we’ve left plenty of time for that to occur, but we will take our decisions in a responsible and measured way.”
Greens leader Bob Brown said his party wanted a “comprehensive” emissions trading scheme which included such areas as transport and forestry.
“The caps have to be meaningful and it will lead to the Government having a big income from that and we want to see that help offset people - poorer people who may be affected by the increased costs,” Senator Brown told the Nine Network’s Sunday program.
“This is a responsible and big call on the Australian Government and governments around the world.
“We will be working as co-operatively with the Government as we can to get the emissions trading scheme in, make it comprehensive, make it tight but make it the best that we possibly can to offset dangerous climate change while ensuring our economy goes well and that employment goes well and we can get those things right.”
He also said some of the money collected should go towards putting Australia at the forefront of the development of renewable energy.
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