Rudd fails
Not that anyone seriously expected Kev to be radical. He is a pretty conservative lefty anyway, worth millions and a regular church goer, the one thing that you could bet the farm on is that our latest PM is not going to rock any boats. So his government’s policy paper on carbon abatement is true to expectations, it looks like something but in fact is nothing more than window dressing.
Free carbon permits for big emitters! That will bring down carbon emissions overnite for sure. Cross subsidising motorists for increases in fuel costs is bound to have the roads clear in no time. Not counting agriculture in any carbon emission scheme until the cows come home, brilliant thinking! But rest assured there will be a carbon cap although what it is remains unsure and how will it be measured? By self reporting of course. By the emitters. Uh huh.
The only thing that appears to be close to the mark is that this scheme will be cost effective, it probably wont cost the coal fed power plants that contribute 70% of our total carbon a cent. But they will probably bump up their charges just in case. A government commitment to reducing carbon by 2050 is not even worth talking about, no more than say a government commitment to get rid of plastic shopping bags. The “cap and trade” scenario is likely to have only one outcome, more horse trading as permits to pollute are snapped up by investors to be sold to the desperate on demand. As far as reducing the carbon emissions are concerned, its all about protecting industries that need government protection.
Its worth noting as David Spratt did last night in launching his book “Code Red” (co-author Phillip Sutton) that the “Government’s 60% reduction target for 2050 is purely a political target and has “nothing” to do with scientific recommendations. It concedes atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations will rise to a level — about 550 parts per million of carbon dioxide — that will cause at least a 3-degree rise in global temperatures. A 2-degree rise is predicted to trigger feedback effects leading to much more rapid melting of ice too difficult to model…What the Government doesn’t understand is that when it comes to climate you are not dealing with social or economic policy, but you’re actually dealing with the laws of physics and chemistry, and trying to negotiate with the laws of physics is a really dumb idea.”
Rudd fails the planet but then the planet clearly isn’t his concern.