Only the Greens up to date on low carbon economy

Head-in-the-sand economics Business Spectator, Giles Parkinson 13 Oct 09 “……….Unlike the other domestic political parties who are bickering over a scheme that will have minimal environmental impact, only the Greens are proposing a scheme that seeks to meet the demand of the science.

And it seems that only the Greens fully appreciate – at least publicly – the economic imperative of taking a leading role in the transition to a low carbon economy, and to act accordingly.This has become an issue which is preoccupying the White House as it absorbs the implications of the massive investment in new technologies that has come to light in China, and the possibility that China will come to dominate the development of new technologies.

But, of Australia’s political parties, only the Greens seem to understand that a failure to act now will cost Australia dearly in the future.
Many Australian businesses – banks, investment groups, large industrials – recognise this, and have made their views known in submissions to parliamentary inquiries, but have otherwise ceded the media battle to the high emitters and business inactivists. Perhaps it would help if representatives of 150 of the nation’s leading companies descended on Canberra to voice their support for robust policies on climate change. If it happened in the US, as it did last week, then perhaps it could, and should, happen here………………

Australia is so far behind much of the world in its efforts to price carbon, develop energy efficiency and build a renewable energy portfolio, that it is at risk of dealing itself completely out of the low carbon economy.

The proposed amendments put forward by the Greens are not outlandish in the international context. The minimum 25 per cent abatement target is no more than what is put forward by the European Union and Japan, and somewhat less than the 40 per cent cut announced by the heavily oil-dependent Norway, who see such a reduction as the greatest economic opportunity for their country.

The Greens’ proposed accelerated push to renewables and energy efficiency would merely be playing catch-up to most of the developed world and China….