Antinuclear

Australian opposition policy on climate, nuclear, is a ‘farce’

Turnbull brands Abbott an ETS ‘weathervane’ * THE AUSTRALIAN December 08, 2009 “………former Liberal Party leader Malcolm Turnbull declares it’s time for some straight talking on climate change. …….I tell a few home truths about the farce that the Coalition’s policy, or lack of policy, on climate change has descended into. First, let’s get this straight. You cannot cut emissions without a cost. To replace dirty coal-fired power stations with cleaner gas-fired ones, or renewables like wind, let alone nuclear power or even coal-fired power with carbon capture and storage, is all going to cost money.

Nuclear ‘impossible without carbon tax’ Sydney Morning Herald December 8, 2009 Any future that involves nuclear energy is not possible without placing a price on carbon, Resources Minister Martin Ferguson says.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is in the process of seeking a new climate policy for his party and has suggested nuclear energy has some role to play in the future.

But he’s ruled out putting a price on carbon – otherwise known as a carbon tax.

“Tony Abbott said… he wants a debate about nuclear power, he actually killed it in the Senate last week,” Mr Ferguson told ABC radio.

Nuclear energy is an expensive form of energy to produce, he said.

“If you want nuclear power to ever ever stack up in Australia then you’ve actually got to have a price on carbon.”

Economics professor at the Australian National University, Stephen Howes, says any response to climate change needs a carbon price.

“Unless you put a price on carbon, you’re not taking the problem seriously and you’re not going to come up with a rational response,” Professor Howes told ABC radio.

Nuclear ‘impossible without carbon tax’

December 8, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming, politics | antinuclear, climate change, climate change - global warming, nuclear costs