Antinuclear

On July 1 Australia joins international effort to address global warming

[Tony Abbott has] claimed regions will disappear, Whyalla will collapse. The population in Whyalla’s increasing and there’s a lot of investment there. I just think a lot of the claims that have been made from Sunday will be able to be tested against reality and I think people will think, “Well, you know, can we really believe what Tony Abbott’s on about?”

VIDEO Combet joins Lateline http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3535240.htm   28 June 12,
“……….[The carbon tax is]  meant to achieve reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in our economy over time because it’s important for Australia to play its part in international efforts to tackle climate change. We’re part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, an advanced economy like ours has to play its fair part, we’re one of the top 20 greenhouse gas emitters internationally and we’re the highest per capita emitter amongst the developed economies. So, we have to play our role and the intention here is to put a price tag on pollution so that there’s an incentive to cut greenhouse gas emissions….
what we’re implementing of course is an emissions trading scheme. I know we’ve discussed this previously, but when it does migrate to a flexible price in 2015, the government of the day will be setting caps so we can achieve a targeted emissions reduction.

Essentially what that means is the number of permits to emit greenhouse gas will be limited and cut each year so that we can achieve a specific emissions reduction target by 2020. So it will be effective, but of course we’re part of the international community. Other countries are doing similar things and a tonne of greenhouse gas emissions cut overseas or in Australia is – it doesn’t matter whether it’s here or overseas, as long as there’s greenhouse gas emissions cut and that’s why linking carbon markets is important……
a tonne of greenhouse gas emissions reduced here or overseas is not
material to the overall effort to tackling climate change; the
important thing is that the tonne of greenhouse gas emissions is being
cut. And the reason that we enable Australian businesses to be able to
purchase a tonne of reduced greenhouse gas emissions overseas as well
is to reduce the cost, to make sure that we achieve our obligations at
the least cost. If you only design a scheme that reduces emissions in
the domestic economy and has no linkage internationally, then you’re
going to be doing it at much greater cost and the Treasury has
indicated that it would be at least twice the cost we’ve put forward
and that’s not in our economic interest at all…..
electricity prices are going up by an average of 10 per cent around
the country as a consequence of the implementation of the carbon
price. That equates to about $3.30 a week on average for a household
and of course we’re providing an average of $10.10 a week in cash to
assist households. That’s the important thing to bear in mind: the
assistance is being provided. For an average small business – we’ve
done work with the Small Business Association – it’s about a $5 or
$6-a-week increase in their electricity costs with the carbon price
coming in. It’s important though that we argue out what the drivers
are behind electricity price increases because in NSW for example
they’ve gone up by 55 per cent in the last three years and it’s
nothing to do with carbon pricing. It’s mainly to do with the poles
and wires investment that’s been taking place. And we’ll explain that
to people and continue to put our case. We’ll be talking to
electricity retailers about inserting a fact sheet in electricity
bills so that people can hear what the case really is…..
Tony Abbott’s running a – you know, quite a fraudulent scare campaign
in relation to carbon pricing. He’s a good scare campaigner, there’s
no doubt about that. But we are about to move from fiction to fact and
his claims are going to have to be tested against people’s lived
experience.

He’s said the price impacts will be unimaginable. They will not be.
It’ll be an average of 0.7 per cent increase in the CPI and people
will get an average of $10.10 a week in cash.

He’s claimed that whole industries like the coal industry will be
destroyed. There’s $100 billion going into the coal industry right now
and jobs are growing. He’s claimed regions will disappear, Whyalla will collapse. The population in Whyalla’s increasing and there’s a lot of investment there. I just think a lot of the claims that have been made from Sunday will be able to be tested against reality and I think people will think, “Well, you know, can we really believe what Tony Abbott’s on about?”

June 29, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Audiovisual, AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming | climate change - global warming