Antinuclear

Direct Inaction – Tony Abbott’s climate strategy on behalf of the coal industry

View from the Street: So, who lost the NSW election the most?, Canberra Times  March 29, 2015 – Andrew P Street “…….There have been many, many, many many many many many many many criticisms of Direct Action, the non-climate-change-addressing centrepiece of the government’s climate change policy.

Some have criticised the cost – $2.5 billion – rather than the non-cost of the previous policies such as emissions trading and the carbon not-actually-a-tax; systems which relied on market forces rather than government funding – which is odd, since historically that’s been the Liberal Party’s preferred solution for just about everything esle.

There have been criticisms based on the fact that the planned handing of this public money to private polluting concerns in order that they then reduce emissions does not appear to come with any clear conditions, such as having to give that money back if they then decide to not use it to reduce emissions.

And now “Environment” Minister Greg Hunt has proposed one better: that the energy industry shouldn’t be expected to do anything like, say, reduce the amount of pollution they create in order to get their hands on the cash.

It’s an interesting take on the whole “emissions reduction” model. Climate Institute deputy chief executive Erwin Jackson expressed that more bluntly: “It’s a climate policy you have when you don’t want to reduce emissions.”

The argument from the government is that asking the energy sector to reduce emissions would be just unfair, since it might force them to use more expensive methods to generate electricity which would make power more expensive. Of course, that $2.5 billion fund was entirely designed to compensate companies for the costs of making exactly those sorts of changes, but now Hunt appears to be arguing that asking polluters to actually do something after they’d gone to the trouble of accepting all that free money would seem churlish.

And, of course, we might politely point out – yet again – that Australia could go all-renewable pretty much tomorrow if we wanted. And, of course, that we’re going to be forced to do so at some point anyway.

Still, there’s no reason to rush into doing something sensible and necessary. And hey, what have future generations ever done for Australia’s bottom line, huh?……http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/view-from-the-street/view-from-the-street-so-who-lost-the-nsw-election-the-most-20150329-1mafpd.html

March 30, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming