Antinuclear

Prime Minister Turnbull said this week that, in relation to climate policy, we should be more concerned with the ends than the means. Put another way, the only way to minimise dangerous climate change is by reducing emissions. The only thing that makes such a statement of the obvious seem remarkable is the ten years of gobbledygook to which it was said in response.

Since the world agreed in 1992 to stop dangerous global warming, the world’s CO2 emissions have risen by 60 per cent and Australia’s by 18 per cent, despite agreeing, with other wealthy countries, to act first on reducing emissions. Europe’s long experiment with emissions trading has been plagued with problems resulting in limited impact on emissions. The US has seen a similar emissions trajectory, despite lacking a carbon price.

The two year run of the Labor/Green carbon price was effective at reducing emissions, as is the Renewable Energy Target. Less well known are energy efficiency regulations for appliances and houses, which both reduced the nation’s emissions and saved household’s money.

Alternatively, while Greg Hunt’s ‘direct action’ policy is yet to act directly on Australia’s emissions, President Obama’s direct approach, including regulating emissions from coal fired power stations, is set to reduce US emissions by 32 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030………http://www.theage.com.au/comment/everything-beats-optimal-for-climate-policy-20151021-gkfdur.html