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A victim of the drought, Condoblin's town lake has been dry since 2003. When full, the lake brought holidaymakers and economic benefits to the New South Wales town.
Enlarge image“Why doesn’t anyone like the government’s carbon reduction scheme?”, asks federal Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong.
Well, Penny, because it doesn’t reduce greenhouse emissions, that’s why.
The government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) has been compromised and twisted thanks to some fierce lobbying from the fossil fuel industry.
It has certainly become too blunt to cut any greenhouse emissions.
Don’t just take our word for it. Outlined below are five obvious flaws in the scheme itself.
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TOP 5 FLAWS IN THE CARBON POLLUTION REDUCTION SCHEME
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(1) The 5% target is pathetic. Okay, this is an obvious flaw to start with. The target is well below what Australia should do as its fair share of the global effort to combat climate change. (2) The $3.9 billion cash handout to dirty coal is enormous. That’s the equivalent of almost $200 for every Australian being handed to the owners of coal-fired power stations. This generous package will be delivered over the first five years of the CPRS as monetary ‘compensation’ for the scheme’s introduction. (3) The system is designed so that emissions reductions are limited to 5%. The problem is that measures that successfully result in energy efficiency (such as individual households using solar panels, for example) will be undone by big emitters. Gains in energy efficient elsewhere will free up permits, which the big polluters will simply exploit to emit more. There will be no possibility to reduce our emissions beyond 5% under this system, and we will be locked into a 5% target until 2020. (4) The scheme allows unlimited access to international permits. This means polluters can buy their permits from climate projects in developing countries, many of which fail to prove they are actually reducing emissions. (5) Australians will be the biggest polluters on the planet. This scheme allows Australia to emit more greenhouse emissions per person than any other country for the next 42 years. |
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Penny Wong has said that Australia has a choice – act on climate change by implementing the CPRS or do nothing.
We can't afford to miss this opportunity
We all know that climate change action involves difficult decisions, even a substantial restructuring of the economy. But it also brings opportunity.
Shifting our economy to clean, renewable energy will create new industries and tens of thousands of new green jobs, while cutting emissions. Australia has missed the boat on emerging industries in the past and we now import many of the products that could have been manufactured locally. Australia has led the world in renewable energy research and now is the time to invest seriously in building a clean energy economy.
The Rudd Government will lose even more credibility if it doesn’t make the move to clean energy solutions.
A Senate Inquiry should examine the structural flaws of the CPRS, the pathetic emissions reduction target and the influence of big polluters on Australian climate policy.
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