James5

Exxon’s CEO has come out and said that he thinks a carbon tax is a better idea than a carbon market. I wonder if the recent financial crisis has made us query the ‘power of the market’ and the wisdom of giving ‘Wall Street traders’ another tool to play around with and profit from.

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Following the snarkiness in my last post, I should clarify that the announcement of a carbon trading system, even at “just 5%”, is a pretty momentous occasion for Australia.

It heralds the introduction of a real carbon market in Australia, and real financial incentives for Australian businesses and individuals to reduce their carbon emissions.

Also, it should be remembered that this is only the beginning. And even though we didn’t get the 25% cuts, we have taken some quite big steps towards a more environmentally friendly economy. For example, when the EU began their ETS, over 95% of the permits were freely allocated, under the government’s CRPS only 25% of permits will be given away, the rest will be auctioned.

Finally, as Gans has noted, and the government’s PR machine has reminded us, on a per capita basis we are ahead of everyone else. So best not to get too distracted by the ‘headline numbers’.

The structures of the trading system are finally going to be in place. This means businesses know what they have to prepare for and there is always scope to set a better target in the future. So I’m reasonably positive about Rudd’s announcement. The only thing that potentially worries me is the potential for abuse of the handouts and subsidies to assist the transition.

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Rudd released his climate change solution and not everybody’s happy. Greens want higher cuts and less handouts to industry, business says 5% is going to hurt with the Global Financial Crisis and everything.

Below is my snarky take on the first page of the government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme and You booklet, part of the $130 million their planning to spend on convincing us that the scheme is a good thing.

I didn’t actually have the visceral reaction many people did to the PM’s announcement, but do think that if we realistically want to take the lead on climate change and make a difference, we need to go beyond 5%.

Climate change is a global problem caused by carbon pollution.

Climate change is a global problem, so don’t blame us for not doing anything, especially when no-one else is doing anything either.

The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme will build a low-pollution
economy of the future for Australia.

The CPRS will build a low-pollution economy in the far off, distant, post-election future of Australia.

Under the scheme, Australia’s biggest polluters will pay for the pollution they generate and there will be a limit placed on the number of Australian carbon pollution permits issued each year.

Except for the generous handouts of permits we issued to the heaviest polluters, who are being paid for contributing to climate change in the past.

The sale of permits will raise $11.5 billion for the Australian Government in 2010-11. Every cent will be used to help households and businesses adjust to the scheme.

The $11.5 billion raised from the sale of permits will be used to help offset the cost of the scheme, thereby nullifying any effect on consumption or emissions, as well as serving as any easy bit of middle-class welfare to sure up the votes from ‘working families’.

The scheme will result in changes to a wide range of prices, but the
overall increase in the cost of living will be modest.

Don’t worry, this is all symbolic, nothing will really change. In fact, we’re going to ‘compensate’ you beyond the real rise in prices, so you’ll end up consuming more!

The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme and You outlines the package
of cash assistance, tax offsets and other measures the Government will
provide to help Australian households maintain their standard of living,
while we create a low-pollution future.

Keep reading to see how to get your bit of the pork we’re spreading around. And don’t forget, this isn’t about changing your standard of living or way of life, it’s only 5%.

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Check out this awesome photo of New York after climate change. It’s a swimming pool in Mumbai with an aerial photo of New York city pasted to its floor. Very clever.

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I’m on a seasonal clerkship at the moment so posting may be sporadic at best for a few more weeks. But I’ve been meaning to post this link to TEAR’s Climate of Change DVD for awhile.

I like Ben’s conception of the “shared sky” at the start of the video and the way they simply present some of the issues climate change has forced us to confront.

TEAR is one aid agency/development/social justice group that I really like. They’ve done a great job on this climate change resource. It’s especially impressive given the limited resources at their disposal.

(also Room3 have done a great job on their video productions too).

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