CLIMATE TAX, AID AND FEES OFF TABLE AS CABINET TOUGHENS STANCE – In Australia, the Federal Cabinet has ruled that Australia will not sign up to any new contributions, taxes or charges at this week’s global summit on climate change. This represents a significant change in its stance and coincides with its plans to move to repeal the national carbon tax. Cabinet ministers have decided to repeal the tax, calling it “socialism masquerading as environmentalism” after meeting last week to consider a submission on the position the government would take to the Warsaw conference. Introducing the bill to repeal the tax represents the fulfillment of a campaign pledge to revoke the controversial tax. “This is our bill to reduce your bills, to reduce the bills of the people of Australia,” stated Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott during the campaign. The controversial tax, which was introduced under the previous Labor government, imposed a levy on the 300 biggest polluters. Mr. Abbott said that the tax cost jobs and forced energy prices up and he questioned the basic science underlying the theory of anthropogenic (man-made) climate change. The bill is expected to be approved by Australia’s lower house, where Mr. Abbott’s Liberal-National coalition has a majority. However, the opposition Labor party, which introduced the original carbon tax, and the Greens are both opposed to Mr. Abbott’s Direct Action plan, and say they will vote down the bill in the Senate. Senator and Greens leader Christine Milne said the government was destroying Australia’s means of reducing carbon emissions. “When are we going to stand up and accept the science and act?” she said. The repeal bill cannot be passed without Senate approval. New senators elected in September’s polls, including those representing minor parties who may support the repeal, do not take their seats until July 2014, so will not participate in the vote. Mr. Abbott’s announcement was interrupted by several shouting protesters, who were ejected from the public gallery. Tens of thousands of Australians have turned out for climate change rallies across the nation, calling on the Abbott Government to keep the carbon tax. The National Day of Climate Action was organized by activist groups including GetUp!, the Australian Youth Climate Coalition and the Australian Conservation Foundation. “The election was a referendum on the carbon tax,” Abbott told parliament. “The people have spoken. Now it’s up to this parliament to show that it’s listened.” If the Senate blocks the bill, Abbott has promised to call a double dissolution of parliament to break the deadlock. Such a move, last called in 1987, would mean elections to both the lower and upper houses. Abbott has a long reform agenda to address as he attempts to revive the economy in the face of a fading mining boom that has put pressure on tax revenues and the government’s debt position. Global warming skeptics are starting to gain an audience as the tax starts to kick in and people are seeing the effects the carbon tax is having on their lives. Among the skeptic’s claims: The fact that global temperatures are rising is open to debate. Skeptics believe that there is no way to know, because natural year-to-year variability in global temperature is so large, with warming and cooling occurring all the time. Also, the magnitude of recent warming is somewhat uncertain, due to problems in making long-term temperature measurements with thermometers without those measurements being corrupted by a variety of non-climate effects. Since there is so much year-to-year (and even decade-to-decade) variability in global average temperatures, whether it has warmed or cooled depends upon how far back you look in time. For instance, over the last 100 years, there was an overall warming which was stronger toward the end of the 20th Century. This is why some say “warming is accelerating.” But if we look at a shorter, more recent period of time, say since the record warm year of 1998, and one could say that it has cooled in the last 10–12 years. The “hockey stick” reconstructions of temperature variations over the last 1 to 2 thousand years have been a huge source of controversy. The hockey stick was previously used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as a veritable poster child for anthropogenic warming, since it seemed to indicate there have been no substantial temperature changes over the last 1,000 to 2,000 years until humans got involved in the 20th Century. The various versions of the hockey stick were based upon limited amounts of temperature evidence — primarily tree rings — and questionable statistical methods. Skeptics look at the same data to support the view that it was at least as warm during the Medieval Warm Period, around 1000 AD, as it is today. Even if there is an increase in global temperatures, it does not necessarily follow that humans responsible for the increase through increased CO2 emissions. While there are short-term (year-to-year) fluctuations in the atmospheric CO2 concentration due to natural causes, many believe that that most of the long-term temperature increase is also consistent with a natural, biological source. Also, many believe that natural changes in the amount of sunlight being absorbed by the Earth — due to natural changes in cloud cover — are responsible for most of the warming. Climate researchers do not know nearly as much about the causes of climate change as they profess. They have a pretty good understanding of how the climate system works on average… but the reasons for small, long-term changes in climate system are still extremely uncertain. It is this uncertainty that is causing politicians to take another look at the entire debate.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 12:05:50 +0000
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