The Abbott Government’s proposed repeal of Australia’s climate legislation will be heard through history. This action is being taken at a time when the rest of the world is moving in the other direction. As the effects of climate change become clearer to the Australian public, the political legacy of this act of repeal is likely to be seen as a historic mistake. The repeal will remove the principal instruments of government policy that can credibly reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions. Going out the door will be an emissions trading system that places binding limits on emissions on key sectors, and would place a price on carbon, and an effective clean energy finance system that is already having an effect. The present system is as fundamental a reform as Medicare and the floating of the Australian dollar. The replacement is direct regulation and limited funding that all independent analysts agree cannot reduce emissions to the same extent nor as cost-effectively. Instead, the repeal seems very likely to result in emissions exceeding 2000 levels, and far away from even the least ambitious goal of a 5% reduction from 2000 levels by 2020 that the present system is designed to achieve. Continue reading Australia is hot, dry and risky, so why cut climate action? bit.ly/1crCmFL
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 08:50:00 +0000
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