UK: Huhne "the Hoon" on the ropes

17 May, 2011 by

Double demerits?

Looks like the UK’s dangerous and downright unhinged Energy and Climate Secretary’s days are quite possibly numbered, as he “does an Einfeld” by allegedly getting his estranged wife to take the rap for a speeding offence:

Chris Huhne’s career was hanging by a thread last night after his estranged wife agreed to testify that he asked her to take speeding points for him.

A close friend said Vicky Pryce would swear in court that she was busy all day in central London when the offence was committed 40 miles away in Essex.

As political support ebbed away from the Energy Secretary at Westminster, Essex Police appointed a senior detective to look into the allegations that Mr Huhne broke the law.

Sources said that if Miss Pryce co-operates and provides corroborating evidence, it is almost certain to lead to a full criminal inquiry. This could mean Mr Huhne facing charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice. [maximum penalty: life imprisonment – Ed]

A friend of Miss Pryce told the Mail: ‘She was working in London during the day and evening of the date the offence took place in Essex. And she’s quite prepared to stand up in court and say so if necessary.’ (source)

Maybe there is a glimmer of hope that the UK climate madness could be reversed if Hoon Huhne was a guest of Her Majesty for a while. A few years, say.

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Pachauri slaps down Aussie Greens

17 May, 2011 by

Pachi cloud

I don’t often agree with Rajendra Pachauri, but in this case I’m prepared to make a limited exception:

SPECIFIC natural disasters such as Cyclone Yasi and the Brisbane floods could not be directly linked to man-made climate change, the world’s leading climate change authority said yesterday.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change chairman Rajendra Pachauri said the general observation that climate change was bringing about an increase in extreme weather events was valid [what increase? – Ed] but scientists needed to provide much finer detail.

“Frankly, it is difficult to take a season or two and come up with any conclusions on those on a scientific basis,” Dr Pachauri said.

“What we can say very clearly is the aggregate impact of climate change on all these events, which are taking place at much higher frequency and intensity all over the world. [Really? – Ed]

“On that there is very little doubt; the scientific evidence is very, very strong. But what happens in Queensland or what happens in Russia or for that matter the floods in the Mississippi River right now, whether there is a link between those and climate change is very difficult to establish. So I don’t think anyone can make a categorical statement on that.”

Dr Pachauri’s comments contradict assertions by Greens leader Bob Brown in the wake of the floods that the coal industry was to blame because the sector’s contribution to global warming was responsible for the extreme weather conditions. (source)

But on the other hand, the Greens might end up as our saviours. They may vote against the carbon tax because it isn’t tough enough. Gillard, on the other hand, wants to make sure the carbon tax has as little impact as possible in order for it to sneak through, unnoticed.

A CARBON price of $40 a tonne is needed to force a switch from coal to new, gas-fired electricity generation and reduce Australia’s emissions, the federal government has been advised as it prepares for a meeting to run all weekend with the independents and Greens to begin crunching a final climate deal.

The carbon price has been widely expected to start at between $20 and $30 a tonne, but confidential research by Deloittes for the Resources Minister, Martin Ferguson, says that with east coast gas prices rising, black coal will remain the cheapest way to generate power unless the price on emissions rises relatively quickly to $40 a tonne. (source)

There’s no way you can sneak $40 a tonne past the electorate, Julia. Doesn’t get any easier, does it?

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Labor ship hits iceberg – sinking fast

16 May, 2011 by

Goodship Gillard

She’s holed below the waterline, Cap’n. Six compartments are flooded and it is a mathematical certainty that she’ll be heading to the bottom of the ocean in no time at all. But not to worry, the carbon tax lifeboat will save the government, just you wait and see…

SUPPORT for Julia Gillard has plunged after voters gave their lowest rating to Labor’s fourth budget, the overall worst reaction in almost 20 years, leaving the Prime Minister’s personal standing below that of Kevin Rudd when he was removed as leader.

Voter approval of Ms Gillard is the lowest it has been since she became Prime Minister last June. Tony Abbott is as close to her as preferred prime minister as he has ever been and closer than he ever was to Mr Rudd.

According to the latest Newspoll survey, conducted exclusively for The Australian at the weekend, the Coalition’s primary vote rose to a six-year high of 46 per cent to Labor’s unchanged 33 per cent, giving a two-party preferred calculation of 54 to 46 per cent.

Satisfaction with Ms Gillard as prime minister dropped to a record low for her of 34 per cent compared with 38 per cent before the budget, and dissatisfaction rose six points to 55 per cent, her highest level of dissatisfaction. (source)

Radio Operator – send out an SOS.

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Madness: UK commits climate suicide

16 May, 2011 by

Looney (image thanks to Guido Fawkes)

Chris Huhne will be remembered as The Man that Screwed Britain. In twenty years’ time, when wind farms are standing idle, with conventional power stations all past their sell-by date, and Britain is a third world country, the long-suffering population, sitting in the cold and the dark, will look back at the climate madness inflicted on the country by Huhne and cry “Bring back hanging.”

And there isn’t a hint of caution, just ploughing on, full steam ahead into the abyss, with legally mandated emissions cuts of 60% by 2030 and 80% by 2050 on 1990 levels (1990 levels!!!), whilst at the same time, China and India just continue with business as usual (virtually), offsetting many times over anything that Britain does:

Chris Huhne will announce a long-term programme that will put Britain at the forefront of the battle against climate change.

Cabinet ministers have agreed a far-reaching, legally binding “green deal” that will commit the UK to two decades of drastic cuts in carbon emissions. The package will require sweeping changes to domestic life, transport and business [translation: reducing the UK to a third world nation – Ed] and will place Britain at the forefront of the global battle against climate change.

The deal was hammered out after tense arguments between ministers who had disagreed over whether the ambitious plans to switch to more green energy were affordable. The row had pitted the energy secretary,Chris Huhne, who strongly backed the plans, against the chancellor, George Osborne, and the business secretary, Vince Cable, who were concerned about the cost and potential impact on the economy. [But we don’t want to worry about minor details like that. We’re SAVING THE PLANET!!!! – Ed]

However, after the intervention of David Cameron, Huhne is now expected to tell parliament that agreement has been struck to back the plans in full up to 2027. He will tell MPs that the government will accept the recommendations of the independent committee on climate change for a new carbon budget. The deal puts the UK ahead of any other state in terms of the legal commitments it is making in the battle to curb greenhouse gases. (breathlessly reported by The Guardian, of course – source)

It has been said before but I’ll say it again: goodnight Britain. It’s been nice knowing you, but I’m very glad I emigrated to Australia. Because you guys are well and truly screwed.

(h/t PC)

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Avoid like the plague: ABC's "The Science Show"

15 May, 2011 by

The Anti-Science Show

Don’t go there. Really. You will not believe how Robyn Williams, John Cook and a couple of other hysterics lay into “deniers”. If you don’t sign up to the religion, you’re a fruitcake. Still attacking the Petition Project (that’s the best target they can come up with), if you had cancer, would you trust the quack, deniers questioning links between smoking and cancer, and you’re mentally deranged and suffering a delusion. And, the best bit of all, we’re LIARS! Yes, we’re LYING. It’s almost too funny for words.

I made it through about nine minutes before I shouted “F*** off” at my computer. See if you can do better.

Of course, there followed a detailed rebuttal by Bob Carter… ha, only joking! Not a chance. The ABC and Williams only want one side – the warmist side.

Their ABC – paid for by your taxes.

Link here (I did warn you).

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Abbott was right: Swan's budget a DUD

15 May, 2011 by

Swan's budget

And the electorate agrees with that assessment. More good news for Labor, as the public response to the budget is examined:

THE Federal Budget has crashed and appears to have done more damage to Labor’s credibility than help revive its political fortunes.

The first poll to measure the national mood following the May 10 Budget – conducted by The Daily Telegraph –Galaxy – revealed fewer than a third of Australians believed it was good for the economy.

Two of the Budget’s key “spend and save” measures were soundly rejected.

Support for the $300 million digital set-top box scheme for pensioners was lowest among those it sought to benefit, with more than 60 per cent of older Australians saying they didn’t want it.

Cuts to family tax payments for 40,000 families also struck a raw nerve, with 47 per cent of Australians rejecting the idea that families earning $150,000 were rich.

According to the results of a poll, conducted on May 11 and May 12, just 28 per cent of voters thought the Budget would be good for the Australian economy, with 39 per cent saying it would be bad.

Only 11 per cent said the Budget confirmed Labor as a sound economic manager.

The negative assessment marked a dramatic shift from last year, when 43 per cent of voters rated the 2010 Budget as good for the economy. Even among Labor voters, only 47 per cent believed this Budget was positive.

The results will come as [a] blow to Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s hopes the Budget would inject life back into the Government, as Tony Abbott ramps up the case for a fresh election on the basis there is no mandate for a carbon tax.

“Wayne Swan’s fourth Budget has failed to impress voters and done little to bolster Labor’s economic credentials,” Galaxy CEO David Briggs said.

“It’s not just the Budget – it goes beyond that. It is a reflection that Labor are on the nose and it doesn’t matter what they do.

“It suggests a growing disenchantment with a Government that has failed to inspire confidence and is looking increasingly like an administration trying to muddle through as best it can.”

Read it here.

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Comment: Australia needs an election – now

14 May, 2011 by

Paul Kelly, writing in The Australian, correctly states that an election is the only way to resolve the political mess that we find ourselves in. If Julia Gillard had said on the eve of the election that Australia would have a carbon tax by 2012, the Coalition would have won comfortably. But as it is, she said precisely the opposite, and then went back on her word to appease the Greens and keep Labor in power. The government is built on a bare-faced lie.

Inevitably, comparisons are drawn with John Howard’s position on the GST, but with one very important difference: Howard put his change of heart to the people at an election. Gillard hasn’t the political integrity, nor the guts, to do that because she knows she would lose in a landslide. So she hangs on, sinking deeper into crisis every day, crippled by her deal with the Greens. I guess the only benefit to all this is that the level of simmering anger in the population will just continue to rise between now and 2013, so that when the election is finally held, Labor will be annihilated, and will be in opposition for a generation (with a bit of luck).

So Tony Abbott should continue to push the line: this is an illegitimate government. Only an election will give Australia what it needs, a strong, majority government with the legitimacy we deserve.

Filed Under: Climate

Coal industry talks on carbon tax end in "deadlock"

13 May, 2011 by

Open cast mines in the Hunter Valley

Should we have expected anything else? The carbon tax is a direct attack on the coal industry, and no amount of “compensation” will change that. The government is sinking yet further into the mire.

TALKS between the coal industry and the government have ended in deadlock, with key coal representatives telling the government they cannot accept the industry compensation package on the table and Climate Change Minister Greg Combet sticking to his position.

In the meeting in Canberra yesterday, the coal industry argued for a phased-in approach to the auctioning of emissions permits and the staged inclusion of so-called fugitive emissions (the release of greenhouse gasses during the mining process).

In a submission to the government, the Australian Coal Association argued: “It is perplexing that the government has arrived at variations on its old proposals previously shown to deter investment, reduce Australian competitiveness and destroy Australian jobs in favour of enhanced opportunities for overseas competitors for no environmental gain.” (source)

How many of Australia’s key industry sectors does this government intend to alienate in its attempts to appease Bob Brown, I wonder?

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"We will oppose the carbon tax in opposition, and repeal it in government"

12 May, 2011 by

PM in waiting

Tony Abbott’s fighting talk in his Budget reply. Those few words should be all the Australian public needs to hear to vote out this illegitimate government at the next election. Gillard had no mandate for a carbon tax, expressly ruled it out on the eve of the 2010 election, and cynically backflipped to appease the Greens in February. If it hadn’t been for those hopeless, grovelling, sycophantic, lily-livered, pathetic excuses for MPs, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott, we would never be in this right royal mess.

Here are some key (climate-related) extracts from his reply:

Then there’s the carbon tax that the Prime Minister said would never happen that will just make cost of living pressures so much worse.

A $26 a tonne carbon tax would add 25 per cent more to electricity bills and 6.5 cents a litre more to fuel bills that are already skyrocketing – and that’s before it starts automatically increasing by at least four per cent every single year.

A $26 a tonne carbon tax means 16 coal mines closed, 23,000 mining jobs lost, and 45,000 jobs lost in industries like steel, aluminium, cement, glass, chemicals and motor cars. The Prime Minister talks about compensation but there’s no compensation for people who have lost their jobs.

So let me make this crystal clear: the Coalition will oppose the carbon tax in opposition and repeal it in government. The Coalition will oppose the mining tax in opposition and repeal it in government.

…

The Prime Minister can leave the carbon tax out of the budget but she can’t hide the damage it will do to struggling families’ cost of living, the havoc it will wreak on jobs in manufacturing industry exposed to cut-throat competition, and the fact that it will make no real difference to the environment in the absence of comparable action overseas.

The Prime Minister can’t hide the truth: that this is a tax for which she has no mandate. In fact, she has a mandate not to introduce it. The declaration, “there will be no carbon tax under the government I lead”, will haunt this government every day until it faces up to this betrayal.

Does anyone think that the Prime Minister would now be in the Lodge had she admitted truthfully, six days out from last year’s election that, yes, “there will be a carbon tax under a government I lead”? This is the cancer that’s eroding the Prime Minister’s standing and sapping the government’s authority.

As things stand, we have a parliament that can’t make decisions people respect, a Prime Minister who looks like she’s not up to the job and a minority government that’s increasingly seen as an experiment that’s failed. If Australia goes on like this for another two and a half years, what is currently a great country with a lousy government could slide into a morass of indecision and paralysis.

Read it all here.

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Labor denies carbon tax ad blitz

12 May, 2011 by

Carbon tax advertising

Which means we can expect it to start next week.

THE federal government has rejected Coalition claims it ”squirrelled away” $13.7 million in the budget to fund an advertising campaign to promote its proposed carbon tax.

The budget papers make clear that Labor set aside money for a ”climate change foundation campaign” in this financial year and 2011-12.

But the Finance Minister, Penny Wong, told Parliament yesterday the $13.7 million was not new but rather a ”transfer of already announced funds between years”.

The money was only to be used to increase understanding of climate change, she said. [Let’s hope Penny isn’t writing it – Ed]

”It does not include, on my advice, paid advertising. No decision has been taken by the government on any climate change advertising campaign.”

The Climate Change Minister, Greg Combet, said yesterday the money for 2011-12 would be used for activities such as website development and the printing of information brochures. [That’s OK then – Ed]

The opposition climate action spokesman, Greg Hunt, said the government was preparing to begin a multimillion-dollar advertising blitz. ”It will mean taxpayers paying for carbon tax ads on the TV, radio and newspapers.” (source)

Given Labor’s track record with telling the truth, I think we’d all better be prepared for a bombardment of climate nonsense to prop up the ailing the carbon tax.

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