Former Labor Premier of NSW rejects Gillard's carbon tax

21 July, 2011 by

Rejects the tax

This is very significant. Morris Iemma, the former Labor Premier of New South Wales, has rejected Julia Gillard’s carbon tax in a stinging rebuke reported in The Australian today. On Alan Jones’s 2GB show this morning, Tony Abbott said he couldn’t have put it better himself:

FORMER NSW premier Morris Iemma has become the most senior Labor figure to oppose Julia Gillard’s carbon tax.

Mr Iemma says the carbon tax that forms federal Labor’s platform for re-election in 2013 is environmentally marginal, economically costly and likely to lead Labor to a historic electoral train wreck.

“One thing is sure — it won’t change the world, but it could change the government,” Mr Iemma told The Australian.

Mr Iemma accused the Gillard government of betraying the Hawke-Keating legacy of economic reform, instead embracing the environmental policies of the Greens’ agenda.

“We embraced economic growth, and the benefits of economic growth, in the Hawke-Keating era, but we’re fighting this battle on the Greens’ turf, not our turf. Bob Brown wants to replace the Labor Party as a major party.”

Mr Iemma accepted the science of climate change. “Yes, we should take action, but we should not get so far out in front that we injure ourselves,” he said.

He rejected the government’s view that Australia’s carbon tax was similar in scope to actions being taken by other countries.

“Every day there are reports of growth and development in China, its growth in emissions will far outstrip our total emissions,” Mr Iemma said.

Even those who think we should take action believe that the carbon tax is bad policy. And the very best quote of all:

“We should always be standing shoulder to shoulder with steelworkers and miners and factory workers before we stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Bob Brown and Christine Milne.”

Wonderful stuff. Morris Iemma is doing nothing more than speaking plain common sense, which as we all know, is very uncommon.

With such senior members of the Labor movement speaking out publicly, and with two major unions rejecting the tax in the last week, serious cracks are appearing.

Read it here.

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Even warmists think Gore's Climate Reality Project is "fairytale"

20 July, 2011 by

Out of touch

Al Gore is so last decade. But he’s tried to reinvent himself with the relaunch of a new website, the Climate Reality Project (www.climaterealityproject.org). But even those who are convinced that AGW is a major problem are criticising Gore’s approach. From The Conversation:

Talking to those in the tent isn’t necessarily a problem. There are certainly times when you need to drum up the enthusiasm of the base.

But there is one aspect of the campaign that does need to be critiqued: the mindless and counter-productive demonisation of “Big Oil” and “Big Coal”. This echoes a regular refrain of The Greens here in Australia.

It’s as if somewhere out there “Big Oil” and “Big Coal” equivalents of Mr Burns, Mr Potter, Blofeld, Siegfried of KAOS and the Pentavirate are cooking up campaigns not to provide electricity and transport solutions, but to destroy humanity.

Ridiculous.

Those who got into the coal and oil industries did so for the simple goal of making a profit by providing us with the energy we need for the modern economy. They didn’t do it to be evil. They don’t want to destroy the world. They are not the nefarious oligarchs that so many would have you believe.

Yes, we now know that the carbon pollution produced by the coal and oil industries is a big problem for society. We all need to wean ourselves off such carbon intensive energy.

But we’re not going to do it by misrepresenting people’s intentions and calling them names. We’re not going to do it by punishing people who acted in good faith.

We’re only going to convince people to change by lining up their profit motive with everyone’s need for a low-carbon economy.

Yes, that’s right. We need to support the fat cats, just as we need to support anyone else in transition.

We need to encourage those who invest in coal and oil to move their money to less carbon-intensive investments. Incentive, not invective.

These captains of industry are not our enemies. They need to be our allies in de-carbonising the economy. (source)

There is little to disagree with here. But the problem is that environmentalists are, by and large, socialists. What the authors are suggesting here is environmental capitalism, which the Greens could not possibly accept alongside their Marxist social agenda. For them, “profit” does equal “evil” – which is why the Greens will never be a serious force in politics.

And let’s not forget, just as coal and oil corporations are there to make a profit, so is Al Gore, and a mighty big one he’s made so far…

As Judith Curry notes:

Al Gore is preaching to his (shrinking) choir.  On the other hand, Grant and Lamberts provide a refreshing approach that might actually lead to productive dialogue on the climate/energy debate. (source)

(h/t Climate Etc)

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Headline of the Day

19 July, 2011 by

Trust evaporated

From The Telegraph:

“PM Julia Gillard says Hunter Valley coal jobs are safe” (source)

From August 2010:

“There will be no carbon tax under the government I lead.”

Nobody believes a word you say, Julia.

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Paul Howes backflips on Gillard's carbon tax

19 July, 2011 by

Folded like a pack of cards

What was he promised, I wonder?

THE head of Australia’s largest blue collar union yesterday provided a much-needed fillip for the Gillard government by endorsing its carbon tax.

The endorsement by the Australian Workers Union came just weeks after AWU national secretary Paul Howes vowed to oppose the impost if it cost a single worker’s job.

Mr Howes said in Sydney yesterday he had been mollified by the generous industry compensation package, particularly for the steel sector.

But Mr Howes, whose union represents about 135,000 workers, most of whom work in trade-exposed areas of the economy, said the government had done a less-than-stellar job of selling the controversial package.

“Look, it hasn’t been perfect, has it?” Mr Howes said of the government’s salesmanship.

“I mean, Blind Freddy can tell you that. But that’s their job. They’ll work it out.” (source)

Such touching faith in Labor’s abilities. He must be thinking of previous successes: BER, pink batts, er…

The reality is that the unions and Labor are joined at the hip, and despite all the tough talking, when the crunch comes, they collapse like a cheap accordion.

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Wall Street Journal on Gillard's carbon tax

18 July, 2011 by

WSJ Online

Not exactly a vote of confidence:

The plan is economically damaging enough that even the normally timid business lobby—many of whose members originally supported climate-change legislation—is speaking up. Opposition leader Tony Abbott slammed the plan as “socialism masquerading as environmentalism,” and he has a point. The government plans to use some of the carbon tax receipts to triple the income threshold before the income tax hits. In other words, this is in part a scheme to redistribute income from energy users to Labor voters. It is an odd kind of tax reform that narrows the tax base.

All of this for negligible environmental benefits. Australia emits 1.5% of the world’s greenhouse gases. Even if the country cut its emissions to zero, the move would do little to reduce global emissions. Australia’s per-capita emissions are high compared to other developed nations because it’s a sparsely populated continent blessed with an abundance of natural resources. Aussies have developed profitable, world-class natural resource and energy businesses that have lifted incomes at home and helped supply developing countries like China and India. This is bad?

It is if you believe in the theology that loathes carbon fuels and wants government to allocate the means of power production. In a speech Thursday, Ms. Gillard vowed to press forward with cap and tax and said that her convictions are “very deeply held.” We’ll see if her government can survive them.

Read it here.

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Clean Energy Future advert: count the lies

18 July, 2011 by

Government propaganda at its very worst. Let’s go through it:

  • Lie Number 1: Carbon Pollution. It isn’t carbon and it isn’t pollution.
  • Lie Number 2: The majority of scientists agree that climate change is a result of human activity. A manufactured consensus from a politicised organisation (the IPCC) which was formed to find evidence of a pre-conceived conclusion. How much climate change is actually a result of human activity? We don’t know.
  • Lie Number 3: We can avoid the worst impacts by reducing “pollution”. No we can’t. The carbon tax will do nothing to change the climate.
  • Lie Number 4: Climate change is predicted to lead to further rises in temperature, rises in sea levels and some extreme weather events becoming more common, making life more difficult. Temperatures and sea levels have been rising slowly for centuries, without any help from man-made emissions. There are no confirmed links to more extreme weather events despite what the media tries to tell you.
  • Lie Number 5: Countries around the world are already taking action [lists China, USA, India and Europe]. No, they are not. China’s emissions will rise for the foreseeable future despite a few token environmental gestures, India’s carbon tax is $1/tonne, the USA has backed away from any federal climate action leaving just the tiny RGGI, and Europe is a hopeless economic basket case on the verge of collapse, thanks in part to a crippling ETS mired in fraud and corruption.
  • Lie Number 6: These clean energy sources [solar, wind, tidal and geothermal] are sustainable, renewable, their supply cannot be disrupted by events elsewhere, and they don’t contribute to pollution. None of those energy sources can replace fossil fuels for base-load electricity generation. And wind and solar are “disrupted” when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing. Tidal power is non-existent in Australia, and geothermal is so tiny as to be not even worth mentioning. The manufacture of solar panels and rare earth magnets for wind turbines releases millions of tonnes of real pollution into the environment.
  • Lie Number 7: Developing these new industries means developing new jobs. False. Every fake green job costs hundreds of thousands of dollars and takes away on average 2 – 4 real jobs. Subsidising inefficient, unreliable and expensive alternative energy is like burning $100 bills. The market will decide when “alternative” energy becomes competitive, not the government.
  • Lie Number 8: Meeting the challenge of climate change means being responsible, staying competitive and Australia continuing to prosper. A unilateral carbon tax does nothing for climate change, it is totally irresponsible, will make Australia less competitive compared to its trading partners, and will damage the economy for no benefit.

Wow. Eight whoppers in just over a minute. Pretty impressive.

And it’s all paid for by YOUR TAXPAYER DOLLARS.

Angry yet?

Check out a proper climate illustration here.

P.S. They’ve disabled comments in YouTube. I wonder why?

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Idiotic Comment of the Day: Rob Oakeshott

18 July, 2011 by

Can't count…

From The Australian:

Independent MP Rob Oakeshott, who backed Labor and its carbon tax plan, was unmoved by the huge levels of negative sentiment.

Asked whether he had backed the right horse, Mr Oakeshott told ABC Radio:

“That’s what it is for the next three years.”

Last time I checked the next election will be in 2013, at most two years away (and with luck, much, much sooner). And then you, my friend, will be consigned once and for all to the dustbin of Australian political history.

Read it here.

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Gillard government's "carbon-track mind"

18 July, 2011 by

The wrong way…

The Gillard government’s obsession with pricing carbon is not only bad for Australia because of the damage it will do to our economy for no benefit whatsoever, but also because it is such an all-encompassing distraction from the myriad other problems with which the government should rightly be dealing.

Let’s just think of a few other disasters-in-waiting that would benefit from a bit of focus:

  • NBN – forgotten
  • boats – forgotten
  • health and education – forgotten
  • infrastructure – forgotten
  • possible second GFC – forgotten
  • interest rates – forgotten
  • [in fact, insert any other area of government responsibility you like here] – forgotten

Gillard and her government have a “carbon-track mind” – in their crusade to lead the world and impose a crippling carbon price on a naturally emissions-intensive economy, they have slipped into a quasi-religious trance and are suffering from acute tunnel vision which prevents them from seeing anything beyond this one dangerous path.

For the government to let a single policy area, no matter how important it believes it to be, dominate the agenda to the detriment of everything else is irresponsible and incompetent.

This government has not only lost the support of the people, it has completely lost its way.

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It gets worse: Labor 39 – Coalition 61

18 July, 2011 by

We're not laughing…

Could it get any worse? Apparently, yes. It’s like watching an aged relative die a slow and painful death. The time has come for Labor backbenchers to put this government out of its misery, show that they still have some principles, and withdraw support.

It won’t happen of course, because they are all driven by petty self-interest rather than what is best for the country, but it’s a nice thought:

THE government has flatlined, personal support for Julia Gillard has plunged and Tony Abbott is by far the nation’s favoured leader, according to the first comprehensive national poll taken since the release of the carbon price policy.

After a week of fevered campaigning by both leaders, the Herald/Nielsen poll shows Labor’s primary vote has hit a new record low of 26 per cent while Mr Abbott has opened up an 11-percentage point lead on Ms Gillard as the preferred prime minister.

And despite the generous compensation package accompanying the carbon price, 53 per cent of voters feel they will be worse off.

Previous low levels of support for the policy have not changed, with 39 per cent backing the package and 52 per cent opposing it. More than half – 56 per cent – want a fresh election.

Although Ms Gillard had told the caucus not to expect any short-term rise in the polls after the release of the policy details, this poll was being watched closely by many MPs hoping for some positive response to the $15 billion compensation package.

The telephone poll of 1400 voters, taken from Thursday night to Saturday evening, shows Labor’s primary vote fell 1 point to 26 per cent since the last poll a month ago. The Coalition’s primary vote rose 2 points to 51 per cent, and the Greens fell 1 point to 11 per cent.

On a two-party-preferred basis, the Coalition leads by a thumping 61 per cent to 39 per cent, a 4-point rise in its lead in a month and an 11-point swing towards the opposition since the federal election in August.

While Labor’s vote stayed depressed, Ms Gillard’s personal rating plunged further and, for the first time, Mr Abbott is the preferred prime minister.

In the last poll, the Opposition Leader and Ms Gillard were tied at 46 per cent, but in this poll, Mr Abbott’s rating rose 5 points to 51 per cent while Ms Gillard’s fell 6 points to 40 per cent. (source)

Glenn Milne in The Australian analyses the fix Labor finds itself in:

The sullen rejection of the tax by ordinary voters, fed by the Opposition Leader’s furious onslaught and enabled by the government’s strategic blunder in announcing the tax without details, then leaving a political vacuum for months for the Coalition to fill, appears instead to have simply become embedded.

Gillard’s window of opportunity to dismantle Abbott’s campaign is fast closing, if it hasn’t already.

In a 24/7 media cycle attention has already begin to wane. By Saturday the carbon tax had been pushed off or down page one of the broadsheets. The tabloids had abandoned it. What dominated was Westpac’s prediction the next official interest rate move could be a cut. It’s now hard to see how Gillard re-engages on the issue, how she gets the interest back of voters who have already emphatically rejected the tax.

Ironically the interest rate story is probably a clue to her problems. In light of the threatened GFC aftershock in Europe and the US, which has helped drive a collapse in consumer confidence here, it’s hard to escape the conclusion that what the electorate wants is a government that will get our two-speed economy back on track. Instead Gillard’s solution is to load them up with a new tax.

One of the most important push factors behind this sentiment, surely, is the fact that even with this carbon tax Australia’s overall emissions won’t be reduced.

And that’s not even to go to the argument that our paltry contribution to cutting greenhouse gasses will still be overwhelmed by the unrestrained belching of the major emitters, the US, China and India.

Voters assess something is amiss here, leading to Abbott’s killer line last week: “What’s the point?” (source)

Read it all.

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Luboš Motl on Gillard's carbon nonsense

17 July, 2011 by

Climate sense

The highly esteemed blogger Luboš Motl (The Reference Frame) has contributed to the Aussie carbon tax debate:

To summarize, my quantitative analysis is meant to show that AUD 23 per ton makes no real difference to the consumption of fossil fuels – and surely not for the climate – and it’s just a step for the carbon fascists to test how much they can afford to harass the society (and they want to terrorize it much more in the future). They will surely steal millions out of this scheme and some of these parasites will be able to make a living but I want to assure the Australian readers that as long as the price is just AUD 23 per ton, it will not kill the Australian economy. It will just make all sources of energy 5-10 percent more expensive and steal a few hundred of corresponding dollars from your annual income. Nothing will detectably change about the CO2 emissions.

If the carbon tax were supposed to make a difference, it would have to be $700-$1,400 per ton. In that case, most of the world population would go extinct because just for breathing, an average human would have to pay $300-$700 per year of a carbon tax. For billions of people, such an annual fee would automatically mean that they will starve to death. If someone wants to remove most of the human contribution to the warming in the 21st century – something like 0.5 °C – by a carbon tax, he will surely have to introduce a carbon tax that will kill billions of people.

Is that really a good decision? Or is it legitimate to charge the people who promote carbon regulation with their planned crimes against humanity? I am sure that no country will be able to introduce a $300-per-ton CO2 tax. The likes of Gillard who would try to do so would be rightfully assassinated as soon as they would propose a $100-per-ton or so – that’s about the critical point.

Read it all.

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