UPDATED: Voters want ETS delayed

29 November, 2009 by

Herald Sun

Poll results surprising

Because they don’t understand it. Thanks to this government, all they have heard is climate alarmism and the constant refrain that we need the ETS to “save the planet [for the sake of our children and grandchildren – Ed]“, even though it will do nothing for the climate whatsoever. The Herald Sun has some poll results that should make interesting reading for the Tony Abbott camp:

  • 81% of Coalition supporters (74% overall) want the ETS delayed, which means only 26% of voters back the Rudd-Turnbull position
  • 90% of Coalition supporters (80% overall) say they do not understand the ETS and want the government to explain it better (which they won’t, because then they will have to admit it will cripple Australia’s economy for no benefit)
  • 73% of Labor voters are in the dark on the ETS!

The only way we will have this proper debate on the ETS is via a full blown election campaign. It is clear from this that the Australian public are finally wising up to the spin of Rudd & Wong, and that Malcolm Turnbull is completely out of step with the wishes of the electorate and his own party.

If the next election is a referendum on the ETS, there is no guarantee that Rudd would win.

Read it here.

UPDATE: Piers Ackerman writes:

IT’S a matter of grave concern for stalwart rank-and-file Liberal Party members that Malcolm Turnbull’s number one supporter for his global-warming stance is now no less a figure than Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, while his number two supporter is the former union leader, Greg Combet.

That the embattled Opposition leader enjoys such support underscores the anger of those Liberals who feel Turnbull has taken liberties with his leadership in supporting Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s totally flawed emissions trading legislation.

The backing of a duo last united so publicly in their bid to prop up the historically corrupt Maritime Union of Australia’s stranglehold on the nation’s docks, has not gone unnoticed; and nor has Turnbull’s use of stalling tactics more usually applied in the spivvy world of corporate takeovers than party politics.

Read it here.

And a Poll on The West Australian’s website gives a 70/30 split against the amended ETS after 700 or so votes (see here) – thanks to reader Russ.

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Poll: most Australians want ETS delayed (as does Steve Fielding)

23 November, 2009 by

Climate sense

Climate sense

That’s because most Australians are starting to see through the ETS charade and are worried about its consequences. From Senator Ron Boswell:

The Qld Chamber of Commerce and Industry commissioned Galaxy poll makes a strong case for opposing Rudd’s CPRS,” said The Nationals’ Senator Ron Boswell today.

“Consumer sentiment is emphatically against a vote on the CPRS ahead of Copenhagen amidst concerns of higher power prices and the cost to jobs.”

Senator Boswell said that Australians were also concerned that the government was not giving them enough information on the ETS.

“Specifically, the Galaxy research, released by ACCI, found that:-

  • 71% believe the introduction of the ETS will raise electricity price
  • 49% of Australian adults are of the opinion that the introduction of an ETS will cost Australian jobs if we move in isolation
  • 82% do not believe the government has provided sufficient information about the pros and cons for the ETS
  • the majority of Australians, 54%, believe we should delay the introduction of the ETS until after the Copenhagen Summit
  • In contrast, only 34% of adult Australians do not believe the introduction of the ETS should be delayed*.”

“There’s a perfect storm brewing over the CPRS when you have electricity generators warning of threats to supply and massive compensation claims, revelations of cyber wars between climate scientists and new confirmation that consumers do not want Australia to move on an ETS until after Copenhagen.”

“Woe to any political group that fails to listen to these weather reports.”

And at the same time, Senator Steve Fielding is trying to achieve just that, a delay on the ETS vote:

LIBERAL senators are threatening to support Family First Senator Steve Fielding’s motion to delay a vote on an emissions trading scheme until next year, in a further embarrassment to Malcolm Turnbull.

After a show of support for climate change sceptic and Senate leader Nick Minchin last week that saw 17 Coalition senators sit in the chamber as he outlined his opposition to passing the legislation before Copenhagen, senators have told The Australian Online that the motion to delay the vote is a “good idea”.

The Liberals’ Senate partyroom is currently meeting and it is expected climate change sceptics will push for the party to support the motion. (source)

Let’s wish them luck!

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UPDATED: UK Poll: Majority say global warming "not our fault"

15 November, 2009 by

More colourless, odourless CO2

More colourless, odourless CO2

More bad news for the warmists, as the public wise up to the propaganda and spin. From the UK Times Online:

Less than half the population believes that human activity is to blame for global warming, according to an exclusive poll for The Times.

The revelation that ministers have failed in their campaign to persuade [mislead? – Ed] the public that the greenhouse effect is a serious threat requiring urgent action will make uncomfortable reading for the Government as it prepares for next month’s climate change summit in Copenhagen.
Only 41 per cent accept as an established scientific fact that global warming is taking place and is largely man-made. Almost a third (32 per cent) believe that the link is not yet proved; 8 per cent say that it is environmentalist propaganda to blame man and 15 per cent say that the world is not warming.

Tory voters are more likely to doubt the scientific evidence that man is to blame. Only 38 per cent accept it, compared with 45 per cent of Labour supporters and 47 per cent of Liberal Democrat voters.

The high level of scepticism underlines the difficulty the Government will have in persuading the public to accept higher green taxes to help to meet Britain’s legally binding targets to cut carbon emissions by 34 per cent by 2020 and 80 per cent by 2050.

But then Ed Miliband, Energy and Climate Change Secretary, gets desperate and lobs in the D-word:

“The overwhelming body of scientific information is stacked up against the deniers and shows us that climate change is man-made and is happening now. We know that we still have a way to go in informing [brainwashing – Ed] people about climate change and that is why we make no apologies about pushing forward with our new Act on CO2 campaign.”

Read it here. (h/t Climate Realists)

UPDATE: The Times opinion writers cannot conceal their contempt for the British public for being so ignorant of the “climate crisis”, branding them “global village idiots”:

It is possible that the collective expertise of brilliant scientists could be wrong. The best minds in the world once held a geocentric theory of the solar system. Before the discovery of sub-atomic particles they believed that everything was made of earth, air, fire and water. Right up to the 19th century, serious scientists wrote recipe books for making animals. But no previous process of scientific trial, error and progress has ever overturned such a well-attested thesis. Lord Rees has reminded us that we now live in a global village and it is, he pointed out, probably inevitable that there will be some global village idiots. (source)

Read all of James Delingpole’s blistering attack on this nonsense in the (usually more sensible) UK Telegraph here.

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Greens joke poll results

15 November, 2009 by

The Greens - a bad joke

The Greens - a bad joke

The Greens are trumpeting the results of a Galaxy poll that they claim shows that the majority of voters want the government to adopt tougher emissions reduction targets. The ABC reports:

The Galaxy poll says 54 per cent of people support at least an unconditional 25 per cent reduction in emissions by 2020.

The Government says it will commit to that target only if the rest of the world agrees.

Greens Leader Bob Brown told Sky News most Australians back the stronger position of the Greens.

“The Government’s going for a very paltry per cent and the majority of people are saying ‘let’s get behind the 25 per cent’, which is where the Greens are placed,” he said.

“The amendments we’ll be putting to the Government’s legislation would lift it to a 25 per cent minimum reduction.” (source)

So let’s have a close look at the question they asked:

The government has proposed a minimum emissions reduction target of 5% by the year 2020. Scientists and environmentalists have suggested a more ambitious target if we are to properly address the issue of climate change. In your personal view, should the aim of the legislation be a minimum reduction of 5% as suggested by the government, or a reduction of at least 25% as argued by scientists and environmentalists?

  • 5% target
  • At least 25% target
  • Neither/Don’t know

(source)

So who can spot the elephant traps here? Firstly, the two main options, 5% or more than 25% conveniently leaves out any option of a middle ground, and secondly, the sentence “Scientists and environmentalists have suggested a more ambitious target if we are to properly address the issue of climate change” almost gives respondents the answer the Greens want! And it that wasn’t enough, it repeats the “scientists and environmentalists” line a second time, just to ram it home. The question so blatantly telegraphs the desired result, it’s amazing they didn’t get a higher percentage!

In other words, Bob, the poll is a joke, the results are a joke, and the Greens are a joke as well.

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Aussies not worried by climate change

2 November, 2009 by

Despite all the hype, all the spin, all the (dare I say it?) lies from the warmists, the media and the government, the Australian public are thankfully not falling for it.

A new international survey has found Australians no longer care about climate change as much as they do about domestic issues and the financial crisis.

The survey looks at attitudes towards climate change in 12 different countries and found concern in Australia dropped in the past year by 14 per cent – the largest drop among the developed nations surveyed.

But the Climate Group CEO, Steve Howard, still claims (bizarrely) that the public is clamouring for a deal at Copenhagen:

“Around the world, four out of five people want to see a good global deal in Copenhagen,” he said. [What? 4.5 billion people? Do me a favour, pal – Ed]

“Are people a little bit less concerned than this than 12 months ago or two years ago? Yes they are, but we’ve just had a global financial crisis and I think we’ve seen a reordering of people’s priorities.”

In other words, the public is realising that the climate crisis is little more than a smoke and mirrors exercise in apocalyptic alarmism and stealth taxation, just like it is in the US and around the world.

Read it here.

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