Unscientific carbon scheme doomed

Unscientific carbon scheme doomed

The Federal Senate Select Committee on Climate Policy has already received close to 14,000 submissions from the public and will continue to hear experts across Australia until April 30, with its final report due for release on May 14.

By mid-April, the committee had already heard from Professor Ross Garnaut. The author of the report intended to direct the government’s climate response declared it would be a “lineball call” as to whether it would be better to do nothing or proceed with the carbon pollution reduction scheme (CPRS) in its current proposed form.

Appearing in the third week of April, Garnaut highlighted three key areas for improvement in the package of measures proposed by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Climate Minister Penny Wong:

  • the need for scientifically credible emission reduction targets, well beyond the current 5 per cent,

  • diversion of revenues into significant development of renewable energy and technology development, rather than the proposed regime of heavy spending and

  • attachment of firm conditions to compensatory carbon credits awarded to trade-exposed heavy emitters.

The government has indicated that its only likely concession will be to recognise carbon offsets generated by individual households. This would be the strategic equivalent of selling additional deckchairs on the Titanic.

Even with almost a fortnight of hearings remaining, Deputy Chair, Greens Senator Christine Milne, is in a position to make one thing clear. Rudd and Wong face failure in the Senate unless they overhaul the proposed legislation or seek unlikely support from beyond the cross benches.

“The CPRS is not climate action at all,” said Milne, asked whether she would support weak action as an alternative to no action. “In many ways it would block climate action by shoring up the old polluters and dampening any signals for change. When you understand the science, it is not hard to choose which way to vote.”

Milne characterised Rudd’s announcement of a global `clean coal’ think tank within 24 hours of Garnaut’s appearance as `highly cynical politics’.

Milne said in her view none of the Ministers in the Rudd Government are performing on climate change and the environment.

“There is no internal consistency, no whole of government plan,” she said.

It seems that as a key election commitment, a credible Government effort to instigate climate action is still so much hot air.

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