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June 29, 2008
Clearly petrol is becoming a politically volatile issue in big-party politics of the Rudd Government's first term. Where there's debate about climate change there is also angst about petrol. And that is creating difficulties for the Government, as Brendon Nelson plays his 'I feel your pain' politics.
Matt Golding
Emissions trading is due to begin in less than two years. It will cause far, far greater economic upheaval than introducing a goods and services tax, and it is already a hot potato, politically speaking already. As Nelson has clearly flagged that the Liberal /National Coalition will confront the Rudd Government on climate change, so it is not likely that Australia will become a "cleantech hub" in the Asia Pacific region. Australia will remain a technology consumer rather than become a technology producer.
The 6.1% swing against the ALP in the Gippsland byelection was a big sign of discontent with Rudd as, there was unanimous agreement that petrol and the cost of living in general were key issues. Rudd never actually promised to lower these costs but people are so angry that they believe he did and will not hear otherwise.
The Coalition, under Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson, see rising fuel prices as their ticket back into government and they are going to ride them as far as they can. The Coalition oppose the Rudd Government's blueprint to tackle global warming. The Coalition stands for lower taxes, protecting people on petrol and electricity, and in making sure that jobs and industries don't leave the country.
Geoff Evans says in a paper at the Centre of Policy Development that:
as the global warming threat grows, many Australian political leaders remain under the spell of the coal industry and its ‘greenhouse mafia'. Indeed, despite the obvious risks some are still advocating new coal-fired power stations and a massive increase in coal-exports. The federal and state governments are gambling that carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies will save the industry, even as growing numbers of experts note that this technology is likely to be too little, too late and too risky to be commercialised and installed widely enough to make a difference in the short window of opportunity needed for action. They are throwing billions of dollars in subsidies towards CCS and the mythical ‘clean coal' at the behest of the industry.
Meanwhile investment and incentives for markets for renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies in which Australia could be a world leader are being seriously frustrated.
Update: 30 June
It looks likely that the global "cleantech" hub will happen in the Middle East, as Masdar PV, an arm of the Abu Dhabi government-backed clean energy initiative, will build the world's first zero emissions city in the next decade. There's a game changer or milestone. Masdar, Abu Dhabi's $15bn future energy initiative, is a significant step toward making Abu Dhabi the global centre for future energy.
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Gary,
I'm puzzled that the Rudd Government has done almost next to nothing to really explain to people what is about to happen with an emissions trading scheme. They are really are waiting for Garnaut. Why cannot they say that the Emission Trading Scheme will cause pain and higher prices, but that it is necessary to do to address global warming.
I see that global warming in South Australia means that the Goyder's line, which marks areas with reliable rainfall in South Australia, is confirmed to have shifted south.It is projected that the central section of the line would shift up to 100km south to reach the Clare Valley, and that this could happen as soon as 2040 unless greenhouse gas emissions fell.
So says CSIRO climate expert Mark Howden