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July 5, 2008
This cartoon accurately describes the public reaction to the policy side of climate change. Only the policy wonks are really interested in the design of an emissions trading scheme. But the last frame is dead wrong. Industry is going to pay for their pollution, and they don't like it, even though they know that the public will bear the costs of their having to pay for their destruction of the environment from greenhouse gases.
Moir
Hence their campaign against, even even though those generating power for the domestic market will pass their costs of emitting greenhouse in the atmosphere onto consumers. It's the loss of the asset value of their power stations that causes them to scream---'they' refers to the Victorian brown coal generators.
And the Coalition is now in retreat on supporting reform. Shaun Carrney says in the SMH that:
Politically, the Coalition's key objective on emissions trading is to inflict the maximum amount of damage on the Government. Hunt's job is to fashion an intellectual and policy package that conforms to that objective, while simultaneously giving the impression that the Coalition subscribes to the reality of climate change and the need for action.
They are anti-reform but trying to disguise it.
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Gary
Victoria is the state that is most reliant on dirty brown coal and its bargain power has underpinned the state's manufacturing sector. So "clean coal" is the state's saviour.
An emissions trading scheme will push some of Victoria's brown coal generators to the wall. Hazelwood should go rather than be retrofitted.