Gary Johns is a former minister in the Keating Labor government.
In a terrific piece in todays Australian Newspaper he says that the Emissions Trading Scheme will require Australians to pay for something that will have zero impact on climate change.
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THE one certainty of climate change (anthropogenic or not) is that it is unstoppable. Government advertisements suggest worst-case scenarios but they do not concede that these are no less likely should Australia cut its carbon dioxide output.
Whether or not you believe in man-made climate change, it’s out of our control.
At some point, probably about the time the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill – a carbon tax – comes before parliament and in the lead-up to the next election, the electorate will realise they are being asked to pay for something they cannot have: a guarantee against climate change.
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Johns rightly goes on to argue that the only responsible thing for governments to do is to spend tax payers money on adapting to climate change as and when it occurs. He goes on to site the QLD governments $9 billion dollar South East QLD water grid as a great example of this working successfuly.
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Wisely, the Queensland Government decided it could not stop the drought (climate change) and it did not try. Instead, it responded to the needs of citizens for water by restricting water use and spending $9 billion drought-proofing the economy.
It is building a new dam, thereby spreading the area of rainfall capture, connecting the dams to enable water to be pumped around in response to rainfall change, recycling water and building a desalination plant. Broadly, these are the only responses a government could make.
Southeast Queensland water users will pay the price, indeed are probably happy to, given the insignificant cost of water compared to its immense significance to everyday life.
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The Federal Governments $10 billion buy back of the Murray Darling water licenses from farmers is another great example of the government waging a real adaption campaign against climate change. The buy back is a win win for farmers and the broader Australian community and a tangible response to climate change that tax payers are happy to fund.
As we have repeatedly said at Agmates:
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The Rudd government should abandon the ETS sham and move to take practical measures that will have a real and lasting impact on the environment. Those steps should be anything that will prepare us as a nation for what lies ahead. that the public will see no results from.
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The Emissions trading scheme will cost Australians an estimated $5 billion in the first year with zero impact on global climate change. At the governments peril the electorate will soon tire of that.
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