The Rudd governments Carbon Sink legislation is designed to promote the planting of of carbon forests on Agricultural land. The Carbon Sink legislation is a vital plank of the ETS as it will lower the cost of emission permits, but will have a devastating effect on rural and regional Australia.
AUSTRALIA’S proposed climate change regime would push up food prices, cut inflows to the Murray-Darling and cut agricultural exports if it continues to encourage the development of carbon sink forests.
As I wrote Here, the ETS is designed to force livestock producers out of the industry.
A research paper co-authored by Mick Keogh [pictured]and Alex Thompson of the Australian Farm Institute has warned that livestock farmers faced with declining profitability under higher carbon emission prices will be encouraged to sell their land to forestry plantations, or convert significant portions of farms to permanent carbon-sink forests.
Once again rural & regional Australians are to be the sacrificial lambs for the national good (read urban Australia).
If this change occurs, it would have far-reaching consequences for the Australian economy, for rural communities and for the environment,” Mr Keogh said.
“It would undoubtedly result in higher prices for some food items in Australia. Ironically, it would also result in a reduction in the market share of Australian agricultural products in both international and domestic markets, and an increase in market share for developing-nation agricultural exports with no net reduction in global greenhouse emissions being achieved.
Rural & Regional Australians are the big losers from the Rudd government emissions trading scheme. Once again we have a federal government eager to crucify rural & regional communities to achieve their urban based political agenda. What a disgrace.
Have your say!
January 12, 2009 at 4:16 am
I think we should give thought to forgetting the Republic trick,being attempted by senator Bob Brown and go back to a community chief or maybe a sacrificial witch doctor.We seem unable to elect a really representative Govmint "elite experts" always seem to be able to rake up more money for their election campaign than the people like Pauline Hansen or Graham Cambell for instance and so we end up getting the ones that can promise their Corporate supporters a better profit deal. We now have Rudd the DUD who is promising his Corporate followers that we are going to be able to plant trees on most of the Australian farmland and that to finance it he will provide a carbon trading sceme . This scheme will not effect the atmosphere to the level of one half Fart.. He has not even thought of the amount of water this promised planting will remove from the Australian river flows.The grandiose tree numbers and areas being stated have the potential to dry up all the inland rivers in Australia, but that may be the benefit the labour greens and social engineers intend to achieve..Also whats the bet this trading money largley ends up in the Gov coffers."As in the British example"KJ.