WUWT reader Chris M Writes in Tips and Notes to WUWT
Have you noticed that the Australian PM, Kevin Rudd has dumped his CTS until at least 2012. This was his key platform at the last election, when he described global warming as “the greatest moral imperative of our time”.
How the times have changed.
Anyway, his Minister for Climate Change, Penny Wong, is too busy cleaning up after his botched home insulation scheme to be able to devote any time to climate change.
I recommend Dennis Shanahan’s excellent comment in The Australian newspaper http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/pm-delays-emissions-trading-scheme-as-inconvenient-political-truth/story-e6frg75f-1225858920473
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A scheme indeed. Well said Chris. Andrew Bolt has more: The greatest reversal of dud policies in our lifetime
Add this to the collapse of the Kerry-Leiberman-Graham bill in the U.S. Senate this week, and all of the sudden it’s been a really bad week for alarmists.
Of course anybody with half a brain can see that carbon trading is flatlining here in the USA.
Carbon is waaayy down from the high of over seven dollars a ton to ten cents a ton and has been at that level for months. The data is from the Gore-Pachauri sponsored Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX)
| CCX CFI Vintage 2010 | (Quoted in mt CO2) |
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Do I hear a nickel?
“The Australian”.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/politics/mps-fear-kevin-rudd-losing-control/story-e6frgczf-1225859077497
The price we were going to pay and the lies and spin that were served up to justify the carbon reduction scam by KRudd, Wong and Co.
“The Prime Minister’s decision to delay the ETS will save billions in the May 11 federal budget, while the NSW government immediately said the predicted massive electricity price rises under the scheme would by much smaller.
NSW Energy Minister John Robertson said energy price increases would be significantly smalled over the next three years in NSW because of the delay of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.
Integral Energy price increases would now be about 20 per cent, compared with 46 per cent under the CPRS, and EnergyAustralia’s increases would be 36 per cent compared with 60 per cent.
Country Energy electricity prices would rise 42 per cent rather than 44 per cent.
Mr Robertson’s comments came despite Climate Change Minister Penny Wong saying last month: “Claims that the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme is driving electricity price rises in NSW from July this year are simply wrong.”
Perhaps Rudd figured he’d made enough of a mess with his home insulation scheme (now defunct), to cut those nasty emissions. Rudd’s “brilliant” scheme resulted in four deaths, 120 house fires, 6,000 jobs lost, and $1 billion to clean up the mess.
Just to give a little background missing here.
The main (sole) reason the ETS has been dumped is that they couldn’t get it through the Senate. The Labor party which is in government in Australia doesn’t have the numbers to pass anything in the Senate, so they need the help of various independent Senators plus the Green party senators, and possibly one or two defectors from the main opposition Liberal party (liberal as in personal liberty, not as in democrat liberal). Ironically the Green party did not support the bill because it did not go far enough, but when push came to shove they were willing to sign anything that got the show on the road – the screws coudl be turned up later.
This was all going well with the leader of the Liberal party agreeing with Kevin Rudd and cutting a deal to pass the legislation. But members of the Liberal party started grumbling as their inboxes started to fill up with email after email from the Australian public, imploring them to drop support for the scheme. The party started to fracture down the middle with the warmists vs skeptics. In the end a leadership vote was called, and the existing leader (Malcolm Turnbull) was dumped, and a new leader was elected (Tony Abbott). This happened in November, in the runup to Copenhagen and right about the time the climategate emails were revealed. The leadership ballot was won by a single vote.
With a new leader in place, the Liberal party dumped it’s support for the ETS immediately and tore up any agreements with the government about passing the legislation. The bill was blocked in the Senate and Kevin Rudd went to Copenhagen without any legislation in place. Copenhagen turned out to be a farce anyway and solidified the opposition parties, well, opposition to the ETS. They also surged ahead in opinion polls, which showed that at least half the country was fed up with the Global Warming rhetoric and legislation. For their part, and to answer the critics, the opposition party put up a simple policy of basically planting more trees. This covers the ‘maybe something is wrong but we don’t want an ETS’ base of the electorate but is easily unfunded and removed as Government policy when climate change ceases to be an issue at all.
In the first 3 months of 2010, the Government has been embroiled in scandal after scandal, the worst of which was it’s disastrous climate-related scheme of giving out free insulation for houses in Australia under the twin guises of ‘job creation’ and ‘saving the planet’. All you had to do was organise an installer and sign a piece of paper. The criminals, shysters and hucksters couldn’t believe their luck as 2 billion dollars worth of government cash was up for grabs. 10 house fires and 4 insulation worker deaths later, the scheme was dropped amidst admissions of widespread fraud, and will cost the government another 1 billion dollars to repair all the damage caused to houses by poor quality installations.
So, in the background of all this, and in an election year, what was one the party centrepiece is now quietly dropped. Don’t believe the rhetoric about being pushed back to 2012 – this policy is dead and buried and, barring a major shift in public opinion, has the foul stench of political death about it.
The headline would make you think that it’s because the policymakers no longer believe in it, or perhaps that they changed their minds. The reality is that it was a very close run thing and there would be an ETS by now had one or two politicians not been swayed by the arguments of a well-informed public.
While he says he is delaying it we are still paying through the nose for power with massive ;power price hikes to come (60% over next two years). It’s duplicitous of K Rudd to say something is delayed whilst forcing people to pay for it in the meantime – it’s simply spin.
Re kwik says: April 27, 2010 at 12:16 pm
According to Gordon Brown we have only 14 months left before the tipping point is reached?
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His tipping point will hopefully be reached in less than 14 days. Although he and his useful idiots may then be consigned to the opposition, or unemployment it still leaves us the problem of the £18bn a year Climate Change Act, feed-in tariffs and other useless legislation.
jeef says:
Looks like poor old New Zealand are the only saps with an ETS on the statute books. Ah, the price of having a “Clean, Green” slogan.
Yep. We get bounced between Criminal Corporate fascism and Criminal Corporate Socialism, on a 3 year rota.
Uncle Helen (Labour) – previous overlord(statist and stalins love child), got the number three job at the UN for wrecking the country, now Uncle John (Tory, Former free market Trader/Traitor) is trying to finish the job.
Sadly enough, some of the public get instant amnesia at election time, somehow believing that the liars on the Left/Right, are better than the liars on the Left/Right, because they’re pointing out the Lies that the liars on the Left/Right told.
Then we vote in some Liars.
Uncle John will probably edge towards dumping the ETS, or at least stealthing it into existing legislation, under a new guise.
Mostly he does what he’s told when either the US or Mother England shakes his rattle, he may even bend over for Rudd if Rudd suggest something other than an ETS is its current form. At least something that wins an election and satisfies those who would be Emperors.
As for clean and green, the only green left in Nu Zeeland is the diary cow poo going into the nations water ways, in a greed based rush to satisfy China’s lust for a western diet of Fat, Sugar, Fat, Artifical flavourings, Trans Fats and MSG.
BRC (above) – it was 100 house fires, not 10.
And thank god the crazy policy is not going to get up. The economy is already stuffed and the country is basically a huge great mine being dug up and shipped to China. The last thing we need is an incentive to kill whats left of other industries.
Harry the Hacker says:
April 27, 2010 at 4:44 pm
“BRC (above) – it was 100 house fires, not 10.
And thank god the crazy policy is not going to get up. The economy is already stuffed and the country is basically a huge great mine being dug up and shipped to China. The last thing we need is an incentive to kill whats left of other industries.”
Am I the only one wondering why the English speaking part of the world has lost its mind in the last few decades? I believe if it wasn’t for us, (the U.S., Au, Can, and G.B., in no particular order of importance regarding this issue) then this whole CAGW thing wouldn’t exist(at least on the level it does). Capitalist democracies, each nation with a history of unique (and stubborn) individualism. Yet, we’ve adopted a herd mentality, hell bent on exporting our wealth(and all the goodies with it such as “standard of living”) to developing nations and firm in our belief that collectively we can alter our climate. I never once thought the word “consensus” would hold any meaning to any of our cultures.
Harsh, Fitzy. harsh, but fair! Completely agree on the politics side you presented – very well put. Left vs Right is so last century now. Fingers crossed something new will appear to save us, but on balance of probability I won’t be holding my breath. I will, however, be writing regularly to my MP demanding information on why ETS is necessary, where the money will go and why NIWA continues to fudge it’s temperature figures. I urge you to do the same! Only local activism is any good at changing complacency.
Forgot to add our zany cousins from N.Z.
As an Australian I see Kevin Rudd’s near perfect execution of the “Back flipping weasel” as both good and bad news. The judges seem to have given it a 9.5. I was greatly amused at the rage expressed on ABC television, both the evening news and the 7.30 Report dredged up all the old embarrassing footage, trashing Rudd, but at the same time accidentally trashing the AGW hoax. Lame Stream Media outrage was such that they forgot to use the new spin; CPRS (carbon pollution reduction scheme), and instead reverted to ETS (now widely referred to as the Enormous Tax Scam)
The good news is the damage done to Kevin Rudd’s little remaining credibility on climate issues. The announcement will also shake up those involved in green energy and green jobs scams. There should also be fallout for governments supporting the hoax overseas.
The bad news is that Rudd has slunk away from having his climate policies subjected to a democratic vote at the next election. Further bad news is that the ETS is only delayed. This is almost as economically damaging as introducing the huge new tax. Our industrial society depends on energy. A delay, rather than total abandonment and groveling apology, leaves the threat of capricious taxation hanging over the energy sectors head. This affects confidence in energy investment, a factor that is damaging to industrialized economies around the world.
I believe that letting politicians slink away from the AGW hoax as they do from other gross malfeasance is dangerous. Without a short sharp end to this hoax, confidence in energy investment will remain low, children will continue to be indoctrinated and the door will remain open to future Post Normal Science scams by the same fellow travelers.
The problem is that almost three-quarters of Oz agreed (only a short while ago) that Australia should take action to reduce carbon emissions before a global agreement is reached. This is the power of propaganda.
Years from now historians will refer to it as the ‘great delusion’, but it will be up to us in ‘real time’ to show the populace it’s been folly. A formidable task, with lots of laughs along the way.
El Gordo – the great delusion or the great green delusion. It will be called the age of the watermelons. I actually think the public is vehemently opposed to the green religion and that the ‘polls’ are quite tainted. I cannot find a person who supports it or labor and most of my friends are previous labor voters.
jeef says:
April 27, 2010 at 5:38 pm
“…NIWA continues to fudge it’s temperature figures.”
And How!
Thats the great thing about being world leaders at being POST NORMAL, its a rush to the bottom, winner Fakes all.
Seriously though, you’d think NIWA would gear itself up to keep the Rural economy going at the least,…say,…a split stream weather scheme – Global warming for the city slickers (sorry kids, you’re all gonna die), maunder minimum for the rural folks. (Keep it just between us, ok farmers?)
The farmers rely on those jokers to get it right more often than not, i’d love to get the cow cockies take on the climate, especially since an ETS could [SELF SNIP] them right in the [SN…..] er wallet. Curiously, National was traditionally about the Rural backbone of NZ, now its hand in hand with a mismash of failed Keynesian bubble scams meets Greenzilla.
I imagine its much the same in the U.S, U.K, OZ, CANADIA….
Compounding the misery is the deep seated need our local politicians have, to run an OBAMA style campaign, to be slavishly adored by our public, to be intimately embraced by those who would be Emperors abroad, and generally lead the world in “something, something, Green,….something, something,…Rugby”
Sadly all political parties in our small but pert country have failed to connect with the fact people are now capable of voting with their heads, all the while peddling “Change we can be Aggrieved In.”
jeef says:
April 27, 2010 at 5:38 pm
“Only local activism is any good at changing complacency.”
Absolutely!
Ironic how the Gobal village turned back into a local village, its as if the unintended outcome of Globalism, was to make people value what they have at home all the more. Odd that transnationalism leads to greater Nationalism.
Konrad says:
April 27, 2010 at 5:50 pm
“I believe that letting politicians slink away from the AGW hoax as they do from other gross malfeasance is dangerous. ”
Exactly, this may be a case of hit em with the overt campaign, when they refuse that, pretend to drop it and sneak it in the back door.
I had enough of political back-door antics.
Quote from the BBC article:
“But Mr Abbott accused Mr Rudd of a lack of credibility over the policy reversal.
‘It seems the government has dropped its policy to deal with climate change because it is frightened the public think that this really is just a great big new tax on everything,’ ABC News quoted him as saying.”
I think that that hits the nail on the head.
Don’y worry about the Carbon Trading tax being dropped until 2013, Rudd is clearing the decks for the next election, and he WILL get back in, as the average voter has the attention span of a gnat. Too many nuff nuffs suckling the public teat for him to fail.
Yes, sorry, 100 house fires, not 10. Slip of the digit there I suspect.
Larry Fields :
The ‘great big new tax’ was the line that killed the ETS in Australia. I don’t know if it was Tony himself or an advisor, but it summed up the whole thing for Australian who didn’t know what the hell it was all about. The complexity of the whole scheme couldn’t be described in simple terms by the government, so the leader of the opposition did it for them : it’s a giant new tax on everything. I suggest other opposition leaders around the world use the same language, if there are actually is any opposition to an ETS, that is.
It’s true the the real shame of this backflip is that it prevents the next election from being a referendum on climate change. And that’s why it was dropped.
Bruce of Newcastle says:
April 27, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Thanks Anthony for helping generate this great victory!
I’d like to second that.
Thank you Anthony, and Steve, and all the commenters here for your commitment to the principles and particulars of the scientific method, the sense of shared and open human-ness and conscience with which this was undertaken, and, perhaps especially, your sense of humour.
I know the back-down in Canberra is just a minor, albeit perhaps significant reprieve, but that it’s far from over.
Britain looks nice this time of year. Tally ho!
Looking at that graph of carbon trading…
Al Gore had a heart attack…
Lot’s of public servants in Dept of Climate Change in Canberra worried about their jobs now!
Politicians should be too.
Delaying ETS would cause instability – Smith.
New Zealand’s emissions trading scheme (ETS) will start on July 1 because delaying it would create instability and uncertainty, Climate Change Minister Nick Smith said today.
Australia has put its ETS on hold because the government can’t get sufficient support in Parliament to pass it, and there have been calls for New Zealand to do the same.
Federated Farmers and other business organisations are saying New Zealand will be at a competitive disadvantage unless it aligns itself with Australia.
However, Dr Smith said New Zealand would be unlikely to proceed with its full obligations for energy, transport and industrial sectors, and to add additional sectors to the ETS, if there was no progress in other countries, particularly trading partners like Australia, Japan and the United States.
Dr Smith said claims that New Zealand was the first country in the world to bring in an ETS were wrong — 29 of the 38 countries with Kyoto obligations already had them.
Delay would hurt New Zealand because it would be seen to be doing nothing about climate change.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/delaying-ets-would-cause-instability-smith-122181
Yeah, I told the PM to drop it until he understood it.
Now, if only we can get Kyoto cancelled, and give the farmers back the use of the land they still pay taxes on, own, can’t use and can’t sell.
it was another conjob to gain Carbon credit brownie points and has done stuff all except ruin already struggling farmers.
brc & others, it was a heavy-lifting excercise by many informed Australians that killed this “great big tax on everything,” assisted by excellent information from Anthony Watts, Andrew Bolt, Steve McIntyre, Monckton and the many others who delivered information about facts and lies.
I understand Australian politicians received an avalanche of more than 400,000 emails and letters written by individuals last Nov/Dec, and that the messages were individually written, not form letters or petitions, and that this is what shifted the Coalition’s position on the ETS.
I’m told by people within the Coalition that this is regarded as the most exceptional grassroots action in Australia’s political history.