1-6-07
The Editor
The Southern
Courier
Howard's Sunday
address to Liberals on emissions trading
I
write two days before John Howard is to make a “major speech” to the Liberal
Party Federal Council as his response to recommendations that Australia should
adopt an emissions trading scheme.
By
the time you read this he will have either risen to the challenge or will have
pledged himself to some halfway measure that will placate business interests
and jittery Liberal election candidates.
Personally,
I want to be impressed.
But
the real problem for John Howard (aside from personal commitment)and all of us
is that even a serious emissions trading scheme is not likely to be enough.
The
Stern Report earlier this year (the one the PM did not believe) advised that
emission trading schemes or carbon taxes will not be sufficient to reduce
emissions on the scale and pace required.
We
also need to phase out subsidies to the coal, oil and nuclear industry and
replace them with incentives for renewable energy and energy efficiency.
To
achieve that John Howard must stop calling for nuclear power plants and Peter
Garret must stop excusing the uranium industry and both should accept the need
to get serious about curtailing our coal industry.
Murray Matson