Wednesday 2 December 2009

Reply to Heartbreaking denialism by Joshua Gans

Reply to Heartbreaking denialism by Joshua Gans via 1petermartin: Sharing... They are environment haters; pure and simple - Gans http://bit.ly/87pLXy

But don't you see?  It's the extra layer of government, and the extra taxes (although they'll happily spruik for their constituencies and special interests to get tax payer funded "compensation"), and the jobs that will be lost, and the end of the economy as we know it.

What I wonder is, how is it then that the European Union, which has arguably had an even more flawed ETS for 6 years now, seems to be surviving?

Including in Germany alone, the directly attributable creation of 230, 000 plus jobs in the renewable energy industries (R&D, manufacture, sales - domestic and international, and installation of wind, solar, biomass, tidal technologies), and creation of an additional, invaulable income stream to (especially) farmers, from energy production.

You know, from all those solar panals and wind turbines they've planted in the paddocks where the livestock graze.

Good grief.  Who knew?  The sun shines and the wind blows and the tide goes in and out in Europe!

And they're (SHOCK! HORROR!) progressively decommissioning nuclear power stations, as more renewable energy sources come on line.

Oh well, guess we should just get used to a nice balance of trade deficit with the Euro zone over the next few years, importing technology and know-how, what with having sold off, closed down and driven out most of our world class renewables R&D technologies and intellectuals, to everywhere else during the last two federal administrations.

No, Joshua, they're not haters, they're just humans stuck in the oldest human dilemma.  Having to change their minds about a belief they hold dear, rather than admit to a mistake.

Like King Canute trying to hold back the tide, this is (I hope!) their last hurrah.  Just as the GST became the inevitable "tax reform" we had to have, so will the ETS and/or carbon tax be part of the new reality of the carbon constrained and oil depleted future of the Australian and global economy.

The sooner we all face this fact, regardless of our belief, the sooner we can start getting results.

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