Tim Stewart
With one foot firmly on the accelerator and a gearstick stuck in reverse, Prime Minister John Howard released an energy white paper on June 15 the central plank of which is a tax cut on greenhouse-gas generating fossil fuels while introducing a tax slug for alternative fuels.
Howard's proposal to end the fuel excise for any off-road use of diesel or petrol will be a $1.5 billion subsidy to mining, trucking and energy supply companies.
In addition to the fuel subsidy, Howard is proposing a $500 million direct subsidy to develop "clean coal" technology — the sole beneficiaries of which will be the existing, antiquated, coal-powered electricity utilities. On the other side of the ledger, Howard's energy white paper offers only $75 million for solar energy technology development.
According to the June 16 Australian Financial Review, Howard claimed that Australia can't afford to "throw away" the natural advantage of its huge reserves of fossil fuels. Well, not throw it away — but it could be virtually given away in the form of cheap fuel to big business.
The Australian Conservation Foundation's Don Henry correctly described the energy white paper as "a big golden handshake to big dirty polluters".
Paralleling Howard's energy white paper release, a massive slug to a potential alternative fuel industry was legislated on June 15. Labor and Coalition MPs joined forces to slap a 38 cent a litre excise on biodiesel — roughly twice the cost of producing the fuel. Biodiesel can be made from ethanol and recycled cooking oil (both from renewable sources).
In addition to the fuel excise on biodiesel, the legislation aims to drive out of business small-scale producers by imposing a tough laboratory testing regime that is legally enforceable on even "home brewers".
Most biodiesel is currently made by backyard producers such as farmers and those who operate diesel generators, tractors and four-wheel-drives on oil that would normally end up as landfill or in pet food.
The Coalition government's energy white paper and Labor's support for Howard's attack on non-commercial biodiesel producers will only further entrench the energy supply monopoly of the oil and coal corporations.
[Tim Stewart is a member of the Socialist Alliance.]
From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, June 23, 2004.
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