Critics of the Gillard government鈥檚 proposed carbon price get daily coverage in Australia鈥檚 mainstream media. But some types of critic 鈥 those who want Australia to stay a polluter鈥檚 paradise 鈥 are heard the loudest.
Other views, which say the carbon price plan is a dangerous diversion from real climate action, are mostly frozen out.
Below are four green reasons to oppose the carbon price.
1. Emissions and fossil fuel use go up
For a policy that is supposed to drive Australia鈥檚 carbon emissions down, the carbon price does a very bad job.
Simon Butler
Julian Assange, John Pilger and Noam Chomsky have added their names to a new in support of former Guantanamo Bay prisoner David Hicks.
They join scores of other signatories, including Greens MP Adam Bandt, human rights lawyer Julian Burnside, Liberty Victoria President Spencer Zifcak and Overland Journal editor Jeff Sparrow. Overland released the online petition on July 21.
Action on climate change is one of the most important issues of all. But the Gillard government鈥檚 carbon price plan is not a serious response, grounded in the climate science.
You could be forgiven for thinking that when the Labor government says its new carbon price plan will cut Australia鈥檚 greenhouse gas emissions by 5%.
Feeling the heat from opposition leader Tony Abbott鈥檚 scare campaign against the government鈥檚 planned carbon price, that she 鈥渘ever meant to mislead anybody during the last election campaign about carbon pricing鈥.
This was a reference to her promise 鈥 made days before the 2010 election 鈥 that a Labor government would not set up a carbon tax.
It wouldn鈥檛 be okay for Amnesty to take donations from military dictators or for Animal Liberation to accept abattoir-owners as sponsors.
Such scenarios are so unlikely they just sound bizarre.
So why should we accept that it鈥檚 okay for Australian environmental groups to take money from fossil fuel corporations?
Surely it鈥檚 the ultimate conflict of interest. How can groups set up to stop climate change accept cash from companies that make millions from polluting the planet?
Ninety-one percent of Australians think the government should take more action to roll out renewable energy and create green jobs and 86% say the government should develop a plan to get to 100% renewables.
These were some of the outcomes of one of Australia鈥檚 biggest ever polls on climate change and climate policy, which was released by the 100% Renewable Energy Campaign on June 14.
At a public debate on June 16, Icelandic journalist and WikiLeaks spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson said WikiLeaks has strengthened democracy and revealed wrongdoings. Most of the 600-strong crowd said they agreed.
At the end of this year鈥檚 second IQ虏 debate, 58.2% of the audience voted for the proposition: 鈥淲ikiLeaks is a force for good鈥. Just 32.2% said they disagreed while 8.8% were undecided.
The debate did sway some people, however. Polled before the debate, only 6.3% of attendees said they disagreed and 30.7% said they were undecided.
Australian climate scientists and researchers are subject to a rising level of hate mail, abuse and death threats from climate change deniers.
More than 30 the June 4 Canberra Times 鈥渢hey are receiving a stream of abusive emails threatening violence, sexual assault, public smear campaigns and attacks on family members鈥.
There are alternatives to the federal government鈥檚 NT intervention into Aboriginal communities, and some of the key ones have been brought together in a new statement that has won the support of Aboriginal community leaders and other groups and individuals.
The statement, 鈥淩ebuilding from the Ground Up: An Alternative to the NT Intervention鈥, is available on the .
About 5000 people walked across Canberra鈥檚 Commonwealth Bridge and rallied in front of Parliament House on June 5, calling for real action on climate change now. Up to 45,000 people rallied nationwide.
Speakers at the Canberra rally included former Liberals Leader John Hewson, Richard Denniss from the Australia Institute, 2010 Greens Senate candidate Lin Hatfield Dodds and Bishop Pat Power.
Hewson said we needed to respond to climate change with a greater sense of urgency and in a way that recognised the magnitude of the problem.
Melbourne鈥檚 City of Yarra awarded the volunteer-run climate research group Beyond Zero Emissions its 2011 sustainability award for community action on June 2. BZE鈥檚 Melbourne group office is based in the Yarra council area. The council said: 鈥淏eyond Zero Emissions Inc. (BZE) is an independent, not-for-profit, volunteer-run organisation leading a 鈥榗an do鈥 campaign for climate solutions grounded in commercially available technologies and peer-reviewed research.
- Previous page
- Page 10
- Next page