For Immediate Release
From the Carbon Sense Coalition, 21 June 2009
Soon our elected representatives will be asked to vote on Senator Wong’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.
This scheme is not about carbon or pollution. Its main effect is to provide for a cap on the human production of carbon dioxide, a colourless harmless natural gas. Carbon dioxide is no more a pollutant than oxygen or water, the other two atmospheric gases on which all life on earth relies.
The bill will also levy a tax on whatever carbon dioxide is produced, and levy an excess production tax on anyone whose production exceeds the legal cap. It is a carbon dioxide Cap-n-Tax Bill.
There is no human activity whatsoever that does not generate carbon dioxide. Therefore any attempt to measure, cap and tax human production of carbon dioxide must eventually extend to every human activity (the UK government already floated the idea that every person be issued with a personal carbon ration card).
This is a very serious proposal, with wide-ranging implications for all aspects of economic life and personal freedoms. It could only be justified if there was a clear and urgent danger that additional human production of carbon dioxide is highly likely to cause dangerous global warming. There is no evidence that this is the case – just computer models and scare forecasts.
Neither the scientific questions, nor the cost benefit analysis has been subject to any critical independent analysis.
The diagram below illustrates the sequence of decisions that should be made before this bill gets assent. If the answer to ANY ONE of the boxed questions is “NO”, there is no justification for Australia rushing ahead with its Cap-n-Tax Bill.
This diagram, although light-hearted, has a factual basis and conveys some very serious messages.
It is highly unlikely that anyone could honestly answer “Yes” to every question, which is what is required to justify passage of the bill. This suggests that there is a high likelihood that the bill will have NO CLIMATE EFFECT WHATSOEVER and thus a costly exercise in self delusion.
Our strong recommendation is that all Parliaments reject all Cap-n-Tax Bills.
Viv Forbes
Chairman, The Carbon Sense Coalition
MS 23 Rosewood Qld Australia
Via Email
Great post, Viv!
It's time we had a proper debate about this in the national media. They could well start by mentioning the points you make above.
Cheers,
Steve Murphy
http://www.climatesceptics.com.au
Well, fair enough…as long as you are looking at the short term. If you say "there is no noticable effect today" then is there really no problem? Some things take a while to show their effects.
If we say there is no problem because I cannot see an immediate effect from my actions, I am denying long term cause and effect. I'll give an example. If you have a length of garden hose and you push marbles in one end, for quite a while there is no noticable effect (the marbles magically disappear!!)
After a time, they start to appear at the other end. Then, for every marble you push in, on e pops out at the other end. Again this could be seen as magic, since the marble appears to have moved mysteriously instantly across space.
The reality is that the short term view is a convenient "I'm alright Jack" attitude that has deep self serving roots. To solve our global issues we need to look further than this.
I agree that we ALL have a part to play, but it is high time that our so-called "leaders" got off their backsides and had a constructive vision of the future that they have the balls to pursue.
I mean, that is their job after all.