Coulton’s Catch-Up 5th February
08-February-2010
It was Groundhog Day in the United States this week, and Federal Parliament was also reminiscent of the movie Groundhog Day with the Labor Government introducing their disastrous Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) policy for the third time.
I have said it many times, and I will say it again – this ill conceived policy is perhaps the worst piece of legislation this country has ever seen. Put simply, it will not decrease carbon emissions and it will cost people money. For some reason, the Government refuses to admit to the flaws in this policy and move on to other climate change solutions. Perhaps it is because they have no other ideas in their bag of tricks when it comes to the environment.
In stark contrast to the Government, Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott this week announced the Coalition’s plan for direct action on climate change. This policy is based on incentives rather than penalties, and provides practical and affordable environmental benefits that will also reduce carbon emissions.
I was pleased to be a part of the Coalition team that helped put this policy together, and I am particular proud of the inclusion of soil carbon sequestration within the policy framework.
One thing we have a lot of in Australia, and particularly in the Parkes electorate, is soil, and I believe it will prove to be the secret weapon in the environmental war chest.
The single largest opportunity for CO2 emissions reduction in Australia is through bio-sequestration in general, and in particular, the replenishment of our soil carbons. It is also the lowest cost CO2 emissions reduction available in Australia on a large scale. Through the Emissions Reduction Fund a Coalition Government will commit to a ‘once in a century’ replenishment of our national soils and farmlands.
The Coalition are offering a practical solution to climate change. The Labor Government are simply recycling bad policy. Hopefully the Groundhog Day phenomena will continue and we will see the CPRS legislation voted down for the third time next week.