December 2008
Between the lines 5
An economical truth. The bogus economic case for telemarketing. Bee lines. Over a barrel.
Solar rebate scheme offers benefits for emitters, not environment
The new solar rebate announced by Peter Garrett will not reduce Australia’s emissions by one kilogram below the five per cent emissions target announced in the White Paper because, under the CPRS, the unfortunate reality is that every time households reduce their energy use or install solar panels, all they will be doing is freeing
CPRS delivers certainty: certain destruction of credibility
The proposed CPRS announced by the Prime Minister is one of the most generous industry assistance packages in Australian history and should be known as the Carbon Polluter Rescue Scheme. What began as a scheme designed to make polluters pay has evolved into a scheme in which the polluters get paid billions of dollars.
Between the lines 4
Ministerial responsibility. A major flaw in the ETS. Thinking long term.
November 2008
Household emissions reductions pointless under emissions trading
The introduction of an Australian emissions trading scheme in 2010 makes it pointless for households to reduce their energy use.
Between the lines 3
Government assistance to industry. New anti-SLAPP legislation in the ACT. ACMA’s recent decision on subliminal advertising. The need for wellbeing in a climate-changed Australia.
October 2008
Agriculture and emissions trading don’t mix
The Rudd Government hopes to incorporate agriculture into its Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) in 2015 but this initiative is unlikely to be successful.
Is that it? the tiny cost of tackling climate change
The Treasury modelling of the economic cost of tackling climate change shows that, despite all the scaremongering by some industries, the economic costs associated with reducing greenhouse gas emissions are trivially small.
Between the lines 2
Why we care more about the financial crisis than climate change. The 50 per cent discount on capital gains. Whether there has been an exodus from public schools to private ones.
Subsidise renewables and stimulate jobs
Calls for the introduction of accelerated depreciation provisions for investment in clean energy. Because the price of this equipment is likely to fall sharply in the coming years, firms which invest today will experience ‘first mover disadvantage’.
Electricity sector neglects renewables research
The electricity industry generates around 45 per cent of Australia’s carbon emissions so it is surprising to see so little R&D in this industry. The electricity industry should be at the forefront of exploring lower emissions and renewable technologies, but the figures suggest the industry is not serious about doing so.
Subsidise renewables and stimulate jobs
Calls for the introduction of accelerated depreciation provisions for investment in clean energy. Because the price of this equipment is likely to fall sharply in the coming years, firms which invest today will experience ‘first mover disadvantage’.
No 56, September 2008
Richard Denniss explains how an emissions trading scheme works; Josh Fear looks at financial choices; Gemma Edgar explores the possibility of a national compact between the government and NGOs and David Richardson writes about the problems of hidden unemployment.
September 2008
August 2008
June 2008
Turn Green Switch Now for a Fresh Burst of Energy
Not only can current jobs be adapted to green jobs, Australian engineers who now go to Europe, California or China might be lured home. Eventually, every job needs to be a green job: every industry will need to readjust to the reality of climate change and play their part in cutting Australia’s emissions. At best,
No. 55 June 2008
Incoming Executive Director Richard Denniss shares his strategic vision for the Institute.
March 2008
No. 54 March 2008
Clive Hamilton left the Australia Institute at the end of February to devote himself to writing. Here he pens his last comment for the newsletter.
January 2008
Garnaut loses the plot
Ross Garnaut, who will report in June to the Rudd Government on its emissions trading system, is a former trade economist now spending a lot of time thinking about how to prevent powerful industries undermining the Government’s plans. He has come up with a radical solution. Let’s have one target, a carbon budget aimed at
November 2007
Hamilton: Rudd at Bali and Beyond
The science is becoming more alarming by the month, and so are the impacts of global warming itself. The demand for decisive action can only intensify over the next three years; it will require far-sighted policies to bring about a wholesale transformation of the nation’s energy economy, a structural change on a par with that
October 2007
September 2007
Aviation and global warming: a change in the air?
Comments this week by Federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull suggest that the Government is beginning to realise the incompatibility between endless growth in the aviation sector and the prevention of dangerous climate change. Even if Australia adopts a lower target of 60% reductions by 2050, as the Labor Party has proposed, aviation could still gobble
Hidden doom of climate change
The Prime Minister, various ministers and the fossil fuel lobby have for years claimed that cutting emissions would be economically ruinous, cause massive job losses and destroy our international competitiveness. None of these claims is backed by credible evidence and can easily be shown to be false.
August 2007
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