Rudd fails on Climate Action
May 13th 2010 23:57
It is official: the Rudd Labor Government has failed Australians on Climate Change. All the rhetoric, promises and chest-beating turned out to be nothing but hot air and hyperbole. The proposed emissions trading scheme (ETS), the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS), failed to gain approval in the Senate due to the inability of the Government to raise enough support from the non-Labor members. This has led the Government to shelve the initiative and blame those opposite for the failure. Can this blame be fairly laid at the feet of the Greens and Liberals or should the Government except more responsibility? For what has been deemed by Mr Rudd as “the greatest moral challenge of our time” there appears to be a lack of conviction to the Government’s obligation.
Government commitment to the introduction of an ETS has waned since the dismal failure of Copenhagen. Initial Opposition support from former party leader Malcolm Turnbull vanished when Tony Abbott took over following internal party division over the implementation of the proposed ETS. Abbott, a vocal climate sceptic withdrew the Opposition’s support the instant he took control of the party.
The option then was for Labor to generate support for its proposed package from the Greens – avid proponents of action to reduce carbon emissions. However, Green MPs rightly dismissed the CPRS for not having high enough reduction targets and rewarding large -polluters with hand-outs.
Internationally little constructive action has been seen on a large scale. Europe continues to lead the way in expanding renewable energy production and a questionably successful ETS in place. The countries of greatest concern – USA, China and India – have, as yet, failed to make any serious inroads into reducing, or planning to reduce, their emissions.
The Rudd Labor Government has used this lack of international action to defend its decision to shelve its own CPRS. The response of Labor shows that there was never any true commitment to the introduction of the scheme. If there was they would have undertaken serious negotiations with the Greens to gain their support. In reality Labor is now condemning Australia to be a follower not a leader and dissolve any credibility Australia had in addressing Climate Change.
Government commitment to the introduction of an ETS has waned since the dismal failure of Copenhagen. Initial Opposition support from former party leader Malcolm Turnbull vanished when Tony Abbott took over following internal party division over the implementation of the proposed ETS. Abbott, a vocal climate sceptic withdrew the Opposition’s support the instant he took control of the party.
The option then was for Labor to generate support for its proposed package from the Greens – avid proponents of action to reduce carbon emissions. However, Green MPs rightly dismissed the CPRS for not having high enough reduction targets and rewarding large -polluters with hand-outs.
Internationally little constructive action has been seen on a large scale. Europe continues to lead the way in expanding renewable energy production and a questionably successful ETS in place. The countries of greatest concern – USA, China and India – have, as yet, failed to make any serious inroads into reducing, or planning to reduce, their emissions.
The Rudd Labor Government has used this lack of international action to defend its decision to shelve its own CPRS. The response of Labor shows that there was never any true commitment to the introduction of the scheme. If there was they would have undertaken serious negotiations with the Greens to gain their support. In reality Labor is now condemning Australia to be a follower not a leader and dissolve any credibility Australia had in addressing Climate Change.
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