Barnaby Drake
But who the hell cares. We will appear to be the ‘good boys’ by lowering our own emissions and we will then be in a position to sit on world bodies and bark at others who are failing to meet their own targets. We will offset our power stations by planting more even rows of trees and we will talk about ‘clean coal technology’ and pretend to be doing our bit in saving the world, although currently the only clean coal is that which still remains underground or the fiction that exists in the minds of political spinners.
THE election’s been and gone but still promises flow fast and furious. A few million here, a couple of billion there and usually targeted at the same weary old potatoes of education, welfare, battlers, the health system, pensioners, etc. The same targets that they have been throwing money at since the year dot, but always failing to find the final solution.
But where is all this money coming from?
As they are reducing personal taxes, it isn’t from there. They may soak the rich a bit, but there are not enough of them to make a big dint in the budget, and besides, if they do it too much, it may impinge on their future party funds.
Now that Labor is in they are going to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, which means a certain amount of industrial decline as the emission standards start to bite, and this will mean a lessening of locally manufactured goods and exports, and as supply dwindles, prices go up. Which of course, brings with it a certain amount of Union activity and a bit of an infalationary spiral. No-one wants their living standards to go down.
So that leaves only one thing, we will be even more dependent on our minerals and basic commodities boom. More coal exports to China, who will then step into the breach to export more finished goods to us to offset the deficit here. Woodchips and pulp will add a few bucks into the National economy, which will pay something towards the subsidies that have been promised to Gunns. It won’t help Tasmania, but then, we are the poor relations and all the politicians are facing Northwards.
However, the big baddie here is that although we may be acting ‘responsibly’ to lower our own emissions, we will be actively increasing those of China and other raw material importers. This, I don’t think was the spirit of Kyoto.
But who the hell cares. We will appear to be the ‘good boys’ by lowering our own emissions and we will then be in a position to sit on world bodies and bark at others who are failing to meet their own targets. We will offset our power stations by planting more even rows of trees and we will talk about ‘clean coal technology’ and pretend to be doing our bit in saving the world, although currently the only clean coal is that which still remains underground or the fiction that exists in the minds of political spinners.
But the increasing coal exports does allow the government to push even more money in the direction of all the sacred cows and possibly secure their position for the next election.
And the world? Well, we did our best. It’s really them others!
Just ask the Greens to turn out the lights when we leave!
Barnaby Drake
