Rhetoric won't match reality

The Climate Change Minister, Senator Wong has today announced that the government will publicly release the exposure draft legislation on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme on Tuesday 10 March.

In her press release, Senator Wong stays noticeably on message, referring to the scheme as the ‘most significant economic reform (to come) before the parliament in years’. 

Agitate! is not sure about it being referred to as a ‘reform’, but is certain that it will have economic consequences, many of them untinended and all of them negative.  This will include job losses and business closures.

Senator Wong also makes the grand pronouncement that ‘... the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme will start reducing Australia’s emissions for the first time ever from next year.’

As Agitate! has pointed out before, such a claim is not only doubtful, but also highly dubious.  The United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has released a scientific study which shows climate change is largely irreversible.

What is not in doubt is that an ETS will reduce the capacity of our economy and as a result, we will all be the poorer for it.  This will also be irreversible.