Words that Mean Nothing- A Green energy Future

What will the carbon tax achieve?
We should assess policies by the results they achieve not by the rhetoric that surrounds them or the hopes and aspirations behind these policies. Today I am going to look at what a carbon tax will actually achieve.

Let's begin with some facts.

Australia produces around 2% of Co2 emissions (actually 1.5 but 2 is a nice round number)
The Carbon tax aims to reduce at least 5% of 2000 levels by 2050
The IPCC models 5 degrees Celsius over the next hundred years.

So lets start with something easy. Australia's reduction would be 2%*5%= 0.1% of global emissions. Obviously im not a scientist and i cant proceed to speculate on how this reduction will affect warming levels but i dont think you need a degree to understand 0.1% isn't going to achieve anything. Yet politicians continually harp on about how the carbon tax is improving the environment and those who are against it are condemning the environment.

Now let's look at what a carbon tax will actually achieve.

1. It will make a lot of people feel better about themselves. Now when we travel to other countries we can be smug bastards about it. All those trendy inner city greenies can now finally say "I've done my part to reduce 0.1% of emissions what are you doing?"

2. A lot of people in the green energy sector will become rich. Because that's what happens when you redistribute money and concentrate it in a certain area of the economy. If only i owned a green tech company. Don't you just love it when the govt gets to pick winners and losers. 

The Gillard govt is really stuck between a rock and a hard place here. On one hand they try to keep mining, manufacturing and households happy by providing tax cuts and subsidies to help protect them from the effects of a carbon tax. You often hear about the govt assuring the coal/mining industry etc that they wont lose jobs. But in itself is contradictory considering the whole purpose of a carbon tax is to move the economy away from such industries and they energy sources they use. They can't both assure workers of their jobs as well as guarantee meaningful reductions. You cant walk both sides of the street.

What about the unintended consequences of a carbon tax? Many of the industries that will be most affected are manufacturing, mining and steel. Guess what these same industries are booming in a country called China(whilst being massively inefficient because they are subsidized by the govt). Guess who doesn't have a carbon tax? So in essence this could lead to a situation where production is shifted to a country such as China which has vastly more inefficient industries leading to even more carbon emissions, defeating the purpose of a carbon tax in the first place. Before i forget: fun fact all of Australia's projected reductions till 2050 will be surpassed by China's increase in emissions in one year. 

So next time you hear about the carbon tax helping save the environment no wait fuck that even reducing carbon emissions tell them that Australia's reductions will lead to a 1/700th of a degree reduction in temperature (it's smaller than the margin of error of the measuring instruments) and a 0.1% reduction in global emissions.


Random Rant: The IPCC is not a group of scientists. Its a group of UN bureaucrats. That's why its called the INTER GOVERNMENTAL panel on climate change.