Tony Windsor has been doing an excellent job in adding some good old fashioned common sense to the Government’s reform agenda and making sure that policies are practical and not just driven by the interests of the big players.
As the Carbon Tax finally goes to Parliament, I think that Tony can be proud that he helped to craft a major piece of economic reform that, over time, will reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and redirect investment into sustainable energy initiatives, including investments in New England, without causing major job losses or economic disruption anywhere in Australia.
I have a very pessimistic view of the potential impacts of climate change on both people and the natural environment and I think Kevin Rudd was correct when he said that dealing with climate change is the biggest moral challenge facing our generation. It is a big moral challenge because almost everybody relies on fossil fuels and many people derive their income from them. Also there are perceived uncertainties about the scale, timing and likely impact of climate change and, despite a broad consensus amongst scientists, the spread of mis-information has caused some people to sincerely believe that climate change is not happening at all. Added to that, it is difficult to think of climate change in national terms. Australia may produce only about two per cent of global emissions, but per capita emissions are amongst the highest in the world and 99 per cent of the people affected by our emissions are outside of Australia. We know that climate change contributes to the intensity of floods, heatwaves, droughts and famine, which are all likely to have larger impacts on poorer people than on richer people. If nothing is done to reduce emissions, the number of people suffering and dying as a result of climate change could easily become very large – perhaps many millions – in the next two to three decades. If we think that our contribution of two per cent to each million dying is 20,000, then doing nothing about climate change just because a few jobs in the coal industry starts to seem quite out of proportion.
With the carbon tax, at least we can start to take small steps in the right direction. Thanks Tony.
Chris Nadolny
