“Ditch the Emissions Trading Scheme”.

Photo; Protest sign from Washington tea Party Rally, from 9-12 Tea Party Rallies: Red Cube Goes to Washington. For those following this link, note the free market/ libertarian/ pro capitalist essence of the signs displayed.

By Viv Forbes

It is time for Australian politicians to ditch the Emissions Trading Scheme and dismantle the expensive Global Warming empire they have created.

The scientific case has collapsed and the political coalition has evaporated, but still the major political parties continue to serve vested interests and fish for Green preferences.

The case for action on global warming is essentially this: “Man’s emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are causing dangerous global warming”. This scare has been disproved in triplicate.

Firstly, both long term and short term temperature records show that CO2 does not control temperature. This destroys the whole basis for the global warming hysteria.

Secondly, recent temperature records show that, despite constantly increasing aerial CO2, world temperature is falling, not rising alarmingly.

Thirdly, it is clear that global cooling is a far bigger threat to all life on earth than global warming – there are many benefits of a warmer world with plenty of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The global political support is also collapsing, although few politicians will yet admit it.

It has suffered three major political reverses.

Firstly, the US Senate is not going to pass their Ration-N-Tax Scheme this year, probably not next year, maybe never.

Secondly, there is scant political support for capping carbon dioxide in Eurasia or South of the Equator. There are many countries lined up looking for billions of dollars in carbon credit handouts, but none want to cap or tax their own emissions.

For example, China has announced that it doubts the science and the economics of caps (but it is keen to build heaps of windmills and solar panels for anyone silly enough to buy them).

India will burn more coal, and will not accept caps, and Russia is only interested in selling carbon credits.

Finally, even in Europe, the citadel of global warming, public support is evaporating.

The British public is “tired, bored and resentful” of the hysteria and cost of the low carbon vision.

And two thirds of French voters oppose their new carbon tax (even though they have a huge nuclear power industry).

Both Australian political parties cite “pressure for certainty from big business” as the main justification for rushing into the Ration-N-Tax Scheme.

The sad fact is that a majority of big businesses look to benefit from the whole new tax-subsidise-and-trade empire that will be created. Banks, commodity traders, lawyers, accountants, regulators, academics, solar, wind and gas entrepreneurs, and the carbon sequestration lobby are all planning to profit from trading hot air certificates. They also see opportunities to profit from increasing energy prices or they need special subsidies and tax breaks to justify some foolish gambles they have taken in the alternate energy business.

And the hidden agenda of both major political parties is to gain or retain power by courting green preferences.

These are all grubby reasons for saddling ordinary Australians with a scheme that will increase the costs for everything, particularly electricity, food and travel, as well as destroying real jobs and slashing the value of their superannuation funds.

Viv Forbes is Chairman of the Carbon Sense Coalition which opposes waste of resources, opposes pollution, and promotes the rational and sustainable use of carbon energy and carbon food.