Tag Archive: Thoughts

Apr 18 2013

Is it time to abandon emissions trading?

Yesterday the European Parliament voted down a European Commission proposal to postpone the auction of 900 million permits for the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) from 2013-2015 until 2019-2020 (called “backloading”). The proposal was predictably opposed by Poland and other eastern European countries, and unfortunately also met resistance from conservative forces within some …

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Apr 11 2013

Australia’s carbon price time bomb

Australia’s carbon price, presently fixed at $23/tonne, is the subject of many political talking points. The most important (and perhaps most confusing) disagreement is over whether or not the carbon price is effective. The Labor government and the Greens, who designed the policy, claim the carbon price is already cutting emissions, pointing to reports that …

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Mar 26 2013

Polluters win in horrific reshuffle

Yesterday Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced her government’s latest cabinet reshuffle. The Department of Climate Change will be merged into the Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research, and Tertiary Education – except for energy efficiency, which will be moved into the Department of Resources and Energy. Greg Combet, previously Minister for Climate Change …

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Mar 19 2013

The many faces of climate change denial

There is much debate in Australia, particularly in the political sphere, about who is a climate change denier. To answer that question, we first have to clarify what we mean by climate change denial. The book Climate Change Denial by Haydn Washington and John Cook helpfully distinguishes between several different stages of denial: literal, interpretative, …

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Mar 11 2013

Caps Review Part 7: Complementary measures

This is the seventh part in a series about the Caps and Targets Review being conducted by the Australian Government’s independent Climate Change Authority (CCA) this year. Part 1 summarized the global climate crisis, Part 2 explained the importance of the review and how CCA should approach it, Part 3 outlined the role Australia should …

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Mar 10 2013

Caps Review Part 6: ETS design flaws and pitfalls

This is the sixth part in a series about the Caps and Targets Review being conducted by the Australian Government’s independent Climate Change Authority (CCA) this year. Part 1 summarized the global climate crisis, Part 2 explained the importance of the review and how CCA should approach it, Part 3 outlined the role Australia should …

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Mar 09 2013

Caps Review Part 5: Emissions caps

This is the fifth part in a series about the Caps and Targets Review being conducted by the Australian Government’s independent Climate Change Authority (CCA) this year. Part 1 summarized the global climate crisis, Part 2 explained the importance of the review and how CCA should approach it, Part 3 outlined the role Australia should …

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Mar 07 2013

Caps Review Part 4: Economics

This is the fourth part in a series about the Caps and Targets Review being conducted by the Australian Government’s independent Climate Change Authority (CCA) this year. Part 1 summarized the global climate crisis, Part 2 explained the importance of the review and how CCA should approach it, and Part 3 outlined the role Australia …

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Mar 06 2013

Caps Targets Part 3: Australia’s role

This is the third part in a series about the Caps and Targets Review being conducted by the Australian Government’s independent Climate Change Authority (CCA) this year. Part 1 summarized the global climate crisis, and Part 2 explained the importance of the review and how CCA should approach it. This part outlines the role Australia …

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Mar 05 2013

Caps Review Part 2: Politics

This is the second part in a series about the Caps and Targets Review being conducted by the Australian Government’s independent Climate Change Authority (CCA) this year. Part 1 summarized the global climate crisis. This part explains the importance of the review and how CCA should approach it. As a new and respected independent body, …

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