Emissions Trading Scheme: 40% cut will cost $3000 per PERSON!

New government reports on the cost of New Zealand's proposed emissions trading scheme reveal it could cost NZ taxpayers a staggering $3,000 each, per year, if CO2 emissions are cut 40% relative to 1990 levels by 2020.

Even a 15% cut will cost ordinary New Zealanders $1,400 a year each, or around $7,000 a year for a family of five, in new fees, taxes and higher prices.

The figures, compiled by Infometrics, have been released this afternoon (Download NZIER Infometrics Report 26 July 2009) by Climate Change Minister Nick Smith:

“We’ve got significant decisions to make on New Zealand’s 2020 target and on emissions trading that will have major environmental and economic consequences for many years to come.

Key conclusions from the NZIER-Infometrics report on the macro-economic impacts of climate change policy are that:

Costs range from $600, $1000, $1400 to $3000 per capita per year for 2020 emissions targets ranging from +15%, 0%, -15% to -40% relative to 1990 levels

• Costs are significantly greater if there is no international trading
• Costs are reduced by between a third and half if there is consistent action by other countries
• New Zealand’s Gross Domestic Product continues to grow under all options.

“We need to be upfront with New Zealanders that climate change poses real risks and that addressing it comes with costs that this report helps quantify," said Smith.

The Government reports make it clear that cutting CO2 emissions will come with a huge economic price tag, making it imperative, dare I be so bold, for people to get up to speed and read Air Con before these targets are locked and loaded.

 

Comments

[Shane Ponting]

Ian,

I'm finding this National government to be about as responsive as the labour government to correspondence and opinion regarding the decisions they are making on our behalf. Should I just keep spamming them on what a waste of time and money the ETS is or are there more tactical methods?

[Tanya]

Our government is just fundamentally mad, National are cloth eared as Labour, time to move to a sane country, are there any such places left?

[Anonymous]

Clearly the only solution is for more people to vote ACT next election!

[peter]

Shane and Tanya

Are you really expecting Ian to say he agrees with you? Even if privately he does agree with you?

It is quite clear that the Cook Islands are already being adversely affected by global warming. People need to move houses we were told.

There will be a lot of economics to work through, but responsible governments will act and ignore the odd trickle of static.

[AcidComments]

"It is quite clear that the Cook Islands are already being adversely affected by global warming. People need to move houses we were told."

Peter,

The Sea will eventually claim coastal property regardless of it's in the Cook Islands or in NZ.

There's plenty of NZ coastal properties being destroyed by natural coastal erosion and it's got nothing to do with Global Warming. More Propaganda!

If the Cook Islands were serious about the problem they would consider building sea walls. Unfortunately many of our NZ Councils don't like coastal property owners trying to protect their properties from erosion.

It was a bit like a TVNZ news item last year blaming manmade climate change for serious erosion in parts of South East England. As it turned out the Local council wasn't spending money on repairing the old sea wall which was in a serious state of disrepair and because of that significant erosion had destroyed local properties. Once again nothing to do with climate change!

Looks like Greenpeace's pathetic 40% emission reductions by 2020 campaign is starting to fall flat on it's face.

Greenpeace's and the Green movements solution to many environmental issues is to just tax humanity out of existance!

[Tanya]

Of course I would expect Ian Wishart to agree with my sceptism of global warming Peter, have you not read Air Con? The government taxing people $3000 each a year is not going to fix anything, it will bring on poverty for already struggling families, break the economic backbone of NZ, and is just utterly foolish. National did not let on to any of this before the election, now, did they. I agree with anon, and will be voting Act next time. Global warming is not real, it is simply a scam by world governments to tax people all the more (for doing nothing more sinister than breathing the air!). It is not a crime to not believe in global warming you know, even though the mainstream media would like to say it is! Honestly!

[peter]

Tanya

I doubt that Ian Wishart will open fire on John Key the way he did with Helen Clark.

In fact his excursion into this new area of Climate Change seems to be a bid to turn a blind eye to the many areas that the new government is running down.

How deluded can you get? What you say looks like a string of cut and pastes from the sceptic sites.

When you have National and Labour so strongly in accord - so unnaturally - ask yourself WHY!

The evidence of climate change is self-evident and the impact of mankind must now be addressed. There will be no intervention from an intelligent designer, any more than there was around the time of the Ice Age!

Acid Comments - you won't see Cook Islanders building sea walls - they have a vast coastline relative to population. Why should they build a wall to protect themselves from the excesses of more prosperous and developed countries?

By the way, although I have never been a Paul Holmes fan, he is a refreshing and broad-minded host compared with Leighton Smith on 12B = especially on Climate change.

Ha Ha Ha!!!

[Emerson]

Left,right, green or in between, the bottom line is
the NZ government is a corporation and listed as such,the prime minister is just the latest CEO of the NZ corporation.
The agenda is set years in advance and is carried out regardless of who fronts the corporation. Elections are nothing more than National theater designed to make the sheep feel like they are playing a part in the direction of national policy.
At about this point in a new governments term I hear the same disappointment of their performance (they lied to us blah blah blah)L or N or Greens or whatever, the agenda stays the same, only the marketing and execution of it changes.

[Emerson]

Oh no! the evil climate change beast called El Nino is back again, we must prepare for more westerly winds and cooler summers.
But wait hang on, what if we taxed every human on the planet and build giant refrigeration units in the eastern pacific that should do it.
Why do they call it abnormal warming(El Nino)? When its obviously a natural event that has always happened?
Because many modern humans are brainwashed idiots?

[AcidComments]

"The evidence of climate change is self-evident and the impact of mankind must now be addressed. There will be no intervention from an intelligent designer, any more than there was around the time of the Ice Age!"

Much of the evidence of socalled climate change are more natural cycles and variations of that than anything else.

BTW: Peter. Parts of the Cook Islands have been severely damaged by Cyclones over the years. Mankind could'nt stop that!

Blaming Mankind and especially developed nations for every variable in climate seems to be a very convenient ruse to extract extra $$$ in aid!!

[peter]

Acid Comments

Mankind must control what mankind must control!

Paul Holmes and a caller got very confused on this point this morning. The caller said that the Amazon River was a big natural contributor to global warming and honestly thought Brazil would pay up for that!

Emerson .. I know what you mean. It is very easy to make a case that Labour is part of the National Party apparatus and National is part of the Labour Party apparatus - depending on who is in government. We think we have an adverserial setup but really it is more of a partnership and role play.

As in "Yes Minister", the direction of our country is really set by the bureaucracy, and here it is crucial to have strong and smart players in the leadership of the state sector. My perception is that we have definite weaknesses at present - especially in ministries that have built huge empires and then hired consultants to do their job!!

You do get ministers that push through policy that historically made no sense to the bureaucrats - but that is the legislation that falls around their ears. Think of "Maximum Retail Price" (MRP) of Warren Freer, or abolishing school zones of Lockwood Smith. Rob Muldoon and Bill Birch in Think Big may also qualify.

It is very hard to find genuinely radical thinkers out there prepared to say their piece - such is the dependency of individuals on funders with conservative agendas.

[peter]

Sorry to stuff up the thread but Ian, you should comment on the disappearance of Sarah Palin from the role of Governor of Alaska today.

An end of the embarrassment?

I guess the statements coming from Dr Nick Smith have done nothing to cheer you up either.

Ha Ha Ha !!!

[Tanya]

Peter, with your juvenile 'ha ha ha' which end a couple of your posts, your childish charm wears thin very fast, it speaks volumes to me, but in the wrong way.

[AcidComments]

The Obama Admin wants to also do the same under their CO2 emission legislation. Slap punitive CO2 import tariffs on countries not having similar CO2 legislation to theirs.

Germany calls carbon tariffs "eco-imperialism"

ARE, Sweden (Reuters) - Germany called a French idea to slap "carbon tariffs" on products from countries that are not trying to cut greenhouse gases a form of "eco-imperialism" and a direct violation of WTO rules.

The issue of greenhouse tariffs has met bitter opposition from developing countries such as China and India, who count on the developed world to buy their exports as they build their economies in the face of the worst financial crisis in decades.

Matthias Machnig, Germany's State Secretary for the Environment, told a news briefing on Friday that a French push for Europe to impose carbon tariffs on imports from countries that flout rules on carbon emissions would send the wrong signal to the international community.

"There are two problems -- the WTO (World Trade Organization), and the signal would be that this is a new form of eco-imperialism," Machnig said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/internal_ReutersNewsRoom_BehindTheScenes_MOLT/
idUSTRE56N1RJ20090724

[robk]

Peter

Exactly how is global warming causing problems in the Cook Islands?

"Mankind must control what mankind must control!"

Duh!

Mankind may control some things, other things we simply have to adapt to!

Good to see 'National Supporters' being critical of the National government when it's warranted. Not something predicted by you, Peter :-D

[AcidComments]

Of interest:

It's laughable when we hear the Australians were thinking of culling kangaroos to reduce their carbon footprint and reduce methane. It's also laughable when they're thinking of culling feral goats in our own forests for the very same reason.

Power in perspective

ONE stunning sentence leapt out of an excellent piece in The Australian last week by resources minister Martin Ferguson, which should have grabbed every reader figuratively around the throat.

"Every four months, from now until 2020, China will build new coal-fired power stations possessing the same capacity as (my, not Martin's emphasis) Australia's entire coal-fired power sector."

Just savour that for a while. Every four months - three times a year, every year for 10 years! - China will build one Australian coal-fired power industry. Not one power station, but the equivalent of all our power stations. Every four months, as far as the analytical eye can see.

Give or take one or two 'Australian industries', depending on how things play out in practice, it will build 25-35 Australian coal-fired power industries by the 2020 that is promoted as the interim date for substantial reductions in global carbon dioxide emissions.

We can close down what is to all practical intents and purposes our entire power industry - give or take a few dams in Tasmania and thousands of all-but useless wind turbines - and the emissions 'saved' would be spent in China in four months.

Now I say it was an excellent piece, because it took head-on the green fantasists who believe - and that word is used deliberately, as it is all about theological not factual 'belief' - we can march into some energy-free or completely 'green' energy Elysian future.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story
/0,21985,25844288-5000117,00.html

[peter]

Rob K says:

" Good to see 'National Supporters' being critical of the National government when it's warranted. Not something predicted by you, Peter :-D "

National supporters like Ian Wishart?

Ha Ha Ha !!!

[robk]

Peter

Again: you said above "It is quite clear that the Cook Islands are already being adversely affected by global warming. People need to move houses we were told. "

Can you substantiate this? i.e. exactly HOW is global warming causing people in the Cook Islands to have to move their houses? Either you have proof or you were suckered, or you made this up. Which is it?

Please don't dodge the issue yet again.

[A. Thurlow]

I hear there's big money to be made from the Oil Industry by 'journos' who are anticlimate change. Does anyone pay you to push this agenda Wishard??

[AcidComments]

"I hear there's big money to be made from the Oil Industry by 'journos' who are anticlimate change. Does anyone pay you to push this agenda Wishard??"

Actually there's Bigger Money made by the Oil Company and Energy Investing Wealthy Elite who're now backing the CO2 Carbon Trading Scam and the AGW Scam. Plus they're also support the Greenie Gaia and UN Human depopulation agenda!!

George Soros and the Rockfellers to name just a few. They're playing it both ways for $$$$$!!

Wake Up!!