New Zealand Climate Science Coalition

27 April 2010                Media statement for immediate release

By Hon Barry Brill

The reported decision by the Rudd Government to shelve Australia’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme legislation until 2013 at the earliest is final confirmation that Prime Minister John Key will be justified in deferring implementation of New Zealand’s emissions trading scheme (ETS) due to start on 1 July. This statement today by Hon Barry Brill, a former Minister of Science in an earlier National Government, and now chairman of the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition.

“The Sydney Morning Herald reports today that it has learnt the Rudd Government has decided to put the scheme on ice to undercut the Liberal-National Coalition’s ‘great big new tax’ scare campaign, particularly after the failure of the Copenhagen climate conference and uncertainty over the fate of the US emissions trading scheme. Labour will insist it still believes an ETS is the best way to reduce emissions but will cite domestic and international pressures as making it impossible to introduce in the short term. The scheme had been due to begin with a carbon tax next year, moving to full trading in 2012,” said Mr Brill.
 

by Dr Doug Edmeades

Environmental Views By Dennis T Avery  25 April 2010

CHURCHVILLE, VA— The shale gas industry’s boom is creating 100,000 jobs in Pennsylvania during 2010, according to Penn State University. Only a few of these new jobs are on drill rigs; many of those jobs go to highly-skilled oil patch veterans from out of state. But the gas industry’s expansion has created jobs by the tens of thousands in steel production, construction, and services.

by Ken Shock

Climate Conversation Group

by Richard Treadgold 28 April 2010

In the Parliament today, Chris Auchinvole asked Nick Smith (Minister for Climate Change): “Are claims correct that New Zealand is the first in the world to have an emissions trading scheme, and that it is just a tax for revenue purposes?”

And thus did Nick reply:

No, 38 countries have commitments under the Kyoto Protocol, and 29 of them, or three-quarters, already have an emissions trading scheme. Nor is the scheme a tax. Although consumers and businesses will pay $350 million in the first year of the scheme for their emissions, foresters will receive $1,100 million in carbon credits for post-1989 forests. Far from providing net revenue to the Government, the scheme is actually a cost to the Crown. There are 12,000 New Zealanders who, in good faith, planted trees on the assurances of both National and Labour Governments that they would receive carbon credits for those post-1989 forests. The emissions trading scheme honours that commitment.

But the facts are different from those presented by our Nick.

Hansard Volume 625 p20394

Climate Change Response Amendment Bill

JOHN KEY (National—Helensville)  : I rise on behalf of the National
Party to give the good news to the people of New Zealand—that is, the
Climate Change Response Amendment Bill is a load of rubbish and the
National Party will not be supporting it, for very, very good reasons
indeed.

I want to start off with a broad-ranging discussion, if I may, around
the Kyoto Protocol and the absolutely nonsensical road that this
Government is taking New Zealand down. I know we have a Prime Minister
who is very confident, and all the rest of it, but maybe she would
like to step out of her office on the 9th floor and realise which
planet she is on. She is on the same planet, she may be surprised to
learn, as India, China—

Hon Ken Shirley: And Mugabe.