stuff.co.nz  by Kevin Norquay

Australia's postponement of its emissions trading scheme (ETS) led to calls today for New Zealand to do the same, but the Government did not give way.

The Australian government announced it had shelved plans to start its carbon pollution reduction scheme by July 2011 for at least three years due to parliamentary opposition and slow progress on a global climate pact.

The decision flew in the face of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's commitment to address climate change, an issue he has previously described as "the greatest moral challenge of our generation".

In Parliament, ACT MP John Boscawen called on the Government to "help New Zealand families" by following Australia's lead and putting the emissions trading scheme on hold.

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.
 

Sydney Morning Herald
 

LENORE TAYLOR
April 27, 2010 - 3:00AM

THE Rudd government has shelved its emissions trading scheme for at least three years in a bid to defuse Tony Abbott's "great big new tax" attack in this year's election campaign.

The cabinet's strategic priorities and budget committee has removed the scheme from the four-year forward estimates, a decision that saves $2.5 billion because household and industry compensation would have exceeded the revenue generated by the scheme in its early years.

The Herald understands the government has decided not to start the scheme before 2013 at the earliest, hoping that by then it will have gained support from the Coalition and international efforts to combat climate change will have become clearer.

I had a look at the NSIDC long term arctic ice record; see attached copy. The 30 year graph by NSIDC (Word file) doesn't look flash, but that's because the bottom line is not zero, it is 14 million square km. I plotted this graph with a zero sq km bottom line and it changes the picture dramatically, it does not look anywhere near so bad, the 30 year decline is about 7.8%, which in geological terms is not at all big. The trend could easily reverse (as it has in the Antarctic) and increase the ice cover dramatically. Just a few more months of the Iceland volcano may do it.
 

Dear Professor Gluckman
 
I have been reading your letter to Dr. Doug Edmeades commenting on his presentation regarding climate science and I wonder whether you would be prepared to read my comments on your comments.
 
I should begin by introducing myself.
 
I would claim a distinguished and eventful scientific career.
 
I was a Major scholar at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, the holder of a First Class Honours Degree in Chemistry, an MA,  and a PhD in Chemistry, all rather long ago.
 
I decided against an academic career and have instead held senior research positions in a large number of industrial research organizations, some private, some public and some both, in a wide variety of topics, in the UK, France, Canada, New Zealand and China. I worked in two universities in China.
 
I came to New Zealand in 1970 as the first Director of the Building Research Association and I had a subsequent career in the DSIR Forensic Division and in the Coal Research Association.
 
I have published many scientific papers, including, recently, in climate science. My book "The Global Warming Delusion" is still in print. I made submissions to all three Select Committees on the Emissions Trading Bill,

The end of the world is no closer than it was in 1970.

The Philadelphia Enquirer   by Laura E. Huggins