NZCPR- Muriel Newman
Submitted by climaterealists on Fri, 09/07/2010 - 20:07
Newsletter from Friday 18 June 2010
You are receiving this message because you are one of the thousands of people who signed the New Zealand Centre for Political Research petition requesting that the Prime Minister suspend National’s emissions trading scheme (ETS). You can read the letter that we sent him here>>>.
If the Prime Minister goes ahead with the next stage of the ETS on July 1st, when the transport, energy and industrial sectors are all scheduled to enter the scheme, the 5 percent increase in the price of power and 4 cents a litre rise in petrol and diesel prices will impact on the whole economy. This will force New Zealanders to pay more for food, heating, and all other goods and services. In addition, interest rates and the kiwi dollar will be driven up making it much more difficult for householders and exporters alike. To add insult to injury, National’s October 1st GST increase will be applied to ETS-inflated prices!
National promised that under their ETS New Zealand would not lead the world in climate change. Yet National’s scheme is by far the most comprehensive in the world as it is the only ETS that covers “all gases” and “all sectors”. That’s why it will be such a dreadful cost burden on our struggling economy. In comparison, the European Union, which runs the world’s only other comprehensive ETS, only targets the industrial and manufacturing sectors. Transport, households, small business, agriculture, construction and waste are all exempted. The only gas that is included in the EU scheme is carbon dioxide – all other greenhouse gases are excluded, including methane from livestock digestion which plays such a major part in National’s ETS.
In other words, in spite of their promises, National’s “all gases and all sectors” ETS will lead the world and any claim to the contrary is disingenuous.
None of New Zealand’s major trading partners have an ETS. Australia’s scheme is now suspended until 2013, Japan’s scheme has been delayed until 2012, the US scheme is stalled, and Canada’s scheme is still on the drawing board. Meanwhile China and India have no intention of imposing any scheme at all that would slow their economic progress. This means that New Zealand is the only country that intends to punish its vital business sector with significant costs that none of their competitors will incur.
In this week’s NZCPR newsletter “Time to Make a Stand” I outline how National has been misleading the public over their ETS and why it is such a bad deal for New Zealand (if you don’t already receive our FREE newsletters, you can register here>>>). To read the newsletter and the excellent Guest Commentary by Roger Kerr on why the ETS should be deferred (and take part in the NZCPR poll asking whether the country can afford an ETS), please click here>>>.
The reality is that the only way the ETS will be stopped is through people power. A march against the ETS is being held next week in Wellington (for details click here>>>) and people from all over the country are contacting the PM and his National Party MPs to send them an unequivocal message that this campaign against the ETS will not go away until the scheme is suspended. You can email MPs (see email addresses here>>>) or write to them c/o Parliament Buildings Wellington (no stamp required) but whatever you do please make sure your voice is heard in Wellington!
The NZCPR is running this ETS campaign because we unashamedly care deeply about the future of this country. We do not want New Zealand to become the sort of country where elderly people sit in freezing cold homes because they can’t afford heating, or where families with children can’t afford to buy milk. But unless the public speak up, that’s where we are heading. If you would like to help support this campaign, please click here>>>.
Please feel free to forward this email on to anyone you think shares your concerns, and thank you so much for all you are doing to stop this ETS madness.
Warmest regards,
Muriel
Dr Muriel Newman
New Zealand Centre for Political Research
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