Article

nzherald.co.nz 

by Audrey Young 29 April 2010

Pressure mounts for a rethink after Australia puts scheme off till 2013

The Government said yesterday it would probably ditch the rest of the emissions trading scheme as scheduled beyond 2013 if its major trading partners did not have schemes as well.

The scheme, already passed into law, is supposed to be a comprehensive "all sectors, all gases" scheme with a phased-in entry for different sectors.

But the confirmation by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Tuesday that he would shelve his proposed scheme until at least 2013 has forced the New Zealand Government to hedge its commitment to a full scheme.

Spiegel Online International

Merkel Abandons Aim of Binding Climate Agreement

By Dirk Kurbjuweit, Christian Schwägerl and Gerald Traufetter

Frustrated by the climate change conference in December, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is quietly moving away from her goal of a binding agreement on limiting climate change to 2 degrees Celsius. She has also sent out signals at the EU level that she no longer supports the idea of Europe going it alone.

"I have three children," German Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen said during a speech in Berlin last week, as he ventured to explain why climate policy still remains important after December's failed summit in Copenhagen. He said that a maximum rise in temperature of 2 degrees Celsius "is the highest amount that we can still tolerate, because beyond that life will no longer be possible as we know it."

NZHerald  by Fran O'Sullivan 28 April 2010

John Key's refusal to postpone the implementation of the next phase of the emissions trading scheme (ETS) is setting the scene for a 'winter of discontent' with New Zealand business.

In just two days the perception of the Key Government as a climate change laggard has morphed into an unwitting climate change leader as our major trading partners, like Australia and the United States, prepare to defer their own schemes leaving this country out in front of the pack instead of the "fast follower" the PM promised.

Kevin Rudd and Barack Obama are facing domestic political considerations.

Australia goes to the polls this year and Rudd doesn't want Tony Abbott to make headway with the Liberal-National Coalition's 'great big new tax' scare campaign.

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.

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.

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

The Philadelphia Enquirer   by Laura E. Huggins

Marlborough Express 23/04/2010  by Blair Ensor

Agriculture Minister David Carter yesterday received an earful from Marlborough farmers outraged at agriculture being included in the emissions trading scheme (ETS).

The farmers waited for Mr Carter to finish a speech about the scheme at Meadowbank Station in Taylor Pass before unleashing a barrage of questions and statements.

Seddon farmer Michael Davison said he had been an avid supporter of the National Party all his life, but he would never vote for it again because of agriculture's inclusion in the scheme.

"This is bureaucratic bulls.... It's enough for me to sign off from National forever."

He then walked out on the meeting.

NZHerald.co.nz

You would think that men of the intelligence of John Key, Bill English, Nick Smith et al would have the wit to postpone indefinitely the emissions trading scheme which is due to come into effect on July 1.

But no: they seem to have been infected by their predecessors' childish wish to be a "world leader" in the reduction of so-called greenhouse gases.

The futility of this behaviour is increasingly embarrassing since more and more evidence is available that gases such as carbon dioxide and methane have absolutely no effect on global temperatures.

The idea was that New Zealand would develop a scheme to align itself with Australia's, but Australia has wisely deferred its emissions scheme plans sine die.

Our other major trading partners, China and the United States, show no inclination to develop carbon tax regimes, and France late last month abandoned its intention to introduce a carbon tax.

The Independent,"London, 15 April 2010 -- Steve Connor, Science Editor 

It was the coldest winter in England since 1963 – the coldest in Scotland since 1914 – and weeks of ice, snow and sub-zero temperatures from last December to March defied predictions by climate-change scientists of milder, wetter winters. So what happened?

Guardian.co.uk

John Vidal in Bonn 12 April 2010

Document outlines key messages the Obama administration wants to convey in the run-up to UN climate talks in Mexico in November

A document accidentally left on a European hotel computer and passed to the Guardian reveals the US government's increasingly controversial strategy in the global UN climate talks.

Titled Strategic communications objectives and dated 11 March 2010, it outlines the key messages that the Obama administration wants to convey to its critics and to the world media in the run-up to the vital UN climate talks in Cancun, Mexico in November. (You can read the document text below).