Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Licence needed for work use Learn More

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | News Video | Crime | Employers | Housing | Immigration | Legal | Local Govt. | Maori | Welfare | Unions | Youth | Search

 

"Carbon Tax” – signpost to the new dark age


For News Editor
Scoop

For Immediate Release
28th June 2010



““Carbon Tax” – signpost to the new dark age.

The Carbon Sense Coalition today claimed that a carbon tax was the next likely battle in the long war on carbon.

The Chairman of “Carbon Sense” Mr Viv Forbes, said it was ominous that one of the first promises made by Australia’s new Prime Minister was:

“If elected as Prime Minister I will re-prosecute the case for a carbon price at home and abroad.”

Forbes added:

“Big governments love carbon taxes. They promise a bountiful political dividend of tax receipts and green votes.

“The tax harvest will feed the climate change industry, provide eternal corporate welfare for alternate energy speculators, and allow politicians to buy votes with handouts for favoured mendicants.

“But a carbon tax will have zero beneficial effect on earth’s temperature.

“Carbon taxes will be welcomed by the solar/wind lobby. But the world now has plenty of real experiments proving the inability of these follies to generate reliable power at reasonable cost - Spain, Portugal, Germany, Denmark and California.

“But the slow learner governments of the world, UK, New Zealand and Australia, seem determined to punish their economies, their tax payers and their electricity consumers by repeating the same anti-carbon errors.

“There are other feasible methods for generating reliable economic non-carbon electricity – nuclear power as in France, geo-thermal as in Iceland, and hydro as in Scandinavia. However none of these options will be available for Australia for at least a decade.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

“Carbon taxes will just depress the tourism, transport, steel, resource and cement industries and penalise every user of electricity in their homes, farms, factories and refineries.

“Carbon Tax” should be Gillard-tined for the same reasons that the Wong Ration-N-Tax Scheme was chopped – it will have no climate benefits but it will destroy businesses, jobs and living standards.

“Everyone knows that if you tax something, less of it will be produced.

“Carbon produces the heat, light, food and transport for the modern world. A carbon tax will inevitably reduce the production of these essentials – it is a signpost on the road to a new dark age.


ends

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

Featured News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.