Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Australia's ETS Wars

It seems that the Australian government is in full debate over the Emissions Trading Scheme with widely reported coverage all over the press and media.

Here's one of the many stories published in The Australian, this one titled Clever Tactic, Poor Policy. It explains that there were three manifest messages to come out of a busy day of politicking. First, Rudd is proving a master of climate change politics. Second, the government has discovered a magic accounting trick. Third, the compromise package entrenches the interpretation of the CPRS as brilliant short-term politics and dubious long-term policy.

The Sydney Morning Herald is also focusing on the effect the climate change policy is having on the Australian Opposition. Here is the story titled Turnbull deserves praise for his climate change stand.

It seems it comes down to whether the Liberal Party believes there is a case for global warming or not. Australia has the highest per capita carbon emissions among developed nations, not something to be proud of and while the debate looks as though it is going to continue to rage, that mantle is going to stand for quite some time yet.