Carbon tax pushes workers away from the environmental movement

Julia Gillard’s so called ‘Clean Energy Future’, the 18 pieces of legislation that make up the carbon tax, have been introduced to the Parliament. The legislation has the support of the Greens, who opposed Kevin Rudd’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS). Also supporting it are a swathe of environmental groups.

But does the carbon tax represent real action on climate change? The unfortunate answer is ‘no’.

By David Suter, Socialist Party

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The decade’s long struggle between environmentalists, the logging industry and the Tasmanian State Government is in the public eye once again. The latest chapter in this battle to protect Tasmania’s native forests is the implementation of a new deal known as the Tasmanian Forest Agreement.

This deal will see over $270 million allocated to funding a ‘transition’ away from the logging of native Tasmanian forests. This includes $148 million which will go directly to the forestry industry. On the surface the deal appears to have some positive features in that it aims to preserve over 430,000 hectares of native forest. However, experts have agreed that the commitment made to the forestry industry will likely mean that already protected forest will be logged to make up for the shortfall.

By Andrew Grant, Socialist Party

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The Newcastle Branch of the Socialist Party is holding a public meeting at 1pm on Saturday September 10 @ the Stag and Hunter Hotel (upstairs meeting room), Maitland Road, Mayfield, NSW.

We are opposed to Gillard’s carbon tax as it forces ordinary people, rather than the big polluters, to pay. We stand for urgent action to stop global warming but say we can’t leave all the decisions in the hands of big business.

The only way to save the environment is on the basis of public ownership, democratic control and sustainable planning. Come along to this meeting to find out what socialists say about climate change.

For more information contact Robyn on 0422729884 or email our National Office.

The political debate surrounding climate change has been something of a rollercoaster ride over recent years. After years of a climate change denying Howard government, many believed things were on the up when Rudd’s Labor government came to power in 2007. To the dismay of many, Rudd’s initial policy approach – the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme – proved lacking, and was labeled “worse than useless” by the Greens.

After Rudd’s unceremonious sacking, Gillard took over, stating “there will be no carbon tax” under her leadership. Less than a year later, Gillard announced in February her intention to bring in a carbon tax. The Greens, who now hold the balance of power in both houses of parliament, have used their position to support the new plan.

By Mel Gregson, Socialist Party

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SP Newsletter No.364

Hydraulic Fracturing or “fracking” is a technique for extracting gas from deep within shale rock and coal beds. It looks set to become big oil’s newest gold rush and, as usual, their desperation for profit makes them blind to the environmental costs of their folly.

The process of fracking involves using high pressure to inject massive volumes of water, plus sand and chemicals into dense rock formations. This breaks the rock and natural gas is released and captured. The basic technique has existed for several decades but recent advances in technology have made it possible to frack the gas out of deeper and denser rock.

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We are on the verge of a disastrous change in global climate, and none of the dominant parties are offering realistic solutions. The current ALP proposal, supported by the Greens, is the use of a pollution tax to increase the cost of carbon emissions. According to the market logic accepted by these parties, this will encourage people and industries to decrease their use of pollution intensive energy sources, and find alternatives.

By David Elliott, Socialist Party Melbourne

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SP Newsletter No.360

Talks between International Power and the Victorian State Government about the closure of Australia’s dirtiest power plant, Hazelwood, were abandoned recently. This is a sign that neither big business nor the major parties are serious about addressing climate change. If we are to avert the global warming catastrophe it is key that coal fired power plants such as Hazelwood are phased out rapidly.

Coal fired power plants are responsible for approximately half of Australia’s carbon dioxide emissions and generate nearly 90% of electricity in Australia. It’s clear that phasing out coal is a key task when it comes to tackling global warming.

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The recent nuclear disaster in Fukushima demonstrated once again the problems inherent in nuclear power. The disaster was clearly further aggravated by the private company’s poor safety standards, lack of communication and slow response, proving that big business profits are considered more important than the impact on the lives of ordinary people and the environment.

Over the last few years the multi-billion dollar nuclear industry has worked overtime to rebrand nuclear power as a clean, green solution to climate change. Now, after Fukushima, public perception of nuclear power has no doubt plummeted.

By Mel Gregson, Socialist Party

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SP Newsletter No.357

Last month numerous rallies were organised around Australia both in support and in opposition to the ALP/Greens proposed carbon tax set to begin in July 2012. Unfortunately both camps are under the influence of political parties that have no intent to seriously address the urgent problem of climate change.

The Liberals, who hold sway over the anti-carbon tax crowd, still encompass those who hold the ludicrous position of climate change denial. The Liberal MP’s who do recognise the threat of climate change would never dare propose a solution that would step on the toes of their big business allies.

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SP Newsletter No.351

In February the Gillard Government, with the support of the Greens, announced their plan to introduce a carbon tax in Australia as of July 2012. While the full details of the policy are yet to be released, it has already become clear it will fall far short of what is needed to seriously address climate change.

Beyond Zero Emissions has argued a price on carbon of less than $70 a tonne will result in “minimal benefits to renewable energy”. Despite this, Treasurer Wayne Swan has said Labor’s carbon price would be less than $45 per tonne, and the Greens have supported a carbon price as low as $23 a tonne.

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