Bill F.
Australia produces 582 million tonnes of greenhouses gases per year, making it the 10th largest global emitter and the largest per capita emitter on the planet.
The mining monopolies are lurking behind the Abbott bandwagon, which is so eagerly promoted in the shameless Murdoch media empire. Their crusade has been causing fear and division among the people on the issue of dealing with climate change. Huge sums of money are being thrown into a campaign to protect the profits of foreign monopoly mining and fossil fuel interests desperate to frustrate any significant action against carbon pollution. Genuine scientists are ridiculed and threatened, while pseudo-science crackpots are wheeled out to sow confusion.
And, how does Labor respond? Answer – In a traditional social-democrat manner; with massive concessions to big business and a raft of give-and-take measures to fob off and confuse the people.
Carbon Tax details
- 500 biggest greenhouse gas polluters will be taxed $23 a tonne from July 2012
Carbon Tax will rise to $29 a tonne by 2015 - Will not apply to agriculture and light vehicle emissions, but heavy transports pay from 2014
- Emissions Trading Scheme will replace Carbon Tax from July 2015
Concessions, incentives and compensation for big business
- Increased costs can be passed on to consumers
- Free permits for steel, aluminium, zinc, pulp and paper industries with trade exposure
- $300 million for steel industry
- $1.3 billion for coal industry jobs program
- $9.2 billion for industry assistance
- $10 billion to establish a Clean Energy Finance Corporation for investment capital
- Reduction in company tax from 30% to 29% from 2013
Climate initiatives
Dirty power stations
- $5.4 billion to phase out the dirtiest power stations by 2020
Hazelwood (3% of national emissions) would get $287 million in cash, plus $1.3 billion in free permits - Loy Yang A would get $226 million and $996 million in permits
- Playford (in South Australia), would get $112 million
For the people
- Electricity and gas prices will increase dramatically
- Other prices will also increase, carbon-related or not
- Tax-free threshold increased to $18,200 from July 2012, $19,400 from July 2015
- Progressive income tax cuts for workers below $80,000
- Increased allowances for seniors, pensioners, students, unemployed
Not fair dinkum
Coal mining, steel-making and power generation, the most polluting industries, are dominated by foreign-owned or controlled corporations which are hungry for even more obscene profits and have no concern for the future health of the planet or the people of Australia.
Only 500 of these worst polluters will pay the Carbon Tax, down from the original 1000. Which companies will be liable is being kept secret, to head off any public scrutiny and exposure. The big polluters have little incentive to change to cleaner energy sources and methods of production, as they can just pay the tax and pass on the extra cost to consumers. Even then, they are outraged by the very thought of having to pay their fair share of taxes, let alone a new Carbon Tax.
Groups such as the Business Council of Australia, the Minerals Council, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Australian Industry Group have all condemned the Carbon Tax.
Some of their members see opportunities in renewable sources of energy, as capitalism has always tried to profit from new technologies and discoveries, but for now the immediate interests of corporate monopoly capitalism are dominant and act to retard and suppress the competition of new technology.
Some supporters of a market-based scheme argue that a price of $40 a tonne might trigger a transition to renewable sources of power such as solar, wind, geothermal and wave power, but this ignores the reality of imperialist domination of the Australian political economy. This domination is the main obstacle to Australia achieving a significant contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gases.
Regulation and penalties
Neither Labor nor the Greens are interested in compelling the multinational monopolies and big polluters to clean up their act by regulation and threat of penalty. This is held to be an unacceptable restriction on free market capitalism, almost some sort of ‘horrible’ socialism. Yet, other toxic substances have been regulated and restricted for decades – dioxin, asbestos, CFCs, any number of solid, liquid or gaseous chemicals released on land or into the air and waterways.
But all the parliamentary parties are too gutless to go down this path or to impose a company tax surcharge that could not be passed on to consumers.
And, of course, any ‘cap and penalise’ approach is entirely different to the Liberal Party ‘direct action’ policy of handing over billions of taxpayer dollars directly to the corporate polluters, a policy of making the people pay for all clean-up and transition costs, while the big polluters hang on to their profits.
Emissions trading
The Labor scheme envisages a shift to a market-based emissions trading scheme after 3 years. While there will be caps on the amounts of greenhouse pollutants, there is no guarantee that such a scheme will result in emission reductions sufficient to meet even the government’s modest 5% target, let alone the targets of 60-80% by 2020 that many scientists advise. In fact, the most likely result will be business more or less as usual, with targets only achieved by the purchase of cheap carbon credits from poorer countries.
An article in a recent issue of the CPA Guardian put it well; “Emission trading schemes in essence give companies the right to pollute, even though the exact amount of pollution may be limited by a government-imposed cap. They provide ‘pay to pollute’ licences and are a cop-out for governments not prepared to tackle the issue of greenhouse gas reduction. Emissions trading schemes encourage trading in carbon credits, derivatives and other forms of financial speculation, to the detriment of society and the environment.”
A real alternative – political action
It is certainly good that the Labor politicians, pushed by the Greens, are campaigning in the community for action on climate change.
But, people are right to be concerned. They are right to be sceptical of the beat-up campaign of the wealthy mining companies, and right to be sceptical of government guarantees of fair compensation. They instinctively know when they are being suckered.
Meanwhile, the monopoly media, both Murdoch and Fairfax, does its job of diverting all debate into Liberal vs Labor, as though they were the only choices for people to make.
In these circumstances, the alternative to the parliamentary circus is the position put forward in the July issue of Vanguard, “Ultimately, there is no way of getting around the need to nationalise the foreign corporate monopolies, to loosen their stranglehold and take control of our own resources and industries. Nationalisation of all major mining, power generation and water resources would re-direct investment away from polluting industries and rebuild Australian industry for a clean, sustainable and secure future. Instead of mega-profits going off-shore to line the pockets of foreign investors, they could be used to finance new, clean industries with technologies that already exist, and to repair our river systems and damaged environment.”
The struggle against foreign monopoly domination of Australia is the only way to solve the problems of climate change, to have safe and secure jobs, and to live healthy lives in a clean, sustainable environment. In this struggle the leadership of the working class is critical, as it cannot succeed unless it is embraced by the masses of workers who can inspire and rally other sections of the people and force through fundamental change.
Does this also put socialism on the agenda? You bet.
No comments:
Post a Comment