Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Make polluters pay for carbon emissions

Vanguard July 2011 p. 1

Climate warming is a serious threat to the future of humanity and other life forms on this planet. Urgent action is needed to drastically reduce global carbon emissions.

Most Australians accept this and want to get on with the job, rather than copping more point-scoring from out-of-touch politicians.

In particular, the Australian people want …


  • Decisive government action to force big business to protect Australia’s environment, to make the polluters pay, not ordinary people

  • Massive investment in clean, renewable sources of energy, and secure and sustainable jobs

  • Protection against exorbitant price increases for electricity and goods and services, as a result of carbon reduction measures

  • Protection of Australia’s natural environment, flora and fauna biodiversity, water supply, river systems and marine life

While the monopoly mass media limits all discussion to Labor vs Liberal; for or against Gillard’s carbon tax, etc., none of the parliamentary parties ever challenges the sacred right of the polluters to protect their profits by passing on emission reduction costs to the people. The greedy pigs even demand tax-payer funded ‘compensation’!

Big business, especially foreign corporate monopolies and financial interests, dominates Australian industry and exercises its power through the Business Council of Australia and similar bodies. The people are left out of the equation. We have no say over what is produced, how it is produced, or whether the process pollutes or is clean. We have no control.

The system operates in the global interests of US imperialism, and to a lesser extent, European and Japanese monopoly interests. We cannot expect the profit-hungry multinational polluters, beholden to foreign investment banks and dependent on fossil fuel technology, to take good care of Australia’s unique and fragile environment into the future.

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 Australian people will continue to take action to unite and mobilise against the polluters. Every protest, every public meeting, every action taken to defend Australia’s environment from plunder and abuse is in the interests of the people and future generations.

Make the polluters pay!

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