It’s the Greenhouse Gases, Stupid!
It’s the Greenhouse Gases, Stupid!
Posted on Jul 19, 2014
By Alex Kirby, Climate News Network
This piece originally ran on Climate News Network.
LONDON—Australia, one of the world’s principal emitters of carbon dioxide, has voted to cancel its carbon tax in what has been described as “the perfect storm of stupidity”.
The decision had cross-party support in the Senate vote, passing by 39 votes to 32, with only the Labor and Green parties voting against repealing the carbon pricing scheme they introduced, and which took effect two years ago.
By fulfilling what the prime minister, Tony Abbott, had called his “pledge in blood” to repeal the tax, Australia has left itself with no legal basis for trying to achieve its international 5% greenhouse gas emissions reduction target.
The former climate change minister, Penny Wong, said Abbott had “staked his political career … on fearmongering and scaremongering”. Repealing the tax meant “this nation will have walked away from a credible and efficient response to climate change”.
More:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/its_the_greenhouse_gases_stupid_20140719