BMT (RIP)
12-04-2009, 09:03
Cap-and-trade in Australia - which just a week ago was declared a certainty
- is officially dead.
This is the first major climate change turnaround anywhere in the Western
world, with significant implications for our domestic debate.
Combined with the Climate-gate e-mails revealing the data suppression and
deceit underpinning "scientific consensus," the whole climate change
alarmism house of cards is coming crashing down.
Early last week, the leader of Australia's conservative opposition, Malcolm
Turnbull, announced that he had reached agreement with the government to
implement cap-and-trade, thus binding his party to support it in parliament
en bloc.
The agreement was signed, sealed and delivered - cap-and-trade would become
law with bipartisan support.
Its passage was a certainty. The elite rejoiced.
But then a funny thing happened on the way to the Senate: The Australian
public woke up.
The days that followed were simply stunning. An unprecedented, uncoordinated
and spontaneous grass-roots campaign erupted to force the opposition to
reverse course.
Political offices went into meltdown, unable to cope with the torrent of
phone calls, faxes and e-mails opposing what was effectively a massive tax
hike.
By the end of the week, 14 members of the opposition leadership had resigned
in protest. As the public outcry intensified, Turnbull refused to back down,
staking his entire reputation and future on his passionate support for
cap-and-trade.
He violently attacked true conservatives, and repeatedly cried out that to
win government you must be "moderate."
So on early Tuesday morning, opposition parliamentarians met and voted to
replace him. For the first time since 1916, the leader of a major Australian
political party was deposed on the grounds of just one policy decision: the
decision to support cap-and-trade.
His political career is over, his aspirations to become prime minister have
come to naught.
The newly elected leader promptly announced that the opposition would once
again start acting like conservatives, and would oppose the government's
great green tax. Without their support, the legislation was soundly defeated
in the Senate.
Cap-and-trade, a scheme initially promoted by Enron to allow traders to
profit at the expense of taxpayers, is currently before the U.S. Senate.
According to the U.S. Treasury, this proposal includes between $100 billion
and $200 billion in additional taxes a year, costing an additional $1,761
per family - equivalent to a 15% hike in the personal income tax.
A further report commissioned by the U.S. Senate has shown that the
additional gas taxes in the proposal equate to $3.6 trillion by 2035.
According to an analysis by the independent Heritage Foundation, once fully
implemented this would lead directly to a staggering 2.5 million jobs lost.
- is officially dead.
This is the first major climate change turnaround anywhere in the Western
world, with significant implications for our domestic debate.
Combined with the Climate-gate e-mails revealing the data suppression and
deceit underpinning "scientific consensus," the whole climate change
alarmism house of cards is coming crashing down.
Early last week, the leader of Australia's conservative opposition, Malcolm
Turnbull, announced that he had reached agreement with the government to
implement cap-and-trade, thus binding his party to support it in parliament
en bloc.
The agreement was signed, sealed and delivered - cap-and-trade would become
law with bipartisan support.
Its passage was a certainty. The elite rejoiced.
But then a funny thing happened on the way to the Senate: The Australian
public woke up.
The days that followed were simply stunning. An unprecedented, uncoordinated
and spontaneous grass-roots campaign erupted to force the opposition to
reverse course.
Political offices went into meltdown, unable to cope with the torrent of
phone calls, faxes and e-mails opposing what was effectively a massive tax
hike.
By the end of the week, 14 members of the opposition leadership had resigned
in protest. As the public outcry intensified, Turnbull refused to back down,
staking his entire reputation and future on his passionate support for
cap-and-trade.
He violently attacked true conservatives, and repeatedly cried out that to
win government you must be "moderate."
So on early Tuesday morning, opposition parliamentarians met and voted to
replace him. For the first time since 1916, the leader of a major Australian
political party was deposed on the grounds of just one policy decision: the
decision to support cap-and-trade.
His political career is over, his aspirations to become prime minister have
come to naught.
The newly elected leader promptly announced that the opposition would once
again start acting like conservatives, and would oppose the government's
great green tax. Without their support, the legislation was soundly defeated
in the Senate.
Cap-and-trade, a scheme initially promoted by Enron to allow traders to
profit at the expense of taxpayers, is currently before the U.S. Senate.
According to the U.S. Treasury, this proposal includes between $100 billion
and $200 billion in additional taxes a year, costing an additional $1,761
per family - equivalent to a 15% hike in the personal income tax.
A further report commissioned by the U.S. Senate has shown that the
additional gas taxes in the proposal equate to $3.6 trillion by 2035.
According to an analysis by the independent Heritage Foundation, once fully
implemented this would lead directly to a staggering 2.5 million jobs lost.