The Carbon Sense Coalition today claimed that imposing a Carbon Emissions Trading Scheme was not justified by the science and was likely to be very costly and disruptive to the lives of all Australians.

Responding to the draft Garnaut report, the chairman of “Carbon Sense”, Mr Viv Forbes, claimed that it is becoming very clear that carbon dioxide is not a key driver of earth’s temperature, and attempts to reduce man’s emissions of CO2 will do more harm than good.

“There is certainly no justification for the premature imposition of any de-carbonisation proposals in Australia – no emissions trading systems, no cap and trade nonsense, no subsidies for converting food to motor spirit, no mandating of fairyland energy proposals, no geo-sequestration and no more carbon taxes.

“However, if we were forced to choose between all the above unpalatable de-carbonisation alternatives, we would reluctantly support a simple carbon tax on all net direct emissions of CO2 from all industries. This should be accompanied by the IMMEDIATE abolition of all the other state and federal legislated Greenhouse foolishness. As soon as the climate and the science make it clear, even to economists such as Professor Garnaut, that man does not control the climate, we can then easily abolish the silly carbon tax (amid great rejoicing among those who do not dwell in the capital city hothouses).

“The Precautionary Principle so loved by those spreading doomsday stories on everything, suggests that a simple carbon tax is far less risky than grandiose plans to create an expensive and artificial bubble industry based on Carbon Emissions Trading.

“The immediate effect of cap and trade legislation is the creation of new electronic assets called “permits to emit” with no reality, no separate existence, no asset backing and no intrinsic value whatsoever. Their value depends solely on a politician’s promise that people holding an emissions permit will have a protected position compared to those without a permit from the Carbon Czar. It is a principle Al Capone would have understood and welcomed.

“Immediately the government creates these securities with no substance and the Carbon Bank which stores no carbon, a huge new artificial industry will be created. There will be administrators and auditors, bankers and brokers, barristers and bureaucrats, carbon credit farmers and foresters, lawyers and lobbyists, traders and tax advisers, and all the high paid never ending research jobs in Zero-Gen and Zero emissions.

“To some people, the Greenhouse industry looks like the saviour of Australia after the last coal mine and the last cement plant are closed, the last farm becomes a carbon credit plantation, and the sounds of planes, trains, trucks, tractors and dozers are no longer heard in the land.

“However, decarbonisation will never create one more roof on a new house, a slice of toast on one plate, a steak on a single barby, a blanket on one bed or a light in one dunny. And the warm inner glow from Canberra will not boil one kettle in Cairns.

“When the real economy dies, so too will this huge parasitic bubble economy manufactured in Parliament. It will be better for all concerned that it is never created.”

Viv Forbes