This is what The Climate Institute told Australia's federal politicians on 11 September 2011

This is what The Climate Institute told Australia's federal politicians – but are those on the Opposition benches listening?

The Climate Institute September 11, 2011 media release:

The independent Climate Institute has launched a new Myth Busters series and mailed the Top 5 to all 225 Members of Parliament on the eve of debate on the Clean Energy Future legislation.

Institute CEO, John Connor, said the mother of all scare campaigns had left many Australians and probably a few politicians confused and wrongly forecasting economic doom and gloom.

“We have launched these new Myth Busters to correct the record. Australia is a big polluter. We can have significant pollution reduction while growing jobs. Australia is at no risk of leading the world in taking action.”

“Instead, taking decisive action now will open up new clean energy opportunities, creating up to 34,000 new jobs in the electricity sector alone by 2030, and ensure our industries remain globally competitive as the world switches to cleaner energy and cleaner economies.

“It’s time for our politicians to stop the squabbling and remove the sensationalism that has dominated this issue and get on with a mature debate on the challenges and opportunities of taking action.”

“We’ve written to all MPs, providing them with a package of ‘Myth Busters’ to set the record straight on pricing and limiting pollution, and the real implications and opportunities for Australia.”

Each MP has been sent a package of five ‘Myth Busters’:

1. MYTH: Australia is not a significant polluter so there is no need for us to act.

• FACT: Australia is the world’s 15th largest total emitter and has the highest amount of emissions per person among the major polluters (Figures 1 and 2).1 Whilst Australia accounts for around 1.5 per cent of global emissions, our total pollution levels are comparable to those of Mexico, United Kingdom, South Korea, Italy, France and the Ukraine. This is despite the fact all of these nations have populations at least twice that of Australia.

2. MYTH: A price on pollution will not do anything to help the environment.

• FACT: A price on pollution will make new cleaner energy technologies relatively cheaper than older dirtier sources. As products and services made from cleaner energy sources become cheaper, businesses and households will change their investment and purchasing decisions to save money, meaning the Australian economy will increasingly rely on cleaner energy sources like gas, solar and wind. Over time, this will decrease the amount of carbon pollution Australia produces. Combined with the action of other countries this can help avoid accelerating climate change.

3. MYTH: A pollution price will see the demise of mining and other sectors. There will be massive job losses.

• FACT: Pollution reduction and jobs growth are not mutually exclusive. All credible studies show strong employment growth under a pollution price and in the transition to a low carbon economy. It’s estimated we’ll see an additional 1.6 million jobs between now and 2020 whilst cutting pollution by at least 159 million tonnes. Even the coal industry is expected to see between 10,000-16,000 new mining jobs above 2008 levels.

4. MYTH: Other countries aren’t acting so why should Australia move ahead of the rest of the world?

• FACT: All major economies are acting on climate change, driving clean energy investment and developing new green industries. There is absolutely no risk of Australia moving ahead of the rest of the world; the far greater risk is that Australia gets left behind.

5. MYTH: If you have a pollution price then you don’t need other clean energy measures.

• FACT: A pollution price is central to how we begin to effectively address carbon pollution levels; however, it’s not the only policy measure we need to undertake. Complementary policies, that drive renewable energy development, promote energy efficiency and promote farm sector solutions, also need to be an important part of Australia’s holistic and lower cost response to climate change.

The full set of ‘Myth Busters’ is available here.
For further information:
John Connor | CEO, The Climate Institute | 02 8239 6299
Tom Laurie | Communications, The Climate Institute | 03 9600 4039

SEVERE WEATHER ALERT: Sh#t storm about to hit Clarence electorate

Well here we all sit on the NSW North Coast barely having drawn breath after the March 2011 state election and yesterday voters in the Clarence electorate found out that they have to endure the wannabe pollie pain all over again.
The not-so-honourable Nats MP for Clarence, Steve I didn't know the pen was loaded Cansdell was forced to resign amid allegations that he had laid false evidence in the form of a sworn statutory declaration to avoid the penalty attached to a driving offence (apparently admitted) and improperly used his parliamentary allowance (strongly denied).
He may have saved his pension by going to the police and confessing the former (even if he could yet face charges) but the latter may see him answering to ICAC as well sometime down the track.
What makes it worse is the fact that in July 2005 Cansdell went to the local newspaper wanting 'zero tolerance' in the case of young offenders and since then has mouthed off about a local magistrate, been forced to publicly apologise to others found not guilty by the courts, and yes was caught speeding again.
Antony Green hit the nail on the head when he observed "Despite it being a state by-election, the prospects are that the federal Coalition will want to make more of this by-election than the state Coalition, and certainly more than either state or federal Labor."
Yep, Tony Abbott and Co. will probably make life miserable for local voters during this election campaign as smear after smear is spread in what one local voter described as a dress rehearsal for 2013.
I listened and read most of what Cansdell stated in the meeja over the course of the day, but never once did I hear him apologise - to the people he was elected to represent - for deceiving and leaving them without representation. An oversight or does he really care so little for the district?

Clarence Electorate By-election - why bother?

According to NBN TV news the sudden exit from state parliament by former member for Clarence, Steve Cansdell, who has some not insignificant worries on his plate, the major parties are falling over themselves to have Richie Williamson stand at the by-election.
Williamson stood at the March election as an independent. He finished third behind Cansdell - daylight ran second!
Local wags are saying that this endorses the notion that when an elected member is unable to serve a full term for reasons other than those that are beyond their control, such as an illness, the runner-up ought to get the guernsey (or is that jersey?).

Did Clarence MP, Steve Cansdell, do an "Einfield"?

Shock! Horror!
Steve Cansdell, the NSW MP for Clarence, has thrown in the towel and is quitting state parliament after serving just six months of the current parliamentary term of four years . Early reports suggest the former pugilist may have taken one punch too many, causing him to sign a statutory declaration that contained something significantly less than the truth.