Linga
Likes Dirt
Very true mate. The mining industry sacked 12% of it's workers in 2008 with the onset of the Global Financial Crisis, if all of indusry followed their lead we would have had 19% unemployment. People just don't know the actual figures of what is going on. Big mining and oil and gas shut and cut whenever it isn't viable and shelve it until it is. Mining was also consulted but they just have the money to market. Mining want you to believe that royalties count as tax... Royalties is the money the government charges for taking the actual ore/oil/gas, it is not a tax it is the price of purchase.With regard to a climate tax. People want what they are told. Labour is as much to blame for their terrible approach as the libs are for destroying the tax. Firstly calling it a minng tax initially was a massive failure. What industry does the public think our economy relies on? There was probably a failure to engage the industry in there as well. Secondly the inital increase in price of carbon rich products and the proposed offsets were not sold properly. I could go on.
Even greg hunt. Our current environment minister thought it was a good idea before he became a politician. I havent looked for his thesis but from the title I assume he was in favour.
On the Emissions trading scheme (as that is what it was and will be) the sale of that was abominable as it was effective and other countries (primarily China) have modelled theirs of ours... Because it worked. Calling it a tax always wound me up as it was not. Using emissions trading schemes is how we managed chlorine and sulphur to stop the deterioration of the ozone layer and now it is repairing itself.
Also I'm not a scientist but part of my job is to measure C02 levels in the air. I generally am testing in the middle of the ocean away from industry in some of the cleanest air. We are currently sitting at around 360-380ppm, which is almost twice pre industrial levels. It is almost outside the parameters set for breathing air under pressure. This means that in the next few years that you will not be able to just compress air and breath it under water, it will have to be cleaned of CO2 or there is a potentioal for injury to Hypercapnia (elevated CO2 in the body)
For me that is the tipping point... We are very close to not being able to breathe our own air... That is crazy