Perhaps they should start by banning the use of fossil fuels by Warmists. Oh, and the use of the Internet by Warmists, because it uses lots of energy. Here’s Crikey’s Paddy Mannington (via Climate Depot)
Screw consultation, let’s just ban stuff: how to really fight climate change
Here’s an idea. If the business community and the conservative side of politics are never going to embrace market mechanisms to tackle climate change — what our PM has derisively termed a “so-called market in the non-delivery of an invisible substance to no oneâ€â€‰â€” then let’s stop pandering to them and go back to banning stuff.
Emissions trading schemes (ETS) or “cap and tradeâ€, as the Americans call it, was meant to be a business-friendly, economically rational alternative approach to regulation and the command economy. It was used there successfully in the 1990s to stop acid rain by reducing emissions of sulphur dioxides and nitrogen oxides. It is a strategy the US energy industry — as executives will tell you in a quiet moment — is extremely comfortable with.
But if the business lobby is going to go into hysterics about every sensible proposal to establish an ETS — or worse, jump into bed with the climate sceptics and abandon action on climate altogether, as they’ve done this year — then stuff ‘em.
Are the lobbyists and spinmeisters worried about red and green tape? Always. That’s their job. Let’s give them something to really worry about. All business wants is a level playing field. If the law establishes we are going to reduce emissions fast, companies will work within the law (ultimately, gladly, because you’d be mad to think businesspeople are not concerned about climate change). Australia’s economy will get what early-mover advantages the Germans and Japanese and Californians haven’t hoovered up.
Lest you think this is a joke, it’s not. Mannington is dead serious. He offers 4 ideas, which, surprisingly, do not force Warmists to live the carbon neutral lifestyle. Yeah, weird, right?
These direct actions are entirely compatible with our current system of government. No revolution is required: all we have to do to solve climate change is unplug fossil fuels, plug in renewables, and stop chopping down forests. If we can’t do that — as the sub-title for Naomi Klein’s forthcoming book This Changes Everything declares — it’s capitalism versus the climate, and there’s no doubt which will win.
OK, so, all Warmists need to do is to stop using fossil fuels and erect solar panels and wind turbines for their homes….as long as those homes aren’t built with wood from trees.
