I think it’s an extremely weak move. Not including it would have meant the coal miners were liable for their fugitive emissions and would have already had an incentive to clean up their act. It should be a business as usual decision! Giving them renewable credits for burning fossil fuels is a dreadful distortion of the market.

RE: coal seam gas. My understanding is that the legislation actually covers fugitive gas emissions from coal mines, usually containing large amounts of methane which you do not want entering the atmosphere. The legislation is attempting to provide an incentive for this to be burnt to produce power than allowing it to act as a global warming gas. I believe it is also not classified as a renewable energy source (rightly so) but only an acceptable energy source.

The real issue for me is why we are not seeing more pressure from Rudd about the introduction of a global emissions trading scheme.

Fossil fuels are already subsidized up the wazoo. Tax breaks, “clean coal” funding, public funded infrastructure, all manner of job programs, state governments bending over backwards…

What happened to the pre-election talk of re-training coal miners for the renewable energy sector?

Our government should look to emulate countries that have gotten results with renewable energy policy, like Spain and Germany. For starters, there should be a guaranteed base price at which renewable energy is sold into the grid, and this deal should be open to all generators, from the bigwigs down to the home owners.

If mums and dads can load their roof up with solar panels and collect a cheque from the power company every month, a lot of them will make the long-term investment.

Especially given news that energy prices are going to double/triple/explode over the next decade.

I think the ALP is just getting better and better each decade at managing the rorts and taking the party corporate donors’ bribes as real party membership dwindles, and increasingly borrowing from the US playbook of political corruption — which involves both major US parties.

Revenue goes down and is disproportionately provided by the poorest, who cannot get out of their obligations. Government becomes enfeebled, poverty and discontent spread.

And then the Mandate of Heaven is withdrawn…

Apparently the captains of industry during WWII would go to him whinging about their profit margins and his advisers would silently starting waving their forefingers in unison.

It was intra office code for their mentor’s parable of the Ant Queen - my rough memory is that the worker ants were worried about the cows doing unmentionables on their ant nest. Whenever the bovines appeared nearby the worker ants would run to the nest and tell the Queen with their antennas waving that there was danger of cow sh*t impending. Only one day there was a big storm and torrent of water had rush down the valley picking up all the cow dung in one almighty torrent. All the worker ants rushed the Queen and all waved their antennae in unison: Look out Queen Ant there’s a giant pile of bullsh*t heading this way.

Hence the waggling forefingers at the meeting with captains of industry during WW2 in the USA. Apparently he JK got his medal for keeping prices down, inflation similar etc etc. No war time profiteering on his watch. Lord be praised.

It is abundantly clear that YOU have no idea what “carbon” is yet you are so easily duped by meeja hacks, cereal box scientists and greentard dog whistlers that “carbon” is a pollutant.

Carbon is the fourth most abundant chemical element in the universe.

Yet it does not exist anywhere on Earth in its pure elemental form.

Most of the world’s “carbon” is contained in the world’s oceans.

Tell me what’s your “Carbon” “Pollution” Reduction Strategy for them?

Pretty much sums up the whole scheme.

Is this what the best and brightest come up with?

Next they’ll be telling us that it is entirely possible - and ficnancially plausible - to extract that same ‘renewable’ ‘carbon’ from the air and pipe it underground where it will sit in peace and quiet for the next epoch.

This kind of comedy just writes itself.

Surely you must be thoroughly ashamed and embarrassed to support these people?

Okay, no doubt some allowances have to be made but, like BK, I’m very frustrated by the fact that very few in power seem to be taking “carbon” seriously… I’ve had a gutful.