Archive for the ‘liberal party’ tag
Should the US learn from Australia’s emissions plan?
No. Absolutely not. And yet the conservative Wall Street Journal yesterday implied that America should, in a column entitled, “Down Under: Can the US Learn From Australia’s Emissions Plan?”
It’s easy to see why the Journal is pumped about Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s “Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme” (that’s what they’re calling the Aussie ETS): it’s a sop to heavy polluting industry and the conservative opposition that supports it. The amended legislation gives a free ride to the carbon mafia, delaying really significant cuts in CO2 and passing on the residual costs to the average punter. The minimum “guaranteed” reduction is 5% by 2020 – talk about rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Only this time there won’t be an iceberg in sight.
Interestingly, conservative Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull chose to lay his leadership on the line over this issue. His Liberal Party is severely divided over the legislation and the Liberals’ usual political bedfellows, the Nationals, are united against it.
Turnbull is an ideological descendant of the old, pre-John Howard Liberal Party: liberal on social issues, and to a greater or lesser extent conservative on economic issues. Global warming is a social issue with serious economic repercussions (and, what conservatives tend to discount, serious opportunities) and so it is no surprise that an old-school Liberal like Turnbull would support a sort of diluted version of action on climate change – but action nonetheless.
Turnbull’s dilution of the CPRS bill is worrying enough, but the really interesting thing is that much of his party thinks he’s gone too far. Former Prime Minister John Howard was almost singlehandedly responsible for the conservatisation of Australian politics, and the conservative rump of the party Howard left behind is about to commit collective suicide by declaring war on Turnbull for being too progressive. Turnbull, whose leadership is in serious trouble, is probably the best hope the Opposition has of breaking through the Government’s approval numbers anytime before 2013.
There is no lesson for America here. Australia’s electorate is overwhelmingly in favour of action on climate change, whereas the American electorate is somewhat more divided. I’d like to be able to say that Australia offers a warning to conservatives overseas not to oppose climate change action, but it seems like the Liberal Party, much like the Republican Party, is trending rightward.
From a policy perspective, Australia’s recent experience is a total disaster. It represents a triumph of politics over policy. The US and the EU are both looking at 17% and 20% cuts respectively by 2020, which is nowhere near enough. We need to cut 80% by 2020. Australia’s promising 5%. No lessons here.