Community will pay so polluters keep polluting
Tuesday 28 July 2009
The proposed doubling of handouts to the coal sector under the Continue
Polluting Regardless Scheme will see householders and small businesses
face higher costs and a worse climate crisis so that polluters can keep
polluting, the Australian Greens said today.
“Mr Rudd’s climate plans are already a polluter’s paradise, but this
change would put the coal sector in seventh heaven,” Australian Greens
Deputy Leader, Senator Christine Milne, said.
“Australians have clearly said they are happy to pay more if emissions
will be reduced, but under Mr Rudd’s Continue Polluting Regardless
Scheme, householders and small business owners will be paying more so
that the polluters can keep polluting.
“Every dollar to polluters is a dollar less for the community.
“Every dollar to dirty coal is a dollar less to the sunrise industries
that will provide pollution-free power that will never run out.
“Handing out billions of dollars to polluters under the CPRS makes as
much sense as paying cigarette companies the takings of a tobacco tax
designed to discourage people from smoking.
“The Rudd Government has long ago lost sight of what emissions trading
is supposed to do.
“Polluters should be paying for the damage they do so that the community
can afford to fix it.
“We need to be retraining workers in the sunset industries for the jobs
boom in the sunrise industries that smart policies will generate.”
Senator Milne also commented on the Australian Coal Association’s
national ad campaign starting today.
“Instead of wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars on lobbying and
advertising campaigns, the coal sector should be putting up money for
its own research so that taxpayers’ money can go into the intelligent
technologies of the future.”
Tim Hollo
Media Adviser
Senator Christine Milne | Australian Greens Deputy Leader and Climate
Change Spokesperson
Suite SG-112 Parliament House, Canberra ACT | P: 02 6277 3588 | M: 0437
587 562
http://www.christinemilne.org.au/| www.GreensMPs.org.au
<http://www.greensmps.org.au/>