Tony Abbot writes , "Rudd's real test won't be how he handles consorting allegations. It will be explaining how it's possible to tear up workplace agreements and halve greenhouse gas emissions without sabotaging the economy." I am with Al Gore on this one, solving global warming is an opportunity to grow an economy.

The standard attack against global warming and the uncertainties of a complex interdependent system is to argue that it will cripple the economy to enact any policy to curb carbon emissions. It is a false choice.

I watched An Inconvenient Truth on the weekend. It didn't really tell me anything new, and the bits inbetween the powerpoint presentation were emotive and designed to tug at my heart strings, but it was presented well and in an empirical fashion with plenty of graphs and photographs.

The important part was in the conclusion. Gore attacked the problem in the standard American manner; it isn't a loss, it isn't a whipping from the environment so that we have to go back to our mud huts and fish by hand - to Gore it was an opportunity. It was a chance for America to take the lead in new technologies, new investment, new solutions, new industries and new ways of living.

It isn't, as Abbot suggests, going to kill the economy because we will find new technologies and new ways of supplying energy and being aware of our carbon production. I was at Home Depot a few weeks ago paying a premium for CLF lights bulbs which are %300 more expensive than the old inefficient light bulbs. Some company has worked out how to sell me a light bulb for four times the price I would normally pay? That is an economic opportunity if I ever saw it.

Same with all the other technologies that companies come up with. I will probably pay a premium for them. A few weeks ago my wife looked into buying green power - which we will probably pay more for than we would coal generated power.

I own iPods when I could buy a cheap run of the mill mp3 player which is indicative of consumer behaviour. It will be the same with the new technologies that come out to wean us off carbon based fuels. This will probably be the next spurt of economic growth as companies create disruptive technologies, that can be sold at a premium, and change whole markets.

It is an opportunity to grow jobs, technologies and the economy - it should be stated as such. Abbot is on the wrong tack here.

Cam Riley: South Sea Republic. Freedom, liberty, equity and an Australian Republic.

Comments
  • dlatimer . # .
    Why businesses are ahead of govt: This is exactly correct.

    This is why businesses are so interested in providing solutions. It is an opportunity. The next generation of energy efficient equipment is the next generation of products and new enterprises.

    I am supportive and motivated by environmental issues but this the problem with the Green politics is they see business as the enemy. In fact they are the solution to the problem.