Emissions lower in 2030 than if we’d had a carbon tax

Ben Packham, The Australian, Dec­ember 21:

The latest carbon emissions projections … predict Australia … (will) emit 563 megatonnes of carbon dioxide in 2030 … Opposition energy and climate change spokesman Mark Butler said the updated forecasts … (confirmed) “the government has no ­effective climate change policy to bring emissions down in the future”.

What would emissions have been with a carbon price? Labor’s Strong Growth Low Pollution: Modelling a Carbon Price, September 21, 2011:

Annual Emissions in 2030 — with carbon pricing 641.5 Mt (with the target being met with the purchase of overseas abatement of 388 Mt).

Carry-over news. Packham, The Australian, December 21:

Australia will use carried-over emissions credits (of 367 megatonnes) to achieve its 2030 Paris climate emissions target in a controversial move allowing Scott Morrison to justify his claim that the Paris target will be met “in a canter”.

Carry-over not so new or controversial? SBS, December 6, 2015:

(Only four countries) will be cancelling their carry-over credits from the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol … Under the protocol, excess emissions reductions achieved in the first period can be carried over to the second.

What about Labor? Katharine Murphy, Guardian Australia, December 13:

Shadow climate minister Mark Butler has not ruled out using carry-over carbon credits to … meet its … targets.

Call a spade a spade. Colin Hesel­tine, The Australian Financial Review, December 19:

Let’s call a spade a spade … The recent … (arrest) in Canada of Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei’s founder … looks to be part of a long­standing campaign against the com­pany that emanates from the US … (which) has been slow to develop new advanced technologies in telecommunications … It’s hard to avoid the observation … trade protectionism is a key element in the campaign against Huawei … Colin Heseltine was twice deputy head of mission at the Australian embassy in Beijing.

Call a spade an undisclosed potential conflict of interest? LinkedIn:

Colin Heseltine:
Director, Strategic Consultant, Sino Gas and Energy Holdings … Australian-listed company developing … unconventional gas assets in Shanxi province, China.

Just trade protectionism? Ron Kampeas, The Times of Israel, December 12:

(The) day Meng was arrested, Trump struck a deal with China … (not) to increase tariffs on Chinese products; Xi said China would buy more from the US … The arrest and the deal … were complementary: Trump opened the door to a deal with tough talk on tariffs, and he was taking the same tough line on sanctions busting.

No evidence of threat. Heseltine, The Australian Financial Review, December 19:

… no country or agency has publicly produced any evidence of behaviour by Huawei that compromises the ­security interest of client countries.

Heard that before? Chinese ambassador to Canada Lu Share, The Globe and Mail, December 13:

The US … (has) accused Huawei of threatening their national security while providing no evidence.

No evidence? Ian Young, South China Morning Post, December 18:

(A PowerPoint presentation given by Meng) to an HSBC banker in 2013 describes the links between Huawei and Skycom (as) a “partner” doing business in Iran. But the US says Skycom was actually an unofficial subsidiary, helping Huawei (launder hundreds of millions of dollars and) evade US and EU sanctions on Iran.