Headlights Against Carbon Tax

Jack Dikian

August 2011

Over the years people (sometimes many hundreds of thousands of people) all over the world have taken part in protests against the government of the time, rallied for a cause, marched to right a wrong, and other. Many don’t necessarily identify themselves as activists but have reached a point where they believe enough is enough.

Most people protest because they are angry about the government’s lack of performance, broken promises, and/or how the government how the government is managing various economic issues, such as services like water and electricity, jobs, and housing.

Certainly here in Australia we have had our share of protests. Consider for example the Eureka Rebellion, 2010 Australian gender equality rallies, Aboriginal Tent Embassy, Franklin Dam. Fortunately most of protests in Australia have been largely peaceful and lawful.

Today (August 2011) saw the first anniversary of when the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard declared, “there will be no Carbon tax under the government I lead”. The National Road Freighters Association organized a convoy recruiting vehicles as they made their way through towns en route to Canberra. The protest was initially instigated by the live export ban to Indonesia but grew into a 'Convoy of No Confidence'. Motorists who weren’t able to travel to Canberra quickly joined the rally by turning their headlights on in support of those able to join the protest in Canberra.

Cost of Carbon and Need To Know

Jack Dikian

July 2011

AUSTRALIA will have a carbon tax for three to five years before a full emissions trading scheme is introduced, under a blueprint for dealing with climate change agreed by a multi-party parliamentary committee.

Julia Gillard has unveiled the key principles of the government's climate policy today, saying a fixed price would be placed on carbon pollution from July 1 2012. She announced a carbon price of $23 per tonne to begin with rising at 2.5 per cent a year.

Related economics, politics and the myriad of expert opinion on both sides of the climate debate, we have heard and will continue to.

I want to make a few points, and perhaps, throw in a little analysis – the type one does on the back of a postcard.

• Counter intuitive as it is, mid to long term climate change is actually easier to predict than weather conditions for the short term. Chaos Theory doesn’t help.
• Mankind does contribute to atmospheric Carbon (mostly in the form of Carbon Dioxide CO2). In fact, since the industrial revolution, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased (approx.) from 280 ppm, to today’s concentration levels of about 380ppm. This is a very small increase, but an increase nevertheless. Remember, air is mostly Nitrogen and Oxygen.
• Whether an increase in CO2 levels associated with mankind is capable of generating marked impact on climate is still difficult to call.
• If Australians wish to reduce CO2 leaking into the atmosphere (note I’m not saying this will impact climate) then a price on Carbon WILL, overtime, reduce our contribution of atmospheric CO2 as correctly stated by our PM. Take for example two companies producing the same product. The company that is leaking more CO2 will have a greater production cost (because they will have to pay for carbon emission) and thus, its products will ultimately cost more than the company leaking less CO2. It is rightly assumed we (consumers) will purchase the cheaper of the two products.

Table 1 below presents 17 countries ranked by CO2 emissions and relative percentage of global total. Australia is sitting at 17th place behind Indonesia.

• It should be noted that our per capita contribution is extremely high. An average Australian produces approximately 5 tonnes of carbon emissions per year.
• Carbon and Carbon dioxide are often conflated when talking about greenhouse gas emissions. The carbon that is present in the fossil fuels combines with oxygen during combustion to produce CO2.
• How much is a tonne of Carbon? 1 tonne of CO2 (in gaseous state) is composed of Carbon and Oxygen. Carbon’s atomic mass is 12 and Oxygen’s is 16 so Carbon is about one third of the mass of CO2. One tonne of CO2
gives us 556.2m³ or about 4000 black balloons.

Table 1

China	23.33%
United States	18.11%
European Union	14.04%
India	5.78%
Russia	5.67%
Japan	4.01%
Germany	2.61%
Canada	1.80%
Iran	1.79%
United Kingdom	1.73%
South Korea	1.69%
Mexico	1.58%
Italy	1.48%
South Africa	1.45%
Saudi Arabia	1.44%
Indonesia	1.35%
Australia	1.32%