Comments on: Doubling ETS tax acceptable to Minister but not to Kiwis

By: Andy

Andy — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 03:04:40 +0000

This is my comment on Brian Fallow’s Herald article

I’m glad to see you mention the HFC-23 scam. This has been known for a while now but very few MSM journalists mentioned it.

Europe is hanging on a precipice. Greece is close to default, and the entire EU edifice may come crumbling down. NZ will be left with this ETS beast which serves no good other than to transfer our wealth to developing nations. We need to get out now.

(21 likes)

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10751778

By: Huub Bakker

Huub Bakker — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 03:47:11 +0000

Will no one rid me of this troublesome Tax? (Sorry Shakespeare)

The answer for me is simple. I will be voting for a party that promises to repeal the ETS come November 26th.

By: Clarence Kay

Clarence Kay — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 02:45:04 +0000

The EU ETS is confined to a few very large industries, which only compete with each other within the EU. The only sector which has any impact on mainstream business or households is electricity generation.

All generators were given huge amounts of free credits at the commencement of Stage 1 in 2005. There were so many of them that they flooded the market and their value fell to zero by 2007. Generators made unprecedented profits.

Another swathe of free credits was issued to generators at the beginning of Stage 2 in 2009. Some claimed they weren’t fully covered and sought approval from regulators to pass on ETS costs to households. Regulators all over Europe arrived at similar conclusions – the ETS had not yet imposed any net costs on the electricity sector.

It’s all a sham. Pure spin. The soaring rhetoric of politicians about saving the planet doesn’t need to be matched any actual sacrifices by the people who vote for them.

By: Australis

Australis — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 02:28:07 +0000

The absurdity of the Government’s justification is highlighted when it is remembered that New Zealand’s GHG emissions are only 0.1% of the global total, and that it would not make a blind bit of difference to future temperatures if New Zealand ceased to exist.

The sole reason New Zealand has an ETS at all is to “keep up with the Joneses”. PM Key says we might suffer reputational damage if we don’t “do our fair share”.

Key should read this post. The Joneses were only talking a good game – they don’t actually have ETS statutes. The only Jones that does have something (the EU) has so many holes that it is not even a decent figleaf.

How embarassing for little, remote, naive New Zealand!