[LINK] Tony pulls it off!

[Roger Clarke]

At 13:56 +1100 1/12/09, Robin Whittle wrote:
>Unfortunately the negative repercussions will now extend directly to
>the global effort to control greenhouse gas emissions.

The Liberal rejection of the Bill might be the *best* thing that 
could have happened to climate change policy in Australia.

A scenario:

(1)  the greatly enlarged corporate welfare component that the 
Liberal Party had negotiated out of the Rudd Government falls off the 
table

(2)  Labor sees no prospect of getting a Bill through the new, 
ultra-Blue Opposition, and sees inadequate benefit in a 
double-dissolution

(3)  Rudd doesn't want to see his world leadership ambitions thwarted

(4)  Labor switches to negotiating with the Greens

(5)  the recession eases, and public support enables Labor to 
withstand the second round of dirty lobbying by industry groups

(6)  a much less compromised ETS results

Okay, there are quite a few 'if's, but much more ridiculous things 
than that have happened in politics (in the last 48 hours, for 
example).


[So there.  That'll learn people to write me off as the unholy issue 
of Jeremiah and Cassandra]

[Note that I haven't changed my positions that (1) the science of 
climate change is pretty wobbly - e.g. 'radiative forcing', and (2) 
an ETS *may*-not-*will* have the intended effect.]

[Is this relevant to link?  Well, an ETS is inevitably an on-line exchange]


-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/

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Visiting Professor in the Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre      Uni of NSW
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University