You could ignore global warming altogether and look at this from a perspective of supply and demand.

There is a huge demand world wide for renewable energy sources; little supply.
There is a global demand for trading in carbon; little supply.

Two markets ready for the exploiting.

I agree, wake up Australia.

Emissions trading scheme I firmly believe will prove to be something extremely similar to the bottom of the harbour scheme.

It will prove to be nothing but a way of transferring wealth from many pockets to the pockets of a few.

Trading thin air.

JamesH,

You are so right. What is desperately needed, and not provided, is equipment in Canberra that can recycle hot air into crude oil.

Personally, I am not concerned much about all the BS on the subject. I don't really care much what Rudd decides to do, provided that he sticks to his election promise to keep petrol prices low. And low means no greater than they were when he took office. If he does the same for electricity as well, I might even vote for him.

I know that none of the countries that matter will take any notice of what Australia does. As usual, they will follow their own interests. As I don't much care what happens overseas, as I cannot control it in any way, as far as I am concerned they can do as they like.

I recognise that I might have a long wait for Rudd to do anything. After all, I am STILL waiting for Menzies to put value back into the Pound.

I heard today the federal Health Minister stating that modelling the impact fo the changes to the private health levies and the resultant additional load placed on the public health system is very difficult, and prone to large errors.

This is just a small part of the economy, and the model needs only to run for a few years, yet this is waved away as being too difficult.

Yet this same government expects us to take for granted world climate models which (i think) are modelling something much more complex and adaptive than one small nations health spending, which is apparently too irresponsible to use. And the models run out for nearly 100 years.

Where is the caution regarding the modelling issues in climate change. As a professional forecaster, the only thing certain of a forecast of a complex and adaptive system, is that the forecast is going to be wrong. We never see statements about the inherant modelling errors which is essential to understand the result.

Aussies play it dumb,as usual.
India has just put on the market the world's first water-powered car that is super-streamlined and very attractive in its presentation and it costs a mere $12,000 .Sure it needs to fill up with water every now and then but if the technolegy is patronised by all countries improvements can take place every now and then to make ot more and more efficient. Do we really want to support the clean Earth policy? I know,I know. What would happen to Ford, Toyota etc etc and to the petroleum and gas industries? The social and economic upheaval would be too traumatic to cope with.

Solar power is withinn reach.Yes,even base power for industries. We arent interested and that is why the technology has left Australia and located in the USA where serious steps are being undertaken to support this industry. When it succeeds as it will we will want to import the technology here but at tremendous cost.We have the experts and their technologies but we dont want to know about it.
Just how dumb is that.

socratease