Why the ETS Bill is fundamentally flawed

A recent post at The NZ Climate Science Coalition website spells out the massive financial cost and folly of Labour's religious zeal over passing the fraudulent Emissions Trading Bill.

It is well worth a read.

“There is something fascinating about science”, observed Mark Twain. “One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact”. His observation is still pertinent today as I will shortly demonstrate. But there is something equally fascinating about politics when far reaching and intrusive legislation can be built upon poorly conceived and flawed ideas. So imagine the impact on society then when a scientific hypothesis that is based on little more than conjecture is used to justify wide-ranging and economically damaging legislation. Everyone loses.

Continued

Related Political Animal reading

Kyoto critic comes to town
Global warming: Power to the people
Carbon Credit trading puts markets at extreme risk
Global Warning: Tax iceberg ahead
Unstoppable global warming
Earth Day: Turn on, tune out, buy some candles
TIME magazine slips inconvenient truth past its readers
The Great Global Warming Swindle
PRIME TV PRESENTS: The Great Global Warming Swindle
Kristen Byrnes-Ponder the Maunder
Helen Clark and Jeanette Fitzsimmons in conflict with business
Of tulip bulbs and tooth fairies

c Political Animal 2008

Clark: Cornered and Desperate

Yet more desperation from a cornered Helen Clark.

Clark could go before the Privileges Committee this Thursday, if called.

Clark would be asked how much more she knows about Winston Peters and the $100,000 he got from Owen Glenn.

Direct from the Winston Peters playbook called "Accuse when you are being attacked" Clark has come out with a bizarre and unsubstantiated claim that the Serious Fraud Office tipped off the National Party over their move on Peters.

Smearing the SFO for no good reason? well, Labour and Winston have been trying to get rid of the SFO for some time but simply making up stuff to deflect from the fact that you haven't been honest about what you knew about Peters and his wayward donations is clearly VERY desperate stuff.

Of course the accusation hold no water. The SFO and John Key have come out and put the record straight.

There was no tip off.

To accuse a Government department of corruption -that is what a real tip-off to a political party would be- is a very serious statement to make in isolation from the whole Glenn/Peters/Clark saga, but making it in conjunction with fact floating around her about a Prime Minister withholding information on a fellow Minister, who is under the cloud of corruption charges is a desperate move in the extreme.

It exemplifies the strain Ms Clark has put herself under by not being open and honest in the first place.

c Political Animal 2008

Help me Hone!

The Greens are today prevaricating over whether they should vote so Helen Clark has to give evidence at the Privileges Committee, due to meet this Thursday over the Winston/Glenn/Clark payola scandal.

Clark knew about the Glenn donations in February but chose last Thursday to make them public, after the heat from the Serious Fraud Office and written statements by Owen Glenn forced her hand and it is those statements from Glenn, and other evidence that the public might not be aware of that Ms Clark could be called to the Committee on.

From The NZ Herald:

National would need seven votes on the privileges committee to call Prime Minister Helen Clark to answer questions on the Owen Glenn affair.

It could count on votes from its four MPs (chairman Simon Power, Gerry Brownlee, Murray McCully and Wayne Mapp) and Act's Heather Roy.

Labour's four MPs (Michael Cullen, Lianne Dalziel, Paul Swain and Russell Fairbrother) and NZ First's Dail Jones would vote against, which would leave National chasing two of the last three votes.

Those deciding votes would come from Russel Norman (Greens), Peter Dunne (United Future) and Hone Harawira (Maori Party).

Russel Norman has come out today and cast doubt over whether he would force Clark to give evidence, so that just leaves professional racist Hone Harawira from the Maaoori Party as a deciding vote.

Hone came out yesterday in the media and slammed Labour's chances at the 2008 election.

The Labour-led government was "stale" and arrogant and it was time for a change of government. "They're suffering from the arrogance of being in power too long"

With this and Maori forestry land being devalued by 2 billion dollars through the impending Emissions Trading Law, it looks likely that Hone could be the first cab off the rank to get Ms Clark to appear at the Commission and tell the truth-for a change.


c Political Animal 2008

Labour Party Blog echoes its leaders sentiments

The Labour Party's direct mouthpiece on the Internet, the Labour Party funded The Standard Blog is doing a Helen Clark-she refused to speak over the weekend. It is discussing everything but the Glenn/Peters/Clark payola scandal because even "Steve Pierson" who wrote this, cant spin the news story of last week and at least another couple of weeks, in Labour's favour.

I’m not going to spend a lot of time on Peters because its not the kind of issue that affects Kiwis lives (its messy but its not like secretly planning to sell public assets). I’d rather use my post-writing time taking a deeper look at the findings of the Social Report. But…

What else are the girls at The Standard talking about instead of THE most important political crises since Muldoon got pissed and called an early election in 1984?

John Key on Facebook-or my Facebook is bigger than yours

After I was part of the ‘Great NZ Sell-off’ skit protest outside the National Party conference at the start of the month, I did a wee interview with a journo from NewstalkZB and he, knowing I’ve got something to do with this interweb thing, asked ‘what do you think of the fact that John Key’s Facebook page has twice as many supporters as Helen Clark’s?’

Morris Williamson's sensible ideas on road funding from a week ago-Labour will toll and has already passed legislation to allow local politicians to charge 5c a litre on your gas. Extra taxes for your Holden will also be on the cards under Labour.

John Key tells us that National hasn’t decided yet what it would spend its extra borrowing on, what projects would be PPPs, what roads would be tolled under National.

Labours List-buried by the Glenn/Peters/Clark scandal, I think the author meant to write "our" instead of "their".

Comment soon but for now here’s their full list (PDF link).

A deluge of Australians moving to New Zealand-What?

We’re used to hearing opposition parties talk about people rushing to Australia. But let’s remember we’re attractive to Australia too

The Social Policy Report-A self-congratulatory Labour prepared report on how much Labour have helped the proletariat.

These things do not just happen and they are not just the actions of ‘evil’ people who deserve punishment; they are social phenomena linked to the health of a society.

Homosexuals in New Zealand-The fascination by Labour for everything but Mum Dad and the kids. Apparently one cant have a different opinion if you are not a Homosexual and if you do you are somehow a "gay hater".

Youtube Video

Dancing around the subject is not my style. I like to face up to my accusers. It is something that one does when one doesn't have anything to hide. One can have respect for an individual, even if they have committed a heinous act, if they simply front up and tell the truth.

You have to ask yourself then if you are being truthful about getting donations from wealthy business people or having timing and disclosure issues over when you heard something then if you were telling the truth you would front up with the goods.

Our Prime Minister, Ms Clark, hasn't been up front yet and there have been questions over her honesty, again, and Winston Peters has clearly been caught out lying through his back teeth.

The Labour Party Blog, The Standard is echoing its Prime Minister's prevarication on the truth, stalling tactics, bluster and spin.

Meanwhile today, back on the main news story of the past week and probably this one and longer, Helen Clark may be called before the Privileges Committee to give her evidence that she knew about the Owen Glenn donation in February and kept it secret until last week.

Interesting that a Lawyer that works close with the Government on Government legal contracts, May Chen, said yesterday on Agenda that those with hearsay evidence-Helen Clark and Owen Glenn-should be before the Privileges Committee, so they can see witnesses' "demeanor".

Chen dismissed having Clark as an in-person witness but mentioned that Owen Glenn in the same capacity was crucial for hearsay evidence.

Funny that Clark spun that same line this morning on the Paul Holmes show and quoted May Chen and the Agenda programme.

It really is a small world.


c Political Animal 2008