Economists slam Rudd's CPRS

All of a sudden, with no apparent good reason, the Federal government has thrown itself into turmoil over the CPRS, their proposed emissions reductions scheme. First they want an inquiry into whether the an ETS is the best option (HINT: it's not), and then it's all-over-red-rover, crash-through-or-crash, etc, etc.

There's a fair deal of discussion of the shenanigans (Are Labor backing away from an ETS? Are they backing away from combatting climate change? Is this a cynical ploy because the ALP doesn't have the numbers in the Senate and wants to cover their collective arse?), and the pros and cons of ETS vs Carbon Tax etc, over at Larvateus Prodeo: here, here and here.

The last two links at LP deal with the decision by the recent Climate Action Conference in Canberra to oppose the CPRS as inadequate and locking us into a dangerous economic straitjacket in the battle to avoid runaway climate change.

It is interesting, in the context of that decision, to see that a group of ten Australian economists have spoken out, slamming the Rudd government’s proposed ETS, and have called for the implementation of (shock! horror!) science-based policy to achieve the larger (but still inadequate) cuts of 25%-40% by 2020.

Their statement is below:

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Media Release

February 18, 2009,

Economists speak out against flawed Carbon Trading Scheme

A group of ten Australian economists today slammed the Rudd government’s proposed carbon emissions trading scheme, and called for a science-based policy to achieve 25%-40% cuts in emissions by 2020.

Statement

The Australian government is to be congratulated for its decision to take part in the global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme cannot be regarded as consistent with the government’s expressed goal of a global agreement to stabilize the climate. Among a number of serious flaws, the proposed target of a 5 per cent reduction in emissions (with a 15 per cent reduction conditional on a global agreement) is simply inadequate to deal with the problem.

In our view the CPRS fails on the following criteria:

First, while there can be no doubt that a high carbon price will result in a significant transformation of the Australian economy, it must be remembered that such transformation is the actual goal of an emissions trading scheme. It is ironic that while the usual purpose of compensation packages is to ease the pain of such transformation, in the case of the Rudd Government’s package compensation is being used to prevent such a transformation. The CPRS actually rewards the major corporate emitters for failing to act despite having been on notice since at least 1997 that the emission reduction targets would be adopted.

Second, the most significant consequence of the global financial crisis is to increase uncertainty and, in turn, reduce new investment. The creation of more ambitious emission targets would provide certainty that would stimulate major investment in renewable energy infrastructure. The consensus scientific and economic opinion is that the consequences of failing to address climate change will dwarf the costs of the current financial unrest.

Third, the Rudd scheme structures the compensation opportunities for energy-intensive, trade-exposed corporations in such a way as to provide an incentive for these corporations to expand production and emissions. This will effect further restructuring of Australian industry that consolidates its energy-intensive character to the disadvantage of low-energy, energy-efficient industries.

Fourth, the proposed compensation of trade-exposed energy-intensive industries is underpinned by the implicit notion that government should ensure a level, and thus competitive, playing field. Yet the proposed compensation package will benefit industry sectors dominated by international corporations which hold considerable market power. The proposed compensation package will further enhance that market power not create competitive markets.

Fifth, the Rudd government has designed a scheme in which every tonne of emissions saved by households frees up an extra permit for the aluminium or steel industry to expand their pollution. In addition to destroying the moral incentive for households to ‘do their bit’ to reduce emissions, this design feature renders all other policies aimed at reducing emissions pointless. For example, households who spend $7,000 installing photovoltaic solar panels might believe that they are helping to reduce emissions but in fact the only impact of such investment will be to slightly lower the demand, and in turn the price, of the fixed number of pollution permits issued by the government.

Sixth, the Rudd scheme fails to cost the complex administrative arrangements that will be required in order to effect the auctioning, the free allocations and the redistribution of permit revenues across the economy.

The CPRS is based on neither sound economics nor sound science. We call on the Government, or the Senate, to make major improvements to the proposed ’solution’ to Australia’s rapidly rising greenhouse gas emissions.

These improvements should include:

• Lifting the targets to 25-40% by 2020 based on the latest scientific evidence
• Abolishing the free permits granted to the biggest polluters
• Ensuring that individual action results in lower emissions, not lower carbon prices

Unless these major flaws in the CPRS can be fixed the government should introduce a carbon tax as a matter of urgency.

In the meantime, we would strongly urge all Australian governments to immediately introduce incentives to maximise investment in the development and use of renewable and low-emissions technologies.

Dr James Arvanitakis University of Western Sydney

Dr Lynne Chester Curtin University of Technology

Dr Richard Denniss Executive Director of The Australia Institute, Adj Associate Professor ANU

Assoc Prof Steve Keen University of Western Sydney

Dr Andrew Mack Macquarie University

Prof Barbara Pocock University of South Australia

Prof John Quiggin University of Queensland

Dr Stuart Rosewarne University of Sydney

Dr Ben Spies-Butcher Macquarie University

Prof Frank Stilwell University of Sydney

For further comment: Prof Frank Stilwell 02 9351 3063