United Future

Posted at 2008-08-21 16:05:49.823. Permalink.

The Greens stance is somewhat of a con. They have clearly already decided to back Labour and New Zealand First, even though they have not got what they wanted, so this whole stunt is about softening up their supporters to back their back-down.

Posted at 2008-08-25 00:15:42.171. Permalink.

To The Greens & NZFirst...and others who don't own calculators or haven't figured out how to use the 1 in their mobile phone --

Please WAKE UP in regard to ETS's & what that actually means to average kiwi! And think about all those larger nations with bigger vested interests & less interest in the subject.

Posted at 2008-08-25 13:41:36.235. Permalink.

What would climate change mean for the average kiwi if we don't make a strong start in dealing with this problem?

If every country sits back and waits until every developing country stops carbon emissions then the planet is really going to struggle (and those of us that inhabit it). United Future has rejected a carbon tax. An early start on carbon emisions trading would appear to be the other main option for urgent action. The party policy states:

"UnitedFuture supports the creation of CO2 emissions trading mechanisms to provide economic incentives to reduce greenhouse gases and boost carbon capture. We expect that a whole range of market mechanisms will make the buying and selling of carbon credits possible under a variety of scenarios."

I expect it was mentioned elsewhere but I'd appreciate it if you can remind me why, specifically, United Future is not supporting the government ETS Bill?

Posted at 2008-08-26 21:46:25.377. Permalink.

The main reason we are not supporting the current ETS Bill - even though we are strongly in favour of the principle of emissions trading - is because of the likely adverse impact on household budgets, without an adequatre compensation regime. We have seen nothing in any of the agreements with other parties to suggest that we are wrong to conclude families will be big losers from the scheme as currently designed.