Australia’s controversial and contentious Carbon Tax.

Australia has a “Carbon Tax” since July 1; a tax our Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and her deputy promised the Australian people before the election “they wouldn’t have under a government she would lead.” As a consequence, the Australian public has become cynical about politicians taken to lying, and think that they are all untrustworthy.

Julia Gillard is now touring Australia, trying to explain the tax and its “benefits,” but few, if any, believe anything she says. This has become a very contentious and controversial issue in Australia. Following is a must read article on this subject, giving you the other side of the debate and some facts on coal combustion and Carbon dioxide. I published this as it may be of interest to the Australian community; the opinion expressed is not necessarily that of the blogger.

And here is an interesting video and three minutes puts carbon dioxide into perspective. Click here. - Werner

 Is Coal Dirty?
Some Facts on Coal Combustion. By Viv. Forbes assisted by volunteer editors.Carbon Sense": 15 July 2012
A print-ready copy of this issue of "Carbon Sense" and the full article can be downloaded from:
http://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/is-coal-dirty.pdf

Please spread this email around. We are winning the war about Man-made Global Warming.
But about half of the population still think that the carbon tax will do some good. Why? It is all about "cleaning up dirty coal energy".
 

The seeds of public concern were sewn with Penny Wong's Machiavellian linking of "carbon" and "pollution". She was assisted by the gross stupidity of the coal industry leadership in promoting nonsense like carbon sequestration as a "clean coal" option. The public naturally assumed "if they need to spend billions to produce "clean coal", obviously we are now using "dirty coal". This generation of coal industry leaders is more culpable than the greens – they should have known better – they have betrayed their shareholders, their employees and the nation.
The whole "dirty coal" program was assisted by the continual portrayal by alarmist media and government propagandists of power station cooling towers belching "pollution". As carbon dioxide is an invisible gas, this is clearly a lie. What is seen are clouds of water vapour with no more pollution potential than wispy white cumulus clouds or boiling dark nimbus thunder-heads.
The climax of this all was a letter published in the Queensland Times of Ipswich, a town founded on coal mining, describing carbon dioxide as "one of many lethal pollutants released by coal combustion".

What are the facts on coal combustion?

When we burn any carbon fuel such as coal, oil, wood, gas, grass, candle sticks, cardboard or cow manure, it produces several gases. Burning a typical Australian thermal coal in air would produce mainly nitrogen (68%), carbon dioxide (21%), water vapour (7%), oxygen (1%), argon (1%) and ash (2%).

So 98% by weight of coal combustion products (the first five) are natural gases merely being recycled to the atmosphere from whence they came. None are toxic. All are invisible except for water vapour. To describe carbon dioxide as a "lethal air pollutant" is an irresponsible lie – it is surprising to see such rubbish in print. Carbon dioxide is the most important and essential atmospheric plant food, without which there would be no plants, no herbivores (which live on plants), and no carnivores (which live on herbivores).

Our coal is simply another form of trees and plants that grew in Australian soils in a previous era. Ash is unburnt mineral matter that comes naturally from the soil and should go back there. Almost all of the ash is now captured in modern coal fired power stations, but is released freely in bush fires, barbeques, wood stoves, cow manure cookers and open air cremations.

Soot is a product of incomplete combustion and is not produced in modern, well-designed power stations. It is no more dangerous than burnt toast. It is true that some coals can produce some SOX (oxides of sulphur) and NOX (oxides of nitrogen) but these are caught in modern filters and cleaners. Only small traces enter the air. They could be annoying, and would be dangerous if concentrated in city air, but EVERY normal component of coal is an essential plant nutrient, and far from being invariably toxic, is often in short supply in the broader environment. Anyone who raises crops or animals often needs to supplement soils, pastures or animal feeds with nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, copper, zinc and selenium to name a few.

 The few coal combustion products that are genuinely toxic, such as mercury, occur rarely and in tiny quantities. If present, special filters are used to ensure they are not released. Australian coals are generally very low in mercury, indeed lower than in the average earth environment. Naturally occurring rocks containing mercury (as found at Cinnabar in Queensland), dental amalgams and the new "green" fluoro light bulbs represent a far greater mercury danger. 

In Earth's long history, today's level of atmospheric carbon dioxide is very low and the green world will benefit greatly from any additional carbon dioxide we add to the atmosphere. That is why nurserymen add carbon dioxide to their greenhouses. Australia's tax on carbon dioxide now applies to big power stations, rubbish tips, steel works, cement plants, refineries and coal mines. But many of them have been given exemptions or compensation packages. Naturally they will pass all net costs onto consumers, but our government says that most voters will be compensated and will feel no pain. So it all looks like achieving a net nothing.

Carbon dioxide is produced whenever animal or vegetable matter is burnt, digested or rots. So when do we start taxing the big-time emitters such as termites? There are trillions of them quietly munching their way through timber, dead trees and grass. Then we have all the rice paddies, swamps and wetlands emitting that other dastardly natural gas, the Will-o-the-Wisp, methane. And who is going to chase India's 280 million sacred cows with gas collection bags?  For the full article, go to the link at the beginning of this article.
 
Here is a detailed report on coal combustion products:
http://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/coal-combustion.pdf

Carbon and Carbon Dioxide – Clearing up the Confusion:
http://carbon-sense.com/2011/05/02/carbon-dioxide-confusion/

Clearing the smog of Beijing with “Coal by Wire”:
 http://carbon-sense.com/2008/08/04/clearing-the-smog/

My thought for today: - Werner
“Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have. The course of history shows us that as a government grows, liberty decreases.” ? Thomas Jefferson

Is Australia’s National Government deliberately mendacious or lacking common sense?

I will let you decide, but let me know what you think and make a comment. Since this government came to power we experienced blunder after blunder and costly ones at that. This government is desperately clinging to power with the help of a motley bunch of independents and the myopic and tunnel visioned Greens – to the detriment of the Australian people. When we look at what was happening in our federal parliament recently, one would have to come to the conclusion that “common sense” is not so common. Below is an interesting story by an unknown author with an obituary of the “Common Sense.”

Since the Federal Labor government abolished the effective way the Howard government stopped illegal migrants arriving in our country boats; we have now a tremendous problem on our hands with boatloads arriving constantly and exhausting our capacity to house them and to a tremendous cost to the Australian taxpayer - those people are a burden to our welfare system and financial resources. But the most worrying aspect is that most of those illegal arrivals are Muslims and, we know from experience that those that have settled in Australia and in large sections of western Sydney; don’t integrate into the Australian community and way of life as we know it. The Gillard government is in coalition with the myopic Greens, but is unable to stop the boats.

We need a federal election to sort this out. Tony Abbott cannot be blamed for the boat arrivals, Gillard and the Greens are the government and the ball is in their court.

We used to be called the “Lucky Country” and Queensland, the “Smart State” but that has changed a long time ago. Our politicians federally and state have stuffed it up. Despite our mineral wealth, the government, state and federal accumulated debts spiraling towards 100 billion.  The only people that are well off, with the exception of a few others are our politicians.

We are handing out millions of dollars in foreign aid, money that we have to borrow, yet we have people living below the poverty line, some have no place to sleep and many who have been affected by recent floods and cyclones have not their homes repaired because the insurance companies refuse to pay because of a technicality.  I believe that charity should start at home and we should look after our people first, especially if the money has to be borrowed.

Sadly, we signed “Agenda 21” and we will eventually be controlled by the United Nations, if things go according to plan, a body largely comprising third world countries, and many of them corrupt. 

The discredited former Premier, Anna Bligh, forced water fluoridation on the Queensland population, without any consultation and we are in fact disposing of China’s toxic waste product from the fertilizer and aluminum industries through our drinking water system. Ironically, China prohibits water fluoridate because of their health reasons.

The same politicians stand idly by while foreign countries buy big tracts of our prime agricultural land to produce food for their respective counties. They blindly are giving permits to mining companies to establish seam gas wells on peoples properties and, not only destroying their livelihood, but also poisoning our artesian water so vital to a large section of our meat and food producing farmers. Equally, our governments are allowing foreign mining companies to buy huge areas of prime agricultural land for open cut coal mining, further reducing our capacity to produce food. Please read the poem by Des Hock at the bottom of this posting, aptly named: THE AUSSIE FARMERS WAR.

Our inept federal government is now introducing a carbon dioxide tax, but in their promotion they cleverly leave “dioxide” out and most of our pathetic population is not aware that this is actually the air we breathe and is needed by the plants and is not a pollutant.  We are constantly told lies and as Hitler once said; if you tell lies often enough people will believe it.

The reason why the imposition of the Carbon Tax doesn't work, I’m told is; because carbon emissions will not decrease under a Carbon Tax. Emissions will in fact increase from 2012 to 2020 from 578 to 621 million tonnes (Govt figures). It is a flawed policy reliant on shutting down power stations and buying Carbon credits overseas.

(If somebody can explain what they mean by “carbon credits,” let me know. - Werner)

Australia emits less than 1.4% of the world's carbon emissions. Yet China opens up more coal-fired power stations every week and, paradoxically, we supply them with coal. Isn’t this a double standard?

My parents used to tell me about Mr. Common Sense early in my life and, told me I would do well to call on him when making decisions. Today I read his obituary. Please join me in a moment of silence in remembrance; for Common Sense had served us all so well for so many generations. - Werner

Obituary: Common Sense.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life isn't always fair, and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense, lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not children are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense, lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer Aspirin, sun lotion or a sticky plaster to a student, but could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense, lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar can sue you for assault.

Common Sense, finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realise that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by three stepbrothers; I Know my Rights, Someone Else is to Blame, and I'm a Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realised he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing. Author unknown

This poem hits the nail on the head as to what is happening in this country and I implore you Aussies to become more vocal, support our farmers and talk to your federal politicians and implore them to use common sense when making decisions.

                                                       THE AUSSIE FARMERS WAR.

By Des Hock 

A bitter war is being fought on fertile Australian soil.

Against foreign invaders, who intend our farmland to despoil.
Our coal is being mined by companies foreign-owned,
which do not give a damn about the degradation of the ground.

Our farm-land will produce good crops despite the occasional drought,

but coal deposits will expire long before this century’s out. 
In a starving world where the demand for food increases every day, 
instead of driving farmers out, they should be urged to stay.

The farmers fight this war alone – but with government aid

 the foreigners are encouraged, the farmland to invade. 
As Aussies, we rightly expect the government to preserve. 
This land for our own future use, and not foreigners to serve.

After miners have plundered and taken away the spoil, 

they leave a legacy of useless contaminated soil. 
They promise to undertake mine-site rehabilitation, 
while all the time knowing full well that’s just dissimulation.

Our politicians swear an oath to serve the people and this land, 

but when big foreign money looms, forget that for which they stand. 
“The Mining Boom” is touted as saving the Australian economy 
by those who stand to gain thereby, ignoring what they wish not to see.

Future wars are unlikely to be fought over oil or coal, 

but over food and water as mass starvation takes its toll. 
Why then here in Australia, is the world’s best farming land 
being destroyed for short-term gain – no one can understand.

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My thought for today: - Werner

Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done.” C. E. Stow

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