Tuesday, October 26, 2021
UK: New trade deals ‘are unfair on farmers and won’t help emissions’ says John Gummer
Impugning the health standards of New Zealand produce is really rich. NZ produce is famous for being clean and green.
And it is particularly rich from a man who encouraged the consumption of meat potentially infected with mad cow disease
The chairman of the government’s climate change advisory board has condemned trade deals with Australia and New Zealand as “totally offensive” as he warned they would undermine attempts to tackle emissions.
Lord Deben [John Gummer], the former Tory cabinet minister who chairs the Climate Change Committee, said that the agreements were “entirely unacceptable for climate change purposes”. He warned they would damage efforts to ask UK farmers to help consumers shift to eating less meat, but of higher quality.
“I do see that you can do all sorts of things to encourage people to buy better meat, and I think we ought to be,” he told the Observer. “That’s why I’m so deeply opposed – and find totally offensive – the agreements with both Australia and New Zealand, which are entirely unacceptable for climate change purposes.
Lord Deben, says Britain will be importing meat from countries that do not meet the same climate standards as UK farmers.© Photograph: Dorset Media Service/Alamy Lord Deben, says Britain will be importing meat from countries that do not meet the same climate standards as UK farmers.
“You cannot ask farmers to do in this country what we are going to ask them to do and import goods from people who are not [meeting the same standards]. The government promised it wouldn’t do that – and it is doing it. It is entirely against its promise.
“I shall go on fighting until we stop it. There has to be, internationally, standards that enable you to carry through climate change rules.”
Labour has already suggested that the trade deals will allow Australian and New Zealand farmers to undercut their British counterparts with lower animal welfare standards. The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has warned that the deal agreed in principle with New Zealand “offers nothing in return” to British farmers.
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Biden Rolls Out New Plan: Take Millions of Vehicles Off Roads by Forcing People onto Trains
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden visited his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania and rolled out his newest cringeworthy plan: make people start riding trains again to get rid of vehicles on the road.
“We will take literally millions of automobiles off the road,” Biden argued, claiming that the plan will save millions of barrels of oil and reduce pollution. “This is not hyperbole; this is a fact,” he said. “These are facts.”
“I got more money for passenger rail than the entire Amtrak system cost to begin with,” Biden continued. “We’re going to change the nation in a big way.”
Breitbart reports:
Amtrak continues to enjoy heavy subsidies from Congress even though it has famously lost money for 50 years. Since 1971, Amtrak has cost taxpayers more than $100 billion.
But Biden’s proposed plan sparked Amtrak to share a dream list of even more connected cities across the country by 2035.
In Scranton, Biden spoke at length about his long history of riding Amtrak, boasting he rode the train more than two million miles while he was senator and vice president. “You should name half the line after me,” Biden joked. “I am the most railroad guy you’re ever going to meet.”
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'People Got Jobs!': NYC Drivers Confront Climate Change Protesters Who Brought Traffic to a Standstill
Drivers in New York City were not happy one bit when rush hour traffic was brought to a halt because environmental protesters blocked FDR Drive to put pressure on President Joe Biden to act on climate change.
The protesters, who were with Extinction Rebellion and Sunrise Movement, said they were not trying to annoy the drivers, "but to force the public to confront the true dangers of unchecked climate change. If we do not act today, if @potus does not act today, NYC will be underwater by 2100. It's a matter of life and death."
A few drivers got out of their cars to confront the protesters standing in the road and holding banners.
"People got jobs!" one woman said to the protesters, adding she could be fired from her job and her kids could be late to school.
New York City police officers did arrest the protesters after they refused to move. The NYPD's 7th Precinct announced just before 11:00 AM traffic had returned to normal.
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Net zero by 2050 plan ‘uniquely Australian’: Morrison
Very vague
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has launched the federal government’s plan to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 by lauding the country’s achievements so far, saying Australia is on track to achieve a cut of up to 35 per cent by 2030.
“Australia has already met and beaten our ... 2020 targets and indeed Australia will beat and meet our 2030 targets as well,” Mr Morrison said on Tuesday.
The government’s policy is a cut of 26 to 28 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030.
“We believe we will be able to achieve a 35 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030: that is something we actually think we are going to achieve,” he said.
The government’s plan to achieve net zero by 2050 stresses industries, regions and jobs will not be put at risk. The target of net zero by 2050 will not be legislated.
Mr Morrison was accompanied by Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor, but Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce was not present.
Nationals MPs backed the goal in a tense meeting on Sunday that cleared the way for Tuesday’s launch of the plan to tackle climate change, which includes $19 billion in investments for low emissions technologies including solar and clean hydrogen by 2030.
Mr Morrison said it was “uniquely Australian”.
“Australians want action on climate change. They’re taking action on climate change but they also want to protect their jobs and their livelihoods. They also want to keep the costs of living down,” he said. “And I also want to protect the Australian way of life, especially in rural and regional areas. The Australian way of life is unique.”
Mr Morrison will fly to Rome on Thursday to attend the G20 summit before spending two days in Glasgow for the United Nations climate talks.
The Prime Minister said the plan to cut emissions was not a plan “at any cost”. “There’s no blank cheques here,” he said.
The PM has revealed details of his government's climate plan that'll cut emissions in Australia to net zero by 2050, trying to allay fears it'll cut jobs and increase the cost of living.
He promised the target would not spell the end of coal or gas production or exports and would not increase energy bills.
“It will not impact households businesses or the broader economy with new costs or taxes imposed by the initiatives that we are undertaking,” he said. “It will not cost jobs, not in farming, mining or gas. Because what we’re doing in these plans is positive things, enabling things.
It also would not be a “set and forget” program, with five-yearly reviews from the Productivity Commission. The first review is set for 2023 and will look at the socio-economic impact of the plan.
Mr Taylor said the plan to achieve net zero by the middle of the century was achievable, thanks in part to the country’s performance to date on reducing emissions.
“Australia versus even developed countries has performed extremely well, with a reduction of almost 21 per cent since 2005,” he said.
Mr Taylor said carbon offset would be an important part of the plan, noting that Australia had 90 million hectares of productive agricultural land. Another focus would be reducing the costs of low emissions technologies.
“We’re looking at the customer and technology trends, shaping those trends to our advantage; and on the back of that, ensuring we have a portfolio of technologies that can deliver the outcome we want to deliver which is head zero by 2050,” he said.
‘Actions speak louder than words’
Mr Morrison predicted Australia’s plan to cut emissions would be strongly welcomed at the UN climate summit. He had been under increasing international pressure to increase the nation’s climate targets ahead of the conference, which starts on November 1.
“The actions of Australia, speak louder than the words of others. There’ll be lots of words in Glasgow, but I’ll be able to point to the actions of Australia and the achievements of Australia, and I think that’s very important,” he said.
The plan has already been welcomed by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who overnight hailed the pledge to cut emissions as “heroic”.
Mr Morrison said the modelling that backed the plan would be released in due course.
When asked what the entire cost was, excluding funding previously announced, he said the plan drew together many earlier budget announcements including $464 million for green hydrogen and $1.4 billion in the Building Better Regions Fund.
“The budget is about achieving this plan and particularly on this plan there is $20 billion – pretty much all of which gets spent in rural and regional areas to achieve the lower emissions energy targets.”
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My other blogs. Main ones below
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM )
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
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Jim Hansen and his twin
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