Top Stories: A Personal Climate Change Tax Credit?

Media Release
19 March 2008

Stories appearing in Carbon News today: New Zealand’s first daily news service for the carbon markets at www.carbonnews.co.nz

COULD CLARK DELIVER A PERSONAL CLIMATE CHANGE TAX CREDIT?

Could the Clark Government come up with a one-off cash Climate Action Dividend in this year’s Budget, to offset higher costs people will face to pay for its climate change measures?

A personal tax credit to spend on reducing carbon emissions and recycling of carbon taxes to pay for policies to reduce emissions are being introduced in British Columbia and could provide a policy menu for the Clark Government.

NO SWERVING FROM ETS – CULLEN

Finance Minister Dr Michael Cullen is adamant the global economic downturn will not deflect the Government from its decision to introduce an emissions trading scheme (ETS) this year.
In a written statement to Carbon News last night, Cullen said that the downturn, which earlier in the day wiped billions of dollars off European and America stock-markets, “would pale in comparison to the unmitigated economic effects of climate change.”

MAJOR NEW EPA REPORT: EMISSIONS TRADING WILL CUT EMISSIONS 56% - WON’T DAMAGE ECONOMY

A United States' Environmental Protection Agency's report into the impact of the front-running Senate will to introduce an emissions trading system says it will cut GDP by 1% only - but see emissions fall 56% by 2050.

DEFORESTATION IN 2007 EXCEEDS ANDERTON’S EXPECTATIONS

The rush to change land use before the forestry industry came under the emissions trading scheme (ETS) resulted in far more trees being cut down and not replaced than the Government expected.
Net deforestation in 2007 amounted to 19,000ha, compared to the Government’s 2006 forecast of 13,000ha, Forestry Minister Jim Anderton said in a statement yesterday. From January 1 this year the owners of the country’s 1.2m hectares of exotic forest planted before 1990 became unable to change their land’s use unless they met the full cost of the resultant carbon emissions, guesstimated to be $20,000/ha.

NITRIFICATION INHIBITORS CRITICAL TO CLEAN DAIRYING

If every one of the country’s 5000-odd dairy farmers were to spray their pastures with Ravensdown’s Eco-N, nitrous oxide emissions from all of New Zealand’s pastoral farming would be cut to below 1990 levels, the company says. Applied as a spray in April-May or July-August, Eco-n not only prevents 60-80% of nitrous oxide losses from dairy pastures, but increases grass production by as much as 15%.

BRITISH FIRM ANNOUNES WORLD’S LARGEST TIDAL POWER REDEVELOPMENT

While the Government here has received two applications for the first tranche of $2 million for wave energy, a British company yesterday announced the world's largest tidal power project. It will be building a 300 turbine, 300 MW power stations under the sea off the Korean coast.

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ENDS

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