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| The Idea would be wildly unpopular with who? |
paraclete |
11/19/06 |
Only the US and Australia
US pours scorn on international greenhouse tax proposal
Peter Hartcher Political Editor in Hanoi
November 20, 2006
THE US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, has described as unacceptable a French proposal to tax the imports of countries that refuse to sign the Kyoto Protocol.
In the sharpest divide yet between the two main global approaches to dealing with climate change, Dr Rice said the idea would be "wildly unpopular" and predicted it would never be implemented.
The Prime Minister, John Howard, has claimed strong and unanimous support for his greenhouse policies from the summit of 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum leaders in Hanoi.
Mr Howard's position, which is identical to that of the US, stresses what he called yesterday "a balanced approach" that addresses climate change and energy security, not sacrificing economic growth in the interests of environmental responsibility.
He said he had the vocal support of the US President, George Bush, the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, and the Singaporean Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, at the summit yesterday, and that no dissenting voices were raised.
Dr Rice's position is the first high-level US response to the French proposal last week. It marks a new level of tension between the European proscriptive approach to global warming and the US and Australian emphasis on voluntary, technology-based solutions.
Portraying the idea as anti-growth, Dr Rice told the Herald: "I don't think that would be a particularly useful or acceptable proposal in a world economy that is highly dependent on economic growth in the US and, increasingly, on economic growth in China."
The French Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin, proposed the tax as a Europe-wide measure to penalise what he called "environmental dumping".
It would be imposed on countries that did not agree to the carbon emissions limits decided for the Kyoto Protocol's next phase, from 2012.
"We have decided to reinforce the principle that the polluter pays," Mr de Villepin said. His proposed tax would hit exports from Australia if Canberra stayed outside the Kyoto Protocol.
Mr de Villepin's proposal, and Dr Rice's response, shows the potential for trade wars in the differing policy responses to global warming.
Mr Howard said he had spoken to the other Asia-Pacific leaders on the central importance of technological solutions, the desirability of nuclear power and the importance of the AP6 group, a kind of counter-Kyoto group that embraces Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and the US and rejects proscriptive approaches.
"I reminded them to think about what their economies were like 30 years ago" and how they had been revolutionised by information technology.
"Think what technology can do to transform the environmental consequences of the use of fossil fuels."
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