Youtube – the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee for Beginners

The MPCCC basics – when, who, why, how, outcomes and predictions. Complete with mispronunciation of Greg Combet’s name. Trolls will be along shortly, no doubt…

MPCCC shenanigans 16 June

Good piece from Business Spectator on the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee.

It’s mostly about the face-off between Christine Milne and Martin Ferguson, but includes interesting stuff on a Labour backbencher called Stephen Jones, and on rooftop solar panels. It concludes –

There’s no doubt the carbon debate has moved forward substantially in the past week, but with more and more of the facts on the table, the political stakes just get higher. MPCCC negotiations will go down to the wire, but there will clearly have to be substantial ground given on both sides.

Labor will do so to avoid annihilation. And the Greens must do likewise. If they don’t, the same voters who think roof-top panels will save the world will simplistically view Milne and her colleagues as the party that blocked carbon pricing legislation yet again.

Twitcher’s guide to Australian climate megafauna

Can I justify the two and a half hours it took to put this together? No. Is it full of obscure jokes and cod-Latin. Yes.
Will I put up a bit of an explanation of who all these guys are? Possibly.
Selection criteria were – all of the Climate Commissioners, the 7 MPCCCers and various other folk who seemed important (but then, what do I know?). 6 women, 24 Anglos. Oh dear. Other suggestions welcome…

MPCCC bluffer’s guide

I don’t know if this will be of use to anyone else, but it was most certainly useful to me. I should not have claimed any special insight into the workings of the members’ minds re: a price on carbon, but I’m going on the basis of their public pronouncements, where I know them.

Comments (other than from the trolls who want to say it’s a GIGANTIC HOAX and MAD BAD POINTLESS TAX – you know who you are.)

UPDATE: 22nd June. I was, gasp, wrong. Rob Oakeshott seems not to be a $40 per tonner. Monday 20th’s AFR has him muttering about $15 in the short-term…

“Better informed about the complexities” = “still hate each others’ guts”

So this story, Slow going on carbon pricing talks, from the Australian Associated Press is highly entertaining and informative. It’s about the ‘progress’ in discussions among the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee, and begins thus

THE federal government appears to have made little progress in reaching a carbon pricing compromise with the Australian Greens and crossbenchers during two days of “robust” talks in Canberra.

Greens Senator Christine Milne today said the Multi-Party Climate Change Committee (MPCCC) remained split on key issues surrounding the government’s plan to introduce a carbon tax and emissions trading scheme.

Asked if any progress had been made during the talks, Senator Milne said: “I think we’re a lot better informed about the complexities.

“There’s a long way to go till we get all on the same page.”

You can – and should – read the rest of it via the link above. It sounds like there was a “free and frank exchange of views”, eh?

I went and googled the outfits mentioned in the story, and it helped me a lot.

Business Council of Australia (and their emissions page)
The Business Council of Australia is an association of the CEOs of 100 of Australia’s leading corporations with a combined workforce of one million people. It was established in 1983 as a forum for Australia’s business leaders to contribute to public policy debates to build Australia as the best place in which to live, to learn, to work and do business.
(i.e not the complete knuckle-draggers. Capitalists, obviously, but not stupid ones.)

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Is Australia’s peak council of business organisations& an authoritative national voice for Australian businesses of all sizes, in each industry, globally,nationally & regionally. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) is Australia’s largest and most representative business association and the peak council of Australia’s State and Territory Chambers of Commerce and our major National Industry Associations.
(comparable to split in UK between the CBI and the BCC – outward-facing big picture sorts, versus (usually smaller) domestically orientated , yes?)

So I wonder if they have a little “good cop/bad cop” thang going on? A couple of days ago the BCA called for at the carbontax to start at ten bucks a tonne. So a day latter the ACCI say “No Great New Big Tax on Everything.” Playing Malcom to the BCA’s Martin?

Clean Energy Council
“The Clean Energy Council is the peak body representing Australia’s clean energy sector. It is an industry association made up of more than 440 member companies operating in the fields of renewable energy and energy efficiency.”

Yeah, makes sense… Sort of all the wind and solar thermal and so on people…
Not sure how this fits with what I read in the Australian Financial Review on the 26th…

Push for clean energy fund
Marcus Priest and John Kehoe
Pressure for a new clean energy technology fund attached to a new carbon price scheme is growing from a broad coalition of unions and environment, investor and renewable energy groups ahead of negotiations this weekend between Labor, the Greens and independent MPs.
The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) yesterday called for more than $6 billion over the next six years to be set aside for a new clean energy fund and energy efficiency programs.
AMWU secretary Dave Oliver said the government needed to establish a fund to partner private investors and provide grants, loan guarantees and tax breaks to support the low emissions industry and technoolgy development….