David Williams writes in The Press about a local academic’s view that Prime Minister John Key may have unrealistic expectations for technology’s ability to mitigate emissions in New Zealand.
Geoff Bertram says that international oil and gas prices will have a far greater effect on New Zealand’s emissions than the ETS.
An excerpt: (read in full here)
“However, Geoff Bertram, of Victoria University’s Institute of Policy Studies, said that until polluters paid for their emissions and there were investment incentives, the Government would not get the technology it craved.
…
“Bertram, who co-wrote the book The Carbon Challenge , released last month, was speaking at the Environment and Conservation Organisations of Aotearoa New Zealand (ECO) conference.
“He told The Press the global recession and high oil prices would have more of an effect on New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions than the emissions trading scheme (ETS).
“The ETS would make 0.5 per cent difference to the country’s emissions.”