CHRISTOPHER HART: Why is the BBC so in love with Bono when he's a dreadful old hypocrite? | Mail Online

What sticks in my craw is the philanthropic posturing that goes with it all. It's rather odd to make grandiose pronouncements about how climate change will hit the world's poor hardest, while flying on a private jet between your many homes.

Emission plan disaster for New Zealand - opinion | Stuff.co.nz

Far from cutting farm emissions, we should raise them if it feeds more people, says Frank Brenmuhl.

The road to hell is proverbially paved with good intention. If anything proves this right, it is the emissions trading scheme, or ETS.

Rushed into law before the last election, the scheme is like some evil twin of the unlamented Electoral Finance Act.

While the latter brought civil libertarians on to the streets, who could oppose the ETS? It's like condemning the polar bear to extinction or being party to the genocide of island civilisations. The ETS will save the planet, or so we were told.

The Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading) Amendment Act was not the finest achievement of the 48th Parliament.

The ETS is uncosted tokenism that, though born of laudable intent, became a political fix. Tokenism isn't a great start for a major piece of public policy.

Most emission permits to be free: U.S. Rep. Doyle | Environment | Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most of the pollution emission permits that industry would need under a climate change bill being negotiated in the U.S. House of Representatives will initially be given to companies, instead of sold to them, Representative Mike Doyle said on Wednesday.

The Pennsylvania Democrat, who has been working on portions of the bill aimed at reducing U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, also told reporters that for the first 10 years to 15 years of the program, most of industry's permits would be free.
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Spokesmen for Representatives Henry Waxman and Edward Markey, who are leading the drive for a climate control bill in the House, were not available for comment.