Climate Change
I do beleive that human activity has and is affecting the climate. However I have to agree with the Federal Opposition from the point of view that it is better to wait until after the Copenhagen Conference before deciding on the best course of action. The Federal Government rush to have it passed by the end of the year was nothing more than political grandstanding so that Kevin Rudd/ Penny Wong could go to Copenhagen and tell the world how good they are (not) in getting the first scheme up.
As a young University student in the late 60's we were told of the natural cycles of cooling and warming of the planet and that we were and still are in a natural warming cycle. Evidence of that can be found in thge likes of Glacier Bay Alaska where the extent of the glaciers has been tracked since the mid 18th century and it has retreated a long way over 70 miles or so since that time in a steady progression.
That is not to say that human activity by way of the Industrial Revolution has not contributed to the an acceleration in the warming process. I would venture to say that human activity is a significant harmonic on the natural warming and cooling cycles the planet goes through.
In my lifetime I have noticed a significant change in the climate particularly since the acceleration in industrialisation in developing countries like India and China in the last 20 years. That is not to say that India and China are to blame, we are all to blame as we live more and more opulent lifestyles.
The highly developed countries laid the foundations for climate change in the last century with rampant industrial and economic growth based upon the use of fossil fuels for energy to support that growth.
We all have to take a step back in the industrialised world and take steps to mitigate our use of energy and processed resources.
However I am not sure that an Emissions Trading Scheme based upon taxation only is necessarily the best option.
toot2000, It is not up to me to say whether or not he should be allowed to cut down his trees.
What I did say was that the land clearing in his district has caused the land to become less fertile.
I remember here in Qld when the state government introduced the land clearing laws, a farmer neighbor brought in a bulldozer, the day before the laws came into effect and cleared a mountainside of every tree.
A week later we had 250mm rain and all that was left on that mountain was rocks and gullies on which once was good grazing land.
Peter Spencer has admitted that sheep were dying on his property because of lack of food.
That to me means he was overstocked.
He has not been able to pay his mortgage and his land will be taken over by the bank.
I do feel sorry for him but feel that he has contributed to his own problems.