Why don't rich countries use easiest and most cost effective way for reducing emissions?

Comments on Peter Wood “Lessons from the US for strategies to put a price on carbon in Australia”, 21/05/2010, http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2010/05/21/lessons-from-the-us-for-strategies-to-put-a-price-on-carbon-in-australia-3/

Although it is extremely unlikely that the Australian states will do it given the changed circumstances, but were the Australian States to restart their process of introducing an emissions reduction scheme, it will show the ultimate failure of the Australian government in its emissions reduction policy at the national level.

Wood's idea of imposing a carbon tax when companies' reporting their emissions, though worth considering, but has been ruled out by the Rudd government. So from present to 2013 it is unlikely for both main political parties to have any carbon pricing or tax in place or introduced in Australia.

The difficulties with many emissions trading schemes are due to their fundamental flaws in not letting the public to decide the issue. They have been politically driven and highly politically manipulated so that the public don't see the costs and benefits of such schemes and left the main interest groups engaging in self interests seeking and distorting the policy, costs and benefits of any proposed schemes.

A much fairer and easier scheme is to provide no or little free permits to emitters, but distribute the carbon revenue to the public on equal per capita basis. In this way the costs of emissions will passed onto consumers and they will choose emission products like power based on prices. Energy producers will choose the most appropriate emission technologies to reflect the costs of emissions.

Of course, main political parties in industrialised countries don't like such an idea, because firstly it will leave political parties largely out of their power to manipulate to seek their own interests in the process, and secondly it will have international implications that industrialised countries don't want to have.

They have always been very skilful in hiding the easy, fair way and most cost effective way of reducing emissions and tend to blame others for any failures, either domestically or internationally.

That is the main reason why it has been so difficult to reach an international agreement on emissions reductions, because industrialised countries, the high emitters on per capita basis have been reluctant to embrace the just and fair principle in paying the prices for their high emissions.

It everyone is fair dinkum, it should be much easier to have an international agreement and to act on climate change globally.

It is noted that Wood did not mention what to do with the revenue from his idea of carbon pricing. Without giving it to the public, supports for it is unlikely to be very strong.

Of course, there is also an issue of how to deal with the issue of one country going it alone and most other countries not following suit.