Is Australia going-it-alone?

Comments on Richard Blandy “All pain, no gain in go-it-alone carbon tax”, 21/03/2011, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/all-pain-no-gain-in-go-it-alone-carbon-tax/story-e6frg6ux-1226025644660

Blandy’s article title, "All pain, no gain in go-it-alone carbon tax", is undoubtedly right in logic and in isolation with the real world.

However, the real world is not that Australia is going-it-alone. China, the world's largest developing economy and the largest emitter, has taken many measures to limit its emissions and plans to reduce its intensity, or emissions per unit of GDP / output in Blandy's terminology, by 40-45% by 2020.

That fact alone does not accord well with Blandy's 'go-it-alone' description.

Further it also suggests that it is possible to decarbonise by 80-95% by 2050, in terms of carbon per unit of output, contrary to Blandy paints impossible.

Richard Blandy cited Garnaut's reports/papers, but only very selectively by saying that "Ross Garnaut's cost-benefit analysis (Garnaut Climate Change Review final report, chapter one) accepts there will be such costs", and even without stating how high the costs would be.

Clearly the costs Garnaut estimated would not be as high as Blandy implies.

More seriously, many people are misleading the Australian public with misinformation and distortion of world facts.

That would not look good for the world’s highest emitter per capita, especially when it comes from people who are from academia.