Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced that Australia will aim to reduce its emissions by 5-15% in spite of urgings from economist Ross Garnaut to reduce by 20% and evidence that anything short of 25% will cause economic and environmental problems.
Rudd's 5% target is bad for the environment and bad for the economy. Even former Liberal leader John Hewson has pointed out that an ETS can create new industries and be positive for growth and jobs if handled correctly. The world's sea levels are not going to hold off from rising for a couple of years while we deal with the economic crisis. This has to be priority number one.