On May 18, 12:46=A0am, Vote out Brendan Nelson wrote:
> Sir John Howard wrote:
> > Reverse solar subsidy cut, say Greens
>
> >http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23714640-29277,00.html
>
> > GREENS leader Bob Brown today urged Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to
> > reverse the Budget blunder which had devastated solar power businesses
> > around Australia.
>
> > Senator Brown said voters had expected the Rudd Government to use its
> > first Budget to tackle climate change.
>
> > "Instead this was an Exocet missile into a key industry for reducing
> > greenhouse gas emissions," he said in a statement.
>
> > "This is a stunning solar stuffup for Labor's first Budget."
>
> > In a move announced in the Budget, only households earning less than
> > $100,000 will be eligible for the $8000 rebate, aimed at offsetting
> > the cost of installing solar panels to generate electricity.
>
> > The threshold is lower than the $150,000 earnings limit the Government
> > also announced in the Budget for households to receive certain family
> > tax benefits.
>
> > This move has prompted widespread complaints of cancelled orders from
> > across the solar panel installation industry.
>
> > Senator Brown said this obviously was not thought through.
>
> > "If either (Environment Minister) Peter Garrett or (Climate Change
> > Minister) Penny Wong were consulted or backed this absurd move they
> > should hang their heads in shame. Their silence has been deafening,"
> > he said.
>
> > Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson said only the environment would
> > suffer from this move.
>
> > "One day they're telling us that someone who earns $150,000 is rich -
> > the next day apparently, if you earn $100,000 you're rich," he said.
>
> > Dr Nelson said this was unfair to households that are considering
> > solar panels and a step backwards in reducing greenhouse gas
> > emissions.
>
> > "The Government seems to think that someone who earns $100,000 is
> > rich," Dr Nelson said.
>
> > "And how do you put a means test on the environment?"
>
> > -----------------------------------
>
> > Yep, no doubt about it. KRudd is a slimy arsehole.
>
> Labor is a branch of big coal and oil
That's as may be but nevertheless, it's hard to claim that rebates for
solar panels on the rooves of every housholder would be money well
spent.
It would be far better in cost-benefit terms to create substantial
solar plants and pump the output into the grid, because the cost per
square meter of panel (installed and recurrent) would be a fraction of
that on rooves. If you had them on high density housing, factory
rooves or similar, then the coists start to come down, but the reality
is that many people under 100K per annum are renters anyway. We don't
get a say in solar panels.
Fran |