Emissions Trading Scheme passes into law

ONE NEWS: The Government's controversial legislation to tackle climate change has become law over night.

The emissions trading scheme, passed by 63 votes to 57,  will limit the amount of greenhouse gas that can be emitted and force industries that breach it, to buy carbon credits.
The scheme passed with the support of both the greens and new zealand first.

It has had a troubled history, and the Government was forced to negotiate for months with the Greens and New Zealand First to get a majority on it.

The Climate Change (Emissions Trading and Renewable Preference) Bill has implications for every household and the potential to change the make-up of the labour force as environmental factors gain increasing importance in business.

It will eventually bring all sectors of the economy under a regime which sets limits on the amount of greenhouse gas they can emit.

Those that breach their limit will have to buy credits from those that are below their cap.

Electricity comes under it in 2010, transport in 2011 and agriculture in 2013.

Climate Change Minister David Parker launched the third reading debate, saying he was proud New Zealand had risen to meet the greatest challenge facing the world.

He said New Zealand was joining 27 others nations that had adopted emissions trading schemes, and many others that were developing them.

"The ETS does not create costs, it minimises the cost of reducing emissions," he said.

"It does so in a fair and effective way by charging the polluter for increases in emissions and rewarding decreases. It will save New Zealand hundreds of millions of dollars between now and 2012 alone."

Parker said its provisions meant New Zealand could meet its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol, at the same time helping the country reduce emissions at the lowest possible cost.

National has opposed the bill from the start and the party's climate change spokesman, Nick Smith, said the ETS was not in a fit state to be put into law.

"National wants a balanced climate change policy," he said.

"If the Government is honest about wanting a world-leading ETS they should say that means having world-leading petrol and power prices as well."

Smith said National was worried the ETS would cause job losses and force heavy industry overseas.
He said if National won the election it would amend the legislation.

"We will change it to a more balanced objective, to a target of a 50% reducing in New Zealand's emissions by 2050," he said.

Labour, NZ First, the Greens and the Progressive Party supported the bill on its third reading.

National, ACT, the Maori Party, United Future and independent MPs Gordon Copeland and Taito Phillip Field voted against it.

In layman's terms

The new Emissions Trading Scheme is important enough to have had politicians arguing for months, but ordinary New Zealanders may have no idea what they are talking about.

On the street, reactions ran the gamut from confusion to bewilderment.

So on Wednesday ONE News went to Auckland's Avondale college, where a class of 17-year-olds had half an hour to research and then explain the ETS.

It was going to be an education for all of them, with even teacher Anna Martin conceding she didn't know too much about the scheme.

Explaining important but complicated issues can be tough, but the students gave it a good go.

Eventually, the Year 13 Statistics class found a fine analogy for the Emissions Trading Scheme. They liken it to a situation where every big business has ten pollution dollars on their prepay cellphone.

If you run out of pollution credits, you have to buy more from companies which pollute less.

The overall aim is to have a maximum emission that the country like New Zealand can spend up. If we spend too much overall, we will be destroying the environment.

Essentially, it strives to punish the polluters and rewarding the greener companies.

Something everyone can understand - even Year 13 Stats on a Wednesday afternoon. If they can get their heads around it, perhaps there is hope for us all.