ETS to increase New Zealands emissions 5%

Under the new Emissions Trading Scheme, (ETS), the Government will pay just one company, Methanex, over a billion dollars to increase New Zealand's total emissions by 5% over the next ten years, the Green Party said today.

“The Government is subsidising the growth of New Zealand’s biggest polluters, and asking the taxpayer to cough up for the costs,” Jeanette Fitzsimons, Green Party Climate Change Spokesperson said.

“A giveaway of free credits, without a limit, means big polluters can reach into the Treasury cookie jar as often as they like, and send the bill to the taxpayer.”

The Government admitted last night that their proposed changes will amount to hundreds of millions in new costs to the taxpayer over a few short years.

“It is unthinkable that the taxpayer will not only pay for a full upgrade of the Methanex factories, it will continue to pay Methanex to pollute for the next 70 years,” Ms Fitzsimons said.

“This is not protection of an existing industry so it can carry on. This is a huge subsidy for a major polluter to increase its production and its pollution.

“A properly designed ETS would encourage business to begin reducing emissions, not pay them to increase emissions.

“This makes a mockery of the Government’s emissions reduction target of ten percent by 2020. It does exactly the opposite.

“Paying polluters to pollute more is not ‘doing our part’ to tackle climate change,” Ms Fitzsimons said.

Jeanette’s blog on the Methanex subsidy:
http://blog.greens.org.nz/2009/09/20/is-methanex-poised-to-rort-the-taxpayer-with-nationals-help/