This isn't so much about the benefits of an ETS or even weather climate change is real or worthy of government action. Rather its about a comment made over and over again by Journalists in Australia. According to journalists and political analysts "ETS's are hard for the adverage voters to understand" and im left wondering WHY? Its easy. Now the specific legislation maybe complex but the policy itself is quite easy. After all we are arguing about how to deal with a great example in the Murry river (and water generally). The majority of water from the east coast comes from the Murry-Darling system. However this water is limited by how much is actually avaliable in that system and there for water permits are required (for industrial and faming useage anyway, domestic useages are limited in other ways because you cant compleatly "turn off the tap" to domestic usage). There for if you have x amount of water you can sell y (y= x minus the amount set asside for the enviroment and domestic usage) amount of water for industry and farming. This can then be put out on the open market and the market determines a price its worth, those who can do with less water in dry years by changing practices do so because its cheeper than buying extra water, if companies can come up with ways to increase water in the system (for instance by building a desal plant or recycling water ect) in a cost effective way because the price is going up will do so. What does this have to do with an ETS? Well the goverment says that x tons of CO2 maybe releaced each year. They then break that up into alotments which are then sold in an auction and the price is then decided based on how many permits are avilable and how much specific buinesses need them. If buisnesses find its cheeper to change practices rather than buy permits they will do so and if companies can find ways to decrease the amount of CO2 being releaced (by planting trees, by removing it from the atmosphere or however it is done) then they increase the number of credits which are avilable for them to sell into the market. So how is that so hard for people to understand?
