NZ economist agree ETS is the way

The NZ Association of Economists polled members on the best response to climate change. The results show there is a massive consensus.

• Tightening the Emissions Trading Scheme’s cap on net emissions would be a less expensive way to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions than a collection of policies, such as fuel economy standards for imported vehicles, that target emissions already covered by the ETS. – 87% agree, 5% disagree for +82% agreement
• If other market failures unduly hinder adjusting to rising carbon prices, policies directly targeting those market failures may reduce the cost of mitigating emissions. – 81% agree, 2% disagree for +79% agreement
• Undesirable distributional consequences of rising carbon prices are better handled through a carbon dividend that rebates government ETS revenues to households as an annual lump-sum transfer (potentially with higher transfers to lower-income households) rather than through regulatory measures requiring targeted emission reductions in sectors less likely to affect poorer households or through measures like subsidies for electric vehicles. – 93% agree, 2% disagree for +91% agreement

This is what you would call settled science. The sad thing is the Government is doing the opposite and pursuing policies that will achieve less and cost more.

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