ENVIRONMENT Minister Malcolm Turnbull estimates that by 2015, the ban on incandescent light bulbs will save 4 million tonnes of CO2 from going into the atmosphere annually. He doesn’t mention that by then, another 54 million tonnes per year will be emitted as the result of population growth.
Net migration was up again last year (by 9 per cent) to 135,000. Even if it stays the same from now until 2015, that will mean at least one million extra people, which means 27 million extra tonnes emitted. There will also be at least another million people due to natural increase, maybe more if anyone takes any notice of Treasurer Peter Costello’s crazy exhortations to have an extra child for the country.
Tom Gosling, ACT