Kenneth Davidson says The real plan is to push us back into cars (The Age, 15 December, 2008)

Public transport in Brumby’s scheme smacks of a road agenda.

Given the universal concern about global warming and the importance of transport in the generation of greenhouse gases, it is vital that any proposal for the future development of alternative transport modes should be seen first of all through the prism of their contribution to emission reductions.

After stationary energy, transport is the sector with the highest emissions. In Victoria it is 17 per cent of the total. Without savings in this sector, it is unlikely that Victoria would make its proportionate contribution to Australia’s commitment at Kyoto to cut emissions by 25 to 40 per cent.

For the record, Victorian transport emissions were 19.9 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2006. According to the Victorian Transport Plan, after the abatement measures and exogenous factors such as the assumption of a doubling in oil prices, the introduction of a carbon trading scheme and greater vehicle fuel efficiency, emissions will rise to 20.2 million tonnes CO2 equivalent by 2036. Continue Reading…