Gore shares stage with opponent of Aussie carbon tax

July 7, 2014
When governments meddle in energy markets, strange things happen—such as an appearance by Al Gore with a coal magnate at a press conference announcing opposition to carbon taxation.

When governments meddle in energy markets, strange things happen—such as an appearance by Al Gore with a coal magnate at a press conference announcing opposition to carbon taxation.

This really happened.

The coal magnate is Australian Sen. Clive Palmer, whose Palmer United Party controls three votes important to ending a carbon tax.

Australia adopted the levy 2 years ago planning to phase in a cap-and-trade scheme.

Now at $25.40/tonne (Aus.) of carbon dioxide-equivalent, the tax had predictable results. Electricity prices zoomed. Businesses closed. Unemployment rose.

And, oh yes, CO2 emissions increased.

Because costly failure gets voters' attention, the government can't wait to scrap the tax.

So there, at Parliament House in Canberra June 25, stood Palmer alongside the oracle of climate anxiety, announcing his support of the effort.

Gore wasn't there to renounce his campaign to save the glaciers or to surrender his Nobel Peace Prize, of course.

He was there to—well, he never said.

After Palmer, whose interests include Waratah Coal of Queensland, confirmed his coalition would back repeal of the carbon tax, he and Gore decamped without taking questions.

Palmer's only condition was that consumers benefit fully from the savings.

But he earlier indicated support for two other elements of the government's energy experiment: renewable energy targets and a $10 billion corporation to finance "clean energy."

According to press reports, Palmer also said he'd support reintroduction of an emission-trading scheme, an issue on which a last-minute wobble almost cost him the photo opportunity with Gore. But Palmer made clear that wasn't a condition for his coalition's backing of carbon-tax repeal.

For Gore, the evening cannot have been splendid.

Collapse of the carbon tax is no triumph of climate activism.

Gore's presence at the announcement requires tortured explanation. In fact, there's only one way to distill it enough for popular consumption: damage control.

At that, as long as governments think they can choreograph energy use without hurting people, politicians and their string-pullers can expect lots of practice.