Don’t fall for Goff’s trick

Auckland Council announced:

An ambitious $1 billion climate action package to reduce carbon emissions and deliver more buses, ferries, cycling and walking and urban tree canopy is the signature policy in Mayor Phil Goff’s proposal for Auckland Council’s Annual Budget 2022/23, released today, 1 December 2021.

It is proposed to be funded by a Climate Action Targeted Rate (CATR) that will raise around $574 million over 10 years, ringfenced for direct climate action in Tāmaki Makaurau. 

This is a con, that has nothing to do with the climate. This is Phil Goff once again breaking his promise to keep rates rises down. Last term he broke it by bringing in a bed tax (now ruled illegal by the courts) and now he is trying for a climate tax.

None of his billion dollar spend with your money will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by one kg. That is because under a trade and cap system such as NZ’s ETS, any reduction through these policies, will just allow other companies to purchase emissions for cheaper. What reduces emissions is the shrinking cap, not ratepayers being soaked for one billion dollars.