IT’S NOW clear that neither side of politics is prepared to use the polluter-pays principle to make serious cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. Nor does either Labor or the Coalition show much sign of adopting viable alternatives for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. The only difference is that Tony Abbott says outright that he will never make it more expensive to keep polluting while Julia Gillard gives the impression that she would like to do something as long as nobody objects.

Gillard says she supports putting a “price on carbon” when there is a “deep and lasting community consensus.” Unless she takes a lead, this might never happen. What she has said to date is no more than a defence of the indefinite delay that she strongly advocated in Kevin Rudd’s mini-cabinet, known as the “gang of four,” back in April. Labor’s standing in the opinion polls dropped sharply after Rudd announced the decision not to go ahead with the government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, which had been…