The Oil Drum

Excluding petrol from an emissions trading scheme would decrease the general populous' accountability for their own actions. It is easy to say that higher petrol prices are affecting "hard working Australian families", but these are the very same families who forgo public transport for the convenience of a car, who drive to the shop every day to pick up a litre of milk and who spend a large proportion of their wages on things they don't need, particularly want or will ever use.
The wastage I see around me every day is just incredible. People who are concerned over the price of fuel need to take a good hard look at their expenses. One woman I know is forever stressing about the price of fuel and how hard it is to meet her mortgage repayments, yet she drives a V8 Commodore, buys only brand name clothes for her children and has take away foods at least four out of seven nights. It is as though their is no connection between her lifestyle and her expenses. I see this trend wherever I go, and I mix it up with many levels of society.
If as a nation we promote efficiency at all levels as being the most important issue then all other issues will naturally follow. We MUST include Carbon taxing on petrol so as to make people look to their lifestyles and make the small but necessary adjustments that are required.
I'm afraid the days of doing 'whatever we want' have to come to an end and a Big Brother campain of efficiency similar to the culture shift of introducing seatbelts must begin.
The opportunities for the Rudd Goverment to make a real difference to Australia's future are many and varied, yet if they take the populist road and make allowances at every corner then the outcomes will be far from what we need.
We who read TOD obviously have the concern of Peak Oil too, but from a climate change point of view only, the benefits of efficiency are above all else.