Weather watch: Staggering ETS poll result

What is it about the National party that separates them from Labour these days? The two parties seem to been welded together at the hips and apart from the fact John Key seems a little more "down to earth" than most political leaders II find many of National's policies almost identical - perhaps wrapped a little differently but once you open them up they have the same present lurking inside.

Take, for example, the incredible Emissions Trading Scheme that kicked in last week. Many of us can't quite work out how much it's going to cost us - but it is going to cost us...all of us. My power company told me the ETS would add an average $5 a month to my bill. Petrol prices, as if they weren't high enough already, will also go up in price. Let's not forget the increase in GST coming up too.

Those tax cuts were heard about in the budget are very quickly being eaten away into oblivion. I'm not saying who I've voted for in the past, but it's fair to say I don't really align with any one party. I vote based on the merits of leadership and policy announcements at each election. I'm not a national man. I'm not a labour man. I do, however, vote for what I think are in the best interests of the country.

WeatherWatch.co.nz ran a poll last week about the ETS. The question was simple. Do you support it? The answers were either "Yes", "No", or "I don't understand what the ETS is".

This poll has become one of our most popular polls ever but the results were the clearest we've ever had.

Do you support the ETS?

Yes - 2%

No - 97%

I don't know what the ETS is - 1%

Vote or comment directly on the poll here (weatherwatch.co.nz/content/poll-do-you-support-ets)

A massive 97% of people voted "No, I do not support the ETS". This result is staggering to me. WeatherWatch.co.nz readers are a real mix of people, from farmers to city folk and, I believe, we would have a perhaps more liberal leaning in our political readership. Yet despite this 97% of those who cast a vote said they don't support the government's Emissions Trading Scheme.

The problem is, it's hard to work out what it's going to cost us - and exactly what the money is going to be used for. This has always been my biggest concern with any environment-based tax or scheme - where does my $5 a month in my power bill go to? Why does the sceptic in me think it's going to go to Paul to rob Peter.

And who is really going to use less power as a result of this? If you're cold you need to heat your home. If you need lights you'll switch them on. This widespread, broad brush, approach to fixing climate change is absurd. Generic price rises as a result of the ETS will do as much good for the environment as washing your car by throwing a bucket of water at it.

If we really want to cut our emissions why don't we simply place a price tag on things that heavily pollute. I would actually accept a significant raise in petrol prices IF that money went cent for cent straight back into improving our public transport, to make it something people WANT to use. We help the environment and I can still get in to work in a first world fashion. When I lived in Wellington I enjoyed catching the train. In Auckland, I have no train. I do have a bus though...that takes twice as long as driving my car and costs me $14 for a return trip. My car park costs me $7. Even when you factor in petrol and wear and tear the car is a far more attractive and faster option. Not to mention the joke bus lanes which see buses merging with rush hour traffic.

I want a clean New Zealand, of course I do. But I also try to be smart with my money. I don't want to throw money up in the air hoping it will fix something. I don't trust the ETS. I think it's 100% political and will have absolutely no positive gain to planet earth...and somewhere along the way someone is lining their pocket...and I can assure you it's none of us.

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