Michael Pascoe, associate editor of Eureka Report, writes:

While Australian business officially
applauds John Howard’s let’s-not-do-much-really greenhouse policy, ABC local radio in Sydney this morning
offered a nice counterpoint by scoring an interview with Duke Energy and former
BHP boss, Paul Anderson.

Speaking from his North Carolina
headquarters of one of the world’s biggest power companies, Anderson gave a big
plug for Tim Flannery’s The Weather Makers and again calmly made the case for
the introduction of an all-inclusive carbon tax.

Anderson has been campaigning hard in the US for a
carbon tax, as we’ve reported before in a Eureka Report interview and here at
Crikey.

The difference between his approach and
that by the Australian Chamber of Commerce is that he takes global warming
seriously and also has the nous to look ahead at what governments might try to
do in a rush when they suddenly reach the crisis stage. The sort of panic
response by government in crisis is much more likely to be bad for business
than a pre-emptive carbon tax now.

The odd little Sydney summit’s
attempt to flick responsibility for greenhouse reduction to business along with
a few hundred million dollars in research grants compares with Anderson’s
statement that it simply requires political will.

The local response might be exemplified by
the money that will be spent trying to clean up coal. That might help China’s
immediate problem with air pollution but it’s still coal and burning it
produces lots more CO2. Duke Energy’s response is to build another nuclear
power plant.

I should admit that I’m a fan of Paul
Anderson. His performance at BHP should be one long studied in the business
schools. He was one of the few CEOs here
worth the large amount he was paid – and one of the even fewer who could admit
they were paid too much.