North Aust farming plan will damage Kyoto target:

"The Australian Democrats say a wholesale effort to move farmers to the country's north would undo the country's record on meeting Kyoto targets for carbon emissions.
The Democrats deputy leader Andrew Bartlett says the idea is gaining ground in the Coalition as a response to global warming and the drought in southern states.
The plan is being floated by Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan, one of the Prime Minister's closest political allies.
Senator Bartlett says the Federal Government is making much of Australia meeting its Kyoto target of 108 per cent of 1990's net carbon emissions.
But he says any large scale farming in the tropics would require massive land clearing and tree felling.
Senator Bartlett says that would send the level of emissions soaring past Kyoto targets.
'The only reason Australia has even come close to its Kyoto targets for emissions has been because of the significant drop in land clearing in Queensland,' he said.
'So if we to were reverse that by having major clearing in the northern part of the country, which would be an inevitable consequence of major agricultural expansion, then it's hardly going to help.'
Print Email The Australian Democrats say a wholesale effort to move farmers to the country's north would undo the country's record on meeting Kyoto targets for carbon emissions.
The Democrats deputy leader Andrew Bartlett says the idea is gaining ground in the Coalition as a response to global warming and the drought in southern states.
The plan is being floated by Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan, one of the Prime Minister's closest political allies.
Senator Bartlett says the Federal Government is making much of Australia meeting its Kyoto target of 108 per cent of 1990's net carbon emi"