Phil Koperberg's $750,000 won't go far

When the Coalition briefed NSW Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Water, we were confident that he 'got it'. We asked for $3million for substantial research into methods to establish the trade in soil carbon. Reward the farmers for growing soil carbon and the open warfare between the Minister and farmers in the western division would resolve itself. Instead he is reduced to police raids on farms.

To our request for $3million, he wrote to tell us that the NSW Government was spending $750,000 with the DPI and a bunch of other agencies (sound familiar?) who are looking into land management and soil sequestration. Due to report in 2009. And his Government will continue to work with the Commonwealth Government to develop a comprehensive carbon trading market. This will start in 2012.

This leaves us 4 years of Stern's 10 in which we can put soils to work to absorb the legacy load of CO2 that is not absorbable in any other way. That is, of course, unless the science isn't favourable. In that case, we really are in trouble.