Environment: forget carrots, use the stick

Noel Ryan, Wollongong, The Age (letter), 29/4/2002

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Ross Gittins has raised some important environmental issues (Opinion, 24/4). He pointed out that disposable incomes have increased over the past 10 years while environmental quality has generally declined.

So getting rich will not save our environment. The figures point to the most effective way to address environmental problems. Unlike the other environmental indicators, air quality has improved. This was due to government regulation, according to last month's State of the Environment report. The billions of dollars spent on the Landcare and the Natural Heritage Trust failed to make a difference. The statistics show that the work of thousands of people planting trees was completely overshadowed by the damage done by the bulldozers running rampant in Queensland and NSW.

Carrots alone have failed. Landcare has been little more than a fad exploited by politicians who are too gutless to introduce regulations that may upset some powerful interests. Air pollution has shown us that laws which are enforced and backed by sufficiently large penalties really work.


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