How much carbon tax will Brisbane City Council pay?

Captain Quirk is blaming the Carbon Tax for Brisbane City Council rate rises.... He has said: "rise could have been kept to 2.6 per cent, or $31.48 a year, if not for costs associated with the carbon tax, including landfill charges."

I am trying to work out how much Carbon Tax we will pay.


Brisbane City Council's NGER's data.

Registered Corporation	Total scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions(t CO2-e)	Total scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions(t CO2-e)	Total energy consumption (GJ)
Brisbane City Council1	263,920	18,271	2,504,217

So we are looking at:

282,191 t CO2-e

At $23 a tonne:

$6,490,393.00

1: Brisbane City Council has voluntarily provided information to the Greenhouse Energy Data Office (GEDO) concerning GreenPower renewable energy purchases, voluntarily surrendered Renewable Energy Certificates or offset scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions totals. This information has been published on the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency website – www.climatechange.gov.au/reporting.

Councilor Victoria Newton (‏@VictoriaNewton) directed my attention to information about capture of methane emissions from landfill: http://www.cleanenergyfuture.gov.au/emissions-from-landfill-facilities-2/ Apparently there is no charge in 2012/13 2 help deal with the changes...

i am so sorry GirlClumsy

I hear the Drum, Annabel tonight,

but she has only rumours of Gillard's assassination,

The Queensland Premier is putting up a fight,

but mines to minds only drives me to distraction

Now the Queensland campaign is underway,

Hoping for some actual environmental policies,

While I rewrote U2 lyrics to say: "Is Tunnels all Can Do could do?"

I hope Anna can drag the electorate away from Can Do,

There nothing that a Tunnel, Legacy of Debt could ever do,

I bless Baked Relief down in Lockyer,

It gonna take some time to recover from the 2011 floods we had.

The piling rigs will drive all night,

As TransCity dig away at Can Do's Tunnel Vision;

I know that I must write what's right

As sure as Northern Link rises like Clem 7 to meet the ICB.

I seek ecological sustainability, frightened by the little Napoleon....

I hope Anna can drag the electorate away from Can Do,

There nothing that a Legacy of Debt could ever do,

I bless Baked Relief down in Lockyer,

It gonna take some time to recover from the floods we had.

....Is Tunnels all Can Do could do?

I hope Anna can drag the electorate away from Can Do,

There nothing that a Legacy of Debt could ever do,

I bless Baked Relief down in Lockyer,

I bless Baked Relief down in Lockyer,

(I bless Baked Relief),

I bless Baked Relief down in Lockyer,

(I bless Baked Relief)

I bless Baked Relief down in Lockyer,

I bless Baked Relief down in Lockyer,

(Ah, gonna take the time),

Gonna take some time to recover from the floods we had.

a bridge too far?

I am informed by Transcity that the pedestrian bridge connecting the Brisbane Grammar schools to the Victoria Park Golf Course will be closed for construction activities from mid December 2011 until late January 2012.

Transcity are going to lengthen the span of the pedestrian bridge by 15 metres, effectively extending the structure above the new outbound ICB lanes.

The existing access ways to this bridge make it very difficult for special populations (such as disabled people, the elderly, infants, parents with prams etc), to access the city.

Transcity/Brisbane City Council are extending the pedestrian bridge without addressing any of the access issues.

I understand Qld Rail own sections of the bridge but the new works are clearly the responsibility of Brisbane City Council.

Capt Quirk's response to my correspondence

I have written to the Lord Mayor on numerous occasions, expressing my concerns at the impacts & costs of the Northern Link Road Tunnel from Toowong to Kelvin Grove.

Here is his response.....and it makes me wonder.

We all know that Can-Do was passionate about urban cleansing and tunnels.

What is Quirky passionate about?

* Disability services?

* Race horses?

* Cutting down trees?

OFFICE OF THE LORD MAYOR

Brisbane

6 July 2011

Dear Mr Barber

Thank you for your emails of 9 April, 15, 16, 19 May, 2 and 11 June 2011 and for call on the ABC on 1 June about Legacy Way, footpaths and amenities in Normanby Terrace.

While I appreciate your concerns, as I mentioned during our discussion on the ABC, Legacy Way is a must-do critical project. In planning for the future, we must look at ii whole of city basis.

The Clem Jones Tunnel (CLEM7) is proving to be a vital addition to Brisbane’s transport network each day, relieving pressure on alternative routes, like the Story Bridge. Recent travel time surveys have revealed CLEM7 is offering savings ranging from 40 to 70% across a variety of routes, which has resulted in a significant decrease in congestion around the city. CLEM7 also provided an important link during the recent Brisbane flood.

I am confident that Council’s traffic forecasts are reliable and a sound basis to plan for the future. The Go Between Bridge is regularly meeting Council’s forecast traffic volumes. Evidence from operational toll roads throughout Australia has shown that governments are generally accurate in forecasting traffic and even tend to understate long-term growth on toll roads. Short-term variations in traffic volumes are typically within 20% of government forecasts.

The competitive tender process from Legacy Way generated a $300 million saving, through cost-effective innovative designs. Due to this significant saving, traffic could be low as 50% of Council’s forecast after opening, or approximately 12,000 vehicles per day and still remain financially sound, according to the Queensland Treasury Corporation’s 2009 credit approval for the project.

You have requested a copy of the Legacy Way Business Case. I am told that this is available to be viewed in person at the Legacy Way site office. Please contact the project team on 1800 692 333 to arrange a suitable viewing time. In addition, you may not be aware that the Business Case for Legacy Way was approved by the Queensland Government as part of their approval for the funding approach.

It has always been Council’s commitment to minimise impacts for residents at the eastern end of the Legacy Way tunnel. Throughout the recent consultation process, Council and Trancity have assessed noise modelling data and the upcoming construction activities for the project.

I am told as a result of this process a number of residents, including yourself, were offered resident-based mitigation. If you have not already met with a Transcity representative to discuss what resident-based mitigation measures are proposed at your property, then I encourage to you contact the Transcity team on 1800 778 772.

In your email dated 15 May, you mention poor pedestrian connectivity with the city. The former Lord Mayor Campbell Newman wrote you to about this issue in his letter dated 15 February 2011. However, I have asked Council’s Local Asset Service branch to investigate pedestrian access in Normanby Terrace, as it does not fall within the scope of the Legacy Way project.

New footpath funding has been distributed evenly between each ward through the Ward Footpath Trust Fund. It is up to local Councillors to decide which new footpath projects get funded following consultation with property owners.

With this in mind, I have written to Councillor David Hinchliffe, Councillor for Central Ward, for his consideration and action. If you would like to discuss your request directly with

Councillor Hinchliffe, please contact his office on 3403 0254.

I appreciate your feedback, however, we have exchanged correspondence several times now on Legacy Way and our transport agenda. I do not believe there is much to be gained by writing further on this issue.

Yours sincerely

Graham Quirk

LORD MAYOR

Ref:LM14289-2011

Challenge Number One - understanding the problem: car use vs traffic congestion

Barry Broe,
Divisional Manager,
Brisbane Infrastructure,
Brisbane City Council.

Dear Mr Broe,

I recently attended a forum organised by the Society of Sustainability & Environmental Engineering called: “South East Queensland’s Transport System in the Peak Oil and Climate Change Era”. I particularly enjoyed your opening remarks about understanding the problem of “car use” vs the problem of “traffic congestion”.

The remainder of your speech was contrary to your opening remarks, with a focus on so-called “congestion busting” by duplication and augmentation of roads for private motor vehicles. I took exception to your comment “when the Northern Link goes in & it will go in”. I shall be working very hard to lobby my political representatives (cc:d) to make sure the Northern Link does not “go in” if it is going to be a four lane motor way for motor vehicles. I am celebrating the fact that the Northern Link has not attracted any federal funding.

My expertise is in water & sanitation. I see a lot of parallels in the mistakes we make with sewage and the way we deal with traffic. I am convinced we need to separate our Number ones from our Number twos at source rather than mix them, pump them vast distances and then try to separate them out again. The same applies to Public Transport and private motor vehicles. Until we separate the streams, we cannot efficiently treat the associated issues appropriately.

The distinction between sewers and roads is when one duplicates a sewer main, it does not encourage more people to poo.

Regards,

Rowan Barber
Climate Campaigner
http://www.climatejusticefast.com/