WHEN science becomes a religion you get the carbon tax that was this week forced into law against the wishes of the majority of the Australian population.

It makes no sense except as a blind act of faith.

It will do precisely nothing to change the climate while hurting a fragile economy in the middle of a global downturn.

Judging by the government's previous inept performance, the scams and waste will make the pink batts fiasco look like a picnic.

When the high priest of climate alarmism Al Gore applauds Australia's carbon tax, you know you're in deep trouble. On his website, the former US vice president said Australia's new carbon law meant the world "has turned a pivotal corner in the collective effort to solve the climate crisis. The voice of the people of Australia has rung out loud and clear."

It sure did - but our government didn't listen.

The gloating Greens were just as bad. Bob Brown couldn't help but take credit - even for the thunderbolts which rumbled ominously as he held a press conference in Canberra.

He claimed it was the heavens "clapping".

Of course that made as much sense as the idea of imposing a $23 a tonne carbon tax on ourselves when the carbon price on price in Europe has collapsed to as low as $8.70.

It made as much sense as wasting billions of dollars trying to pick winners in an inefficient renewable energy market.

It made as much sense as destroying the cheap energy advantage coal gave us to go it virtually alone on the world stage, while the biggest emitters, China, The US and India look on.

Meanwhile, the climate isn't playing by the rules. As eminent retired Australian meteorologist William Kininmonth points out, global warming has stalled, despite rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere over the past decade.

The carbon tax is empty symbolism. But it will be right at home at the next climate alarm conference in South Africa, starring such luminaries as Angelina Jolie and Leo DiCaprio.

If that's science, Bob Brown is the messiah.

Originally published as Voodoo science like a religion