Is A Half-Truth A Lie?

I've written a few entries about the things said by some politicians to try to excuse their lack of (or outright opposition to) action on climate change. One that i saw this week was the half-truth about electricity prices.

A forecast increase of 11% this year was quoted. It's a half-truth because it's said in a way that leads the listener to think that whole number is attributable to the action (in Australia's case a carbon price). This kind of politician doesn't ever say what the increase would be without action. It might have been 10, 10.5, 10.99% - or maybe even greater than 11%.

In fact, long-time readers will remember my analysis of prices in my home state - going up 54% in 4 years with no price on carbon. By that measure, an increase of a mere 11% sounds like a dream. Or at least not as much of a nightmare as the shady politician would have us believe.

Of course, knowledgable people know the main factor increasing electricity prices has nothing to do with carbon, and that (if anything) extra renewable energy can drive down prices. But this doesn't stop some politicians weasling out of taking action, and giving us a half-truth to pretending their inaction is doing us a favour.

I guess i say this to help people spot when their rightful concern about increasing bills is being preyed upon by people trying to camouflage their own inability to take action.