Discussion of the federal budget has featured much doom-mongering. This is exemplified by forecasts of a A$6-8 billion black hole in 2015-16, when the carbon tax switches to an emissions trading scheme…
The Federal Budget has attempted to fill a A$6 billion revenue hole left by the collapse of the EU carbon price – but has cut into renewables as a consequence.
John Goodridge
The decision to link the Australia’s carbon price to the European Union emissions trading scheme has wiped A$6 billion from the federal budget. Treasurer Wayne Swan has dealt with that loss of revenue…
Both sides of politics need to take the carbon tax fight to the election.
Flickr/Leonard John Matthews
If climate change features prominently in the federal election campaign, it will almost certainly be driven by the Coalition. Under Tony Abbott, the Coalition has long smelled blood in the water on climate…
A carbon bank would reduce the risk of the carbon price crumpling.
Niall Glynn
The dramatic fall in Europe’s carbon price in April led to claims emissions trading had failed as a model for addressing climate change. While the low EU price is problematic for the EU and Australia…
By agreeing to work with China on climate change, the Australian Government has further entrenched the carbon price.
AAP Image/Office of the Prime Minister
A recent agreement between Australia and China to cooperate on climate change could be a tipping point that makes the Coalition’s pledge to repeal the carbon price unachievable.
Under the agreement, Australia…
China’s people and politicians are keenly interested in reducing emissions: what can we learn from each other?
EPA/Wu Hong
China’s political commitment and ambition on climate change allow it to take global leadership. Australia is well placed to provide guidance on suitable policy approaches, sharing its experiences with…
The writing may be on the wall for Labor’s carbon policy, but that doesn’t mean the states should give up.
Flickr/bk2204
In a survey last year of 22,812 people across 22 countries (including Australia), the polling organisation GlobeScan found that environmental concerns had fallen worldwide since 2009, and fewer than one…
Despite regulatory uncertainty, business in the US and Australia is responding to climate change.
Flickr/KateAusburn
Despite the widespread scientific consensus regarding anthropogenic climate change, ideological rhetoric dominates the global political discourse. This is preventing the development of clear policy frameworks…
The Australian Government and European Union have laid out the first links between our emissions trading schemes.
Phillipe Put/Flickr
Yesterday the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency released its draft regulations and a consultation paper, setting out the details on linking the EU Emissions Trading System (“EU ETS”) and…
Is Tony Abbott right that the carbon price is ruining Australia?
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
…It became absolutely obvious after the Copenhagen conference that the rest of the world was not going anywhere near carbon taxes or emission trading schemes and that’s why the Coalition is absolutely…
There are some barriers to linking our emissions reduction plan to California’s, but they’re worth overcoming.
Thomas Hawk
As the pace of international climate negotiations has slowed, the interest and attention of international organisations and climate policy watchers has been diverted to national climate change responses…
Australia’s newspapers took a very shallow view of the carbon price.
Beppie K/flickr
The Australian print media have been criticised for inaccurately reporting the carbon pricing mechanism (CPM), and in some instances for actively campaigning against the Gillard government. Research from…
The government’s projections of future emissions don’t seem to account for a reduction in demand for energy.
Cowboy/Dave Flickr
New greenhouse gas emissions projections have been released by Australia’s government. They suggest that only a minority of the task to meet Australia’s emissions target will be achieved through domestic…
Despite the best of intentions, is Australia’s energy outlook truly achievable?
AAP
It is Australian Government policy to achieve an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Despite the good intentions, is the current energy strategy truly “sustainable”?
The Gillard Labor Government…
Australians may be cutting back carbon-intensive activities, but until the government is more transparent about emission cuts there’s no way to check.
Adrian Tritschler
Last week we had good news from the Federal Government that the carbon price is already working. Many of us from across the political spectrum have wondered whether the complex new financial arrangements…
If closing brown coal power plants is part of the lowest cost mix of emissions reduction opportunities, then they will close without additional payment from the government.
ccdoh1/Flickr
This week the Australian Government announced that the “payment for closure” element of the Clean Energy Future package would not proceed. The decision has saved taxpayers a multi-billion dollar outlay…
You think you can’t afford it, but do you know what it costs?
AAP Image /Lukas Coch
There is no single answer to the question of where it’s cheapest to cut emissions.
But when more than one country shares a common carbon price or tax, the total cost of the climate policy is higher in…
The legal implications of changes to the carbon price mechanism are subtle, but important.
Pawel Loj
By Shol Blustein, Queensland University of Technology
Earlier this week the federal Government announced important changes to the carbon pricing mechanism (CPM). The political and economic consequences have been much discussed, but the less-talked-of legal…
What will removing the price floor and linking to the EU carbon market mean for Australia’s carbon price?
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
You might have thought Australia’s carbon pricing scheme was done and dusted – at least until the next government comes in. Today’s announcement about the price floor and international permit trading proves…
US development of wind energy is lowering emissions without reducing economic growth.
Sam Beebe
Ninety countries representing 90% of the global economy are committed to reducing their greenhouse emissions and are taking action to do so.
This is one of the take-home messages from the Climate Commission…
Climate change is only one of many pressures farmers will have to adapt to.
Pete Hill
Opinions on anthropogenic climate change vary greatly across society, and it appears that Australia’s farmers remain largely sceptical about the causes of climate change.
Recent surveys show that only…
The two major parties have taken different approaches to compensating households for the carbon tax.
Jonas B
The two main political parties agree to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 to 5% below the 2000 level, or about a 20% reduction below business as usual. However, they propose very different policy…
Behind the times: Europe already had carbon taxes in 1992 back when Vanilla Ice topped the Australian charts.
AAP/Musicbiz
We price carbon. This is nothing new. The first time this explicitly happened, Vanilla Ice hit number one in Australia, and Bryan Adams was topping the global charts with “(Everything I do) I do it for…
This is carbon. The carbon you keep hearing about on the news is probably carbon dioxide. It doesn’t look like this.
Rui Costa
You’ll doubtless have heard Australia is introducing a “carbon tax” this Sunday to reduce “carbon pollution”. What is being controlled is not just any carbon but emissions of a specific gas, carbon dioxide…
The ACCC will be keeping a close eye on business that falsely attribute price rises to the introduction of the carbon tax.
AAP
In the lead-up to the introduction of the carbon tax on July 1, there has been considerable focus on the potential for price gouging – inflating prices beyond the cost increases reasonably attributable…
Countries overseas are creating renewable energy funders just like the CEFC.
Walmart Stores
The $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has just passed the Senate and is now law. For all the attention it has received you may not have noticed, but a new industrial revolution is afoot…
With natural gas – like other commodities – it can be necessary for prices to rise in anticipation of increasing demand.
Flickr/jasonwoodhead23
Many are concerned with the price of natural gas. Natural gas is an important part of Australia’s overall energy mix; it represents roughly a quarter of all primary energy sources consumed. And, as we…
State governments are walking away from emissions reduction, but it’s thanks to poor policy from the ALP.
Takver/Flickr
In the past few days we have seen two states, Victoria and Queensland, announce cut-backs on action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They have been able to justify this by pointing out, correctly, that…
The one feature of the government’s carbon price framework which has received little analysis is compensation to households.
AAP
There are many features of the design of the Gillard government’s controversial and complex carbon legislation that can be questioned.
For example, Australia’s unilateral action; the two-phase carbon tax…
With Alcoa reviewing its Geelong smelter, just what is the future for the aluminium industry?
AAP
The sight of molten metal pouring from a furnace has long been an iconic symbol of industrial might and wealth.
In Australia, the metallurgical industries have provided long term jobs and wealth to many…
Electricity retailers will have some explaining to do once the carbon price begins.
reallyboring/Flickr
The first real test of whether the public will accept Australia’s carbon tax will be when electricity bills start landing in peoples’ mailboxes after 1 July 2012.
The main issue is that while the carbon…
Qantas has cited the carbon price and high oil costs for a price hike – but aviation pricing isn’t straightforward.
AAP
Qantas and its low cost carrier division Jetstar have announced they will increase domestic and international airfares in stages from February through to July 1. The justification is a combination of increasing…
New climate institutions are finally putting Australia on track to meet its Kyoto obligations.
amandabhslater
By Bill Hare, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
DURBAN CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE: Australia’s new climate legislation is a historic breakthrough reform for the nation. Putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions ranks alongside any of the “big” reforms…
Australian newspapers took a largely negative view of carbon pricing.
avlxyz/Flickr
While corporate media often criticise the poor communication of others, they are reluctant to critique their own power to influence public opinion and debate. Today the Australian Centre for Independent…
Politicians who try to act on climate change face a gargantuan struggle.
Truthout.org
Roy Neel is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University and a long-time staffer for former Vice-President Al Gore. Roy is in Australia as a Visiting International Fellow at the University…
There’s a lot of detail in the carbon price legislation, but it comes down to six key points.
Australian Government
Australia’s carbon price mechanism has become law. But how does it work? There are six key points:
1. Australia’s emissions trajectory
Australia has committed unconditionally to reduce its greenhouse…
The media can’t get enough of the controversy whipped up by climate sceptics.
Mat McDermott
When announcing the media enquiry in September this year, Senator Conroy committed to regulatory processes that support “a healthy and independent media that is able to fulfill its essential democratic…
Passing the carbon price through the Senate is a victory, but there is plenty yet to be done.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
At long last, the Gillard Government’s carbon price is law. On July 1 next year, approximately 500 of our biggest companies will start paying the government $23 for every tonne of greenhouse gas they emit…
Argument has raged outside parliament – is there anything left to say inside?
AAP
It all started in February when Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced her government would seek to introduce a carbon tax.
This signalled the start of a policy debate marathon that still shows no sign…
The planet is warming up but a carbon price is not the way to help.
Flickr/Pilottage
The world is getting warmer and wetter, almost undoubtedly due to the fact that we are burning up fossil fuels at an incredible rate.
While this change in our climate will lead to some positive opportunities…
Cate Blanchett is among the celebrities pressed into service to persuade us on political issues.
AAP/WWF
MEDIA & DEMOCRACY: This afternoon, Andrew Hughes examines which recent political adverts have been a success, as part of The Conversation’s week-long series on how the media influences the way our…
Hazlewood coal-fired power station would be uneconomic under a carbon tax.
AAP
The carbon tax is the latest attempt by an Australian government to legislate in order to avert disaster, this time to the climate.
Whether the tax will become law sits on a knife edge, and the stakes…
Price-gouging might occur under the carbon tax regime, but market discipline will keep it in check.
Flickr/dmcneil
Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan has announced that the government will provide the competition watchdog with almost $13 million in extra funding to tackle carbon tax-related price-gouging.
In this context…
Julia Gillard claims Peabody’s $5bn bid shows international confidence in the coal industry’s future.
AAP
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has claimed that US-based Peabody Energy’s $5bn takeover bid for Queensland’s Macarthur Coal represents an endorsement for the government’s carbon tax.
But does Peabody’s…
Households will bear more financial burdens as Gillard’s carbon tax regime matures.
AAP
The carbon tax is short-term carrot and long-term stick. The Coalition’s campaign against “a great big new tax” drove Gillard to introduce a tax for which most people and businesses affected will be compensated…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Climate Change Minister Greg Combet address a press conference on Sunday. A carbon tax package announced today includes compensation measures and a radical overhaul of income tax policy.
ABC News24
The Australian government announced on Sunday it would introduce a carbon tax at $23 a tonne next July, rising 2.5% annually plus inflation and moving to a market-based emissions trading scheme in 2015…
An emissions trading scheme and a carbon tax are not the same thing.
AAP
The proposed carbon pricing policy in Australia is now routinely referred to as a “carbon tax” by both government and opposition.
This is odd, because the proposed scheme is not actually a tax.
How does…
An oil extraction project in Canada – a country absent from the Productivity Commission’s carbon report.
AAP
One of the most basic questions to ask in any analysis of Australia’s carbon policy has always been: what is the rest of the world doing?
Last week, the Productivity Commission (PC) published a partial…
Swan is confident the carbon tax won’t hurt Australia’s economy.
AAP
The Treasurer, Wayne Swan, has put out an appetiser for the Treasury modelling of the introduction of a carbon tax. In his speech to the National Press Club he reiterated the necessity of introducing a…
A carbon price won’t help much unless it keeps going up.
AAP
To achieve actual reductions in Australia’s emissions, the carbon price will need to rise from its likely starting point in the $20s. A price floor in the trading phase could help bring about efficient…
With a bit of effort, we can be part of the solution, not part of the problem.
tuey/Flickr
How many wake up calls do we need? The latest International Energy Agency figures, published in today’s Guardian newspaper, show global carbon emissions are at their highest ever levels.
As IEA chief…
It’s easier to sell a Green Deal in the UK’s political climate.
Cabinet Office/Flickr
The UK government has released a Green Deal that, at face value, seems impossible to replicate in Australia. But how radical and ambitious is this policy?
The first thing to note is that the Green Deal…
Are carbon campaigns failing miserably on strategy?
jondoig/Flickr
Braying climate naysayers are annoying; but so are all those well-intentioned carbon tax advocates who fail to address the core problems and make the same mistakes time and time again.
If we’re going…
A phased approach will help resolve divisions around carbon pricing.
AAP
Independent MP Tony Windsor was right in early March when he called for a debate on carbon pricing in Australia that is “a little bit more advanced than the word ‘lie’ and the word ‘tax’“.
The quality…
Some households will find life gets harder, whichever policy we choose.
Flickr/Josh Liba
Government modelling has given us a rough idea what a carbon tax could cost households, but will the burden be borne fairly? Whether we have a carbon tax or climate change, poor households will likely…
Or can they? Some families may not be any worse off.
AAP
When we read that a carbon tax will hit the average hip pocket, should we worry? Will the ETS push us all into penury? And will it make any difference to our emissions at all?
Can we know the cost to…
Is Australia waiting for other countries to do all the hard work on renewables?
Torresol Energy
If Australia is truly serious about avoiding climate catastrophe we are going to need to move towards a zero-emissions economy.
A price on carbon emissions is an important component of climate protection…
