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Articles on Carbon tax

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Complementary measures in the tax package make it easier for businesses to reduce emissions. Theophilos/Flickr

Carbon tax package could let Australia cut emissions by 25% by 2020

With all the focus on the carbon tax, it is not surprising many people are unaware that the government’s carbon pricing package incorporated a suite of other measures to reduce emissions. ClimateWorks…
Hazlewood coal-fired power station would be uneconomic under a carbon tax. AAP

A recipe for making the carbon tax a success

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…
Interventionist or free market - just where do our economists sit? Flickr/Daquella Manera

What our economists really think about politics

A funny thing happened on the way to this year’s Australian Conference of Economists. A survey was conducted of the policy opinions of members of the Economic Society of Australia (ESA). Far from conforming…
Julia Gillard can sell the tax better if she puts it in terms of the natural wonders we are buying back. AAP

The perception paradox: understanding risk is key to selling the carbon tax

Science is strengthening its view that business-as-usual emissions of greenhouse gases will result in serious risks while the Australian public’s perception of climate change as a risk erodes. A recent…
Price-gouging might occur under the carbon tax regime, but market discipline will keep it in check. Flickr/dmcneil

Trust the market – why regulation won’t stop carbon tax gouging

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…
What will the carbon tax mean for our wide brown land? bfick/flickr

Brave new world? Australia after a carbon tax

The flurry of media that followed Julia Gillard’s announcement of the carbon price plan on Sunday had a clear, simple message. How much will you pay, and how much will you get back? But the introduction…
The plan provides nearly $100 million for our unique biodoversity. pierre pouliquin/flickr

What does the carbon price package mean for biodiversity?

How effective will the carbon tax package’s biodiversity measures be in conserving Australia’s ecosystems? The carbon price package’s biodiversity measures are a pleasant surprise. To the extent that the…
More than just a patch of dirt: the clean energy plan should help us get the most out of our land. bfick/flickr

A Clean Energy Future: what’s in it for the land?

The Australian government’s plan for a Clean Energy Future contains a number of measures aimed at supporting farmers and land managers to provide emissions offsets. The plan consists of a mix of market-based…
Julia Gillard was confronted by a shopper about the government’s carbon tax. AAP/Patrick Hamilton

Gillard’s carbon tax fightback evens up the playing field

Before the details of the carbon tax were released this week, the government was fighting with one hand tied behind its back. Sometimes it looked like it had both hands and feet manacled as Prime Minister…
The scientists are talking and the Prime Minister is nodding, but is she really listening? AAP

Carbon tax plan is politically astute but profoundly inadequate

Amid the hullabaloo about the carbon tax and Clean Energy Future plan, few seem to spot its critical discrepancy. It recognises that maintaining a safe climate requires stabilising carbon pollution in…
Money is the key theme across the climate change debate: what happened to sustainability? louisa catlover/flickr

A clean energy future should be about more than money

The Government’s equation for creating a prosperous and sustainable Australia includes four key factors: carbon price, renewable energy, energy efficiency and land use efficiency. But it is evident that…
In the frame: David Jones has fallen victim of slumping consumer confidence - but is it warranted?

Are doubts about consumer confidence justified?

Consumer confidence has fallen by 8.3% to its lowest level in two years, according to the Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index. The drop has been connected to speculation about the impact…
Locking carbon dioxide in soils and crops also stimulates emission of other greenhouse gases like methane and nitrous oxide, a study found, meaning the capacity of land ecosystems to slow climate warming may have been overestimated. Flickr/AndyCarvin

Land carbon offset capacity may have been overestimated

The ability of land ecosystems like crops and soils to slow down climate change may have been overestimated because some of these ‘carbon sinks’ actually emit more greenhouse gases than first thought…
Julia Gillard claims Peabody’s $5bn bid shows international confidence in the coal industry’s future. AAP

Peabody’s bid for Macarthur Coal is hardly a carbon tax endorsement

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 bid…
Latrobe Valley’s longer term future will depend on the cost of building new gas-fired plants. AAP

After coal: what’s the future of Victoria’s Latrobe Valley?

There appears to be lots of ‘doom and gloom’ around brown coal generation in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley under the carbon tax. It is far from obvious that this is justified – at least in the next few years…
A survey of 140 economists found 60% were in favour of the Gillard government’s carbon tax policy. AAP

Economists back carbon tax package

A survey of 145 economists released today found that 60% believe the Gillard government’s carbon tax is good economic policy. The carbon tax package, announced on Sunday, penalises 500 heavy polluters…

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