Carbon trading hides need for greenhouse tax
Energy giant's enthusiasm for carbon trading hides need for greenhouse tax
Fossil fuel giants like AGL are enthusiastic for carbon trading because it frustrates the introduction of carbon taxes which are the most effective market instruments to reduce emissions, according to Greens Upper House candidate John Kaye.
Dr Kaye, commenting on a story on p. 2 of the Sydney Morning Herald said: "The big emitters and the fossil fuel industries would much prefer a poorly designed trading scheme that creates a right to pollute and keeps the price at very low levels like $5 per tonne of CO2.
"This is a much easier life for the big polluters than being forced to pay for the damage they are doing to the climate.
"Carbon intensive industries are keen to avoid a tax. By pushing up the price of energy generated by fossil fuels, carbon taxes create a buoyant demand for renewable energy and energy efficiency.
"Carbon taxes would also provide a substantial revenue source to fund low interest loans to start-up renewable energy manufacturers, retraining schemes and "just transitions" packages for fossil fuel industry workers, and subsidies and feed-in tariff laws to help kick start the transition to renewable energy.
"The complexities of trading schemes and the opportunities to manipulate the market allow big players like AGL to continue to operate their carbon intensive businesses with minor adjustments at the margins.
"While carbon trading is better than nothing, without proper caps on total emissions and a market operator prepared to push down on the amount of pollution allowed by the scheme, in the long run it will achieve very little.
"Neither the NSW Government nor the Coalition will take on the issue of carbon taxes. Labor is playing with a carbon trading scheme that will see not any reductions in emissions from 1990 levels until 2030 and the Opposition is still sitting on the fence.
"The Greens would introduce a carbon tax that starts at $5 per tonne next year and rises to $25 per tonne in 4 years. We estimate it would provide $1.2 billion each year for renewable energy projects and would create at least 160 thousand new jobs," Dr Kaye said.
