The Government's release of its White Paper on a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme achieved national headlines in December. AWA was invited to attend the lock-up prior to the White Paper's release, at which the design of the scheme was described and the opportunity provided for questions to be asked.rnOverall, the scheme's architecture does not vary significantly from that set out in the Green Paper that preceded it. The Government did announce, however, its short-term target for C0_2 emissions to be achieved by 2020 would be -5% to -15%. The lower figure is the minimum Australia will strive for in the absence of further international agreements to replace the Kyoto Agreement once it expires, and the higher figure is the target if an international agreement is reached that is intended to limit CO_2 in the atmosphere to 450ppm. Generally speaking, this range is at the bottom end of expectations and has been criticised by many conservation groups and by Prof. Ross Garnaut himself, the author of the Garnaut Report which is the basis for much of the thinking about the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. In a subsequent media release, AWA CEO, Tom Mollenkopf, called for support from industry generally for the CPRS, but urged the Government to work toward the higher target.
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