Calls Mount for Australian ETS Revival Despite Scrapping of Tax

摘要

Australia's 10-month-old Liberal-National coalition government last week finally succeeded in scrapping the carbon pricing law enacted by the former Labor-led administration (WGI Sep. 11' 13). The move was greeted with cheers by the oil and gas industry's main lobby group, the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association, which said it removes a cost for LNG exporters that does not exist for their international rivals. But savings for energy companies and end-users might prove more modest than expected, and the axing of the law raises serious questions as to how, and if, Australia can deliver on its climate commitments. It halts the development of a link between the Australian and EU carbon markets that had stirred hopes for a budding global carbon trading network, with critics saying the move runs counter to rising global interest in using carbon markets as a viable climate tool. But typical of the twists and turns in the Australian climate change saga, other low-carbon programs are getting a boost from an unexpected quarter — billionaire politician Clive Palmer, who has made his money from mining, but now claims to have been converted to the climate change cause by environmental crusader and former US Vice President Al Gore.