Antinuclear

Julia Gillard’s Climate Change package looking like a winner

PM’s climate change loophole to stymie Abbott  Sid Maher  The Australian  July 29, 2011 JULIA Gillard has moved to cement in law her climate change plan, including a default emissions reduction target of 12 million tonnes a year after 2016, forcing Tony Abbott to win approval of both houses of parliament if he is to vary the policy or proceed with his pledge to scrap the carbon tax.

Exposure drafts of 14 separate pieces of legislation released yesterday include in law the establishment of the Climate Change Authority, which will be charged with setting the nation’s emissions caps in line with its target of cutting emissions 80 per cent below 2000 levels by 2050.

But under the legislation, if the government declines to accept the recommendation of the authority, it will face an automatic reduction target of 12 million tonnes from 2016 in line with its trajectory of cutting emissions by 5 per cent below 2000 levels by 2020.

The legislation released yesterday appoints the Australian chief scientist as an automatic member of the Climate Change Authority board and defines as its main function conducting reviews into the carbon-pricing mechanism, the renewable energy target scheme, the carbon farming initiative and the national greenhouse and energy reporting system

The Climate Change Minister will have the power to appoint the members of the board, which will be required to have substantial experience in fields which include climate science, economics, industry, social policy and financial markets.

The legislative package released yesterday calls for public submissions, which are due by August 22……

The Australian Conservation Foundation warned it would watch the progress of the Clean Energy package”like a hawk” to make sure key elements of the climate laws were not lost.

PM’s climate change loophole to stymie Abbott | The Australian

July 30, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics