Antinuclear

Majority of industrialised countries have carbon pricing: Australia not alone in carbon tax

Australia not alone on carbon pricing: Combet, SMH, Adam Morton, June 9, 2012 CLIMATE Change Minister Greg Combet will today counter claims that Australia is acting alone on carbon pricing with an analysis that finds more than 50 jurisdictions will have emissions trading schemes in 2013.
The schemes cover a combined population of about 850 million, according to the analysis by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency.

They include 30 countries linked under the European Union carbon scheme, regional systems covering 10 US states, including California, and seven pilot schemes in Chinese provinces and cities. Mr Combet said the schemes would cover an estimated 30 per cent of the global economy, showing Australia was joining “the vast majority of the world’s industrialised economies in adopting a policy that reduces emissions in the most economically responsible way”…..
Several European countries, including Britain and Scandinavian nations, have higher prices than Australia on fossil fuel industries once domestic carbon taxes are factored in.
In China, experts say there is uncertainty over whether all pilot
schemes will meet the January 1, 2013, starting date. They are
intended as a forerunner to a national Chinese scheme, which the
analysis says could start by 2015.
While the Australian system is universally described as a carbon tax,
it is technically an emissions trading scheme with a fixed price for
the first three years.
The analysis says once South Korea starts trading in 2015, 27 of 34
OECD members will have a national carbon price. The exceptions include
the US, Canada and Japan. It comes as the US Regional Greenhouse Gas
Initiative, a scheme covering power plants in nine states, this week
reported its emissions fell by 23 per cent over three years.
: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/australia-not-alone-on-carbon-pricing-combet-20120608-201qn.html#ixzz1xL4l19Tc

June 9, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics