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New publication by Roger Pielke, Jr. in Lowy Institute’s The Interpreter
Australia’s carbon debate mirrors global follies
by Roger Pielke, Jr.
Australia’s longest-running tragedy is starting a new season with a new cast but the same familiar follies. Of course I am talking about Australian climate policy.
Before Julia Gillard was deposed she had announced that Australia’s carbon price, which had been implemented as a tax (following her pre-election promise not to institute a tax), would be linked with Europe’s emissions trading scheme by 2015, cutting almost $20 from the per-tonne price of carbon that had been so hard won, leaving it in the low single digits.
Prime Minister Abbott, who had campaigned on getting rid of the remaining price on carbon, takes office with the Senate and its balance of power resting with Labor and the Greens, and thus standing in his way. He has threatened to call a double-dissolution election if the Senate does not go along with what he sees as a strong electoral mandate to get rid of the carbon price.
With Abbott leading the Coalition and Bill Shorten now leading Labor, the new players are acting out a familiar script. Here I run through some numbers updating my 2011 analysis of Austalian climate policy and I conclude that despite the new cast, Australian climate policy remains more farce than tragedy. Australia remains a bellwether of international climate politics. Consequently, its climate policy debates have significance far beyond the nation’s borders, so I will try to place the Australian experience into such a larger context. Read more …
