In The Daily Fix, Crikey taps into the wisdom of experts and community leaders to find solutions to problems. This week: climate change
Tackling climate change requires putting a price on carbon. A carbon tax is the best way to do that.
At the same time, households need to be compensated for increased prices, and exporters must not be disadvantaged.
The Australian Carbon Dividend Plan that Rosalind Dixon and I have proposed meets all these objectives. It involves a $50 per tonne tax on carbon, which is rebated evenly to every voting-age Australian citizen.
Exporters to countries without a comparable scheme receive a rebate for taxes paid, and imports from such countries are charged a fee.
The Climate Leadership Council’s plan which inspired ours is supported by four former US federal reserve chairs and 27 Nobel laureates.
Richard Holden is a professor of economics at the University of New South Wales.
There’s long been no credible doubt that a carbon tax is the best way to reduce emissions. This fact has always been totally understood by the fossil industry and climate deniers which is why it’s been top of their list of things to prevent.
Part of this is obfuscation with proposals like cap and trade, soil sequestration, offset schemes and so on. They like these because they can be avoided, cheated, worked around or best of all, simply don’t work.
Maybe I’m over sensitive but once again the proposal translates to me as $’s for the Aussies but any one else (legal residents all from PR’s to Kiwis) can suck it up.
Maybe it’s just loose language but why limit it to Australian Citizens?
Agreed. But, as the ‘do nothing wait it out crowd’ (ie Government) abdicate their duty of leadership it is outsourced to banks and venture capitalists to deliver. No investment = a price on carbon.
It sounds good. All fossil carbon coming out of the ground or across our borders is taxed, and the tax is doled out to the nation’s voters, who will forever vote to retain the tax. Industry would then be pricewise guided to purchase non-fossil power of the reliability required for their business as usual. The economy then proceed smoothly towards zero fossil emissions by the date required.
That would be great, if the scheme coincided with Australia-wide establishment of power stations running on non-carbon fuel. Without that vision, the scheme is selling snake oil.
It sounds good. All fossil carbon coming out of the ground or across our borders is taxed, and the tax is doled out to the nation’s voters, who will forever vote to retain the tax. Industry would then be pricewise guided to purchase non-fossil power of the reliability required for their business as usual. The economy then proceed smoothly towards zero fossil emissions by the date required.
That would be great, if the scheme coincided with Australia-wide establishment of power stations running on non-carbon fuel. Without that vision, the scheme is selling snake oil.