If the Rudd Government ends up agreeing internationally to a tougher carbon reduction target, it won't necessarily have to slug taxpayers to pay for the difference, Department of Climate Change deputy chief Blair Comley yesterday told the Senate trading bills inquiry.
UN climate talks must avoid 'diplomatic games' over what constitutes comparable effort, Climate Change Minister Penny Wong says in a New York speech in which she unveiled an Australian proposal that would allow developing countries to earn carbon credits by reducing deforestation.
Chair of the Senate trading bills inquiry, Labor Senator Annette Hurley, has poured cold water on an ACF suggestion that a further round of legislation could be passed before mid-2010 if the current bill fails. Plus Colonial First State on the different messages firms can give to politicians and to investors, and more Senate testimony.
The merits of a new dam in the ACT underwent relatively more regulatory impact analysis than has the CPRS, David Pearce – the economist reviewing the scheme for Malcolm Turnbull – yesterday told the Senate trading bills inquiry.
APPEA this morning endorsed Liberal Senator Eric Abetz's suggestion for a parliamentary inquiry into trading scheme regulations that will deal with free permits. Meanwhile, Alcoa warns a white paper emissions intensity factor could cost it 'tens of millions' of dollars while Santos seeks a statutory fix for older supply contracts.
The 'powerful recessionary pulses' coursing through the global economic system make the political task of dealing with climate change much harder, even though global recession and the subsequent recovery provides 'a good time economically' to invest in structural change, professor Ross Garnaut said this morning.
Coalition members of a Senate inquiry into the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act have rejected a recommendation in the main report that leaves open the prospect of adding a greenhouse 'trigger' to the Act.
Senators ask the hard questions of witnesses to their trading bills inquiry: Are cuts of 5% to 15% tough enough? What can be done for farmers? And is the scheme more like a Ferrari or a Morris Minor?
