An Environmental Officers take on Australia's Carbon Tax

The specifications, as given...with my comments in red


- Planned to come into effect on July 1 2012


- $23 per tonne of CO2 emissions


Will increase by 2.5 per cent above inflation until July 1 2015, as reported . I recall Ross Garnaut suggesting $26 per tonne, so Labor didn't adopt the recommendation as given. 


- Targets the "500 highest polluting businesses"


- Projected to cut 159 million tonnes of carbon pollution from the atmosphere by 2020 


(19.875 Million Tonnes per year) - Touted as the equivalent of tasking 45 million cars off the road...or 5.625 million cars per year for 8 years to July 1 2020...based on what factors, I have no idea (i.e. age of vehicle, how many km's, fuel type, etc)


- A transition to a market-based emissions trading scheme in 2015


- Average households will pay an extra $9.90 per week while average assistance will be $10.10 per week


$1.41 per day (rounded down). For an interest bearing account with an interest rate of 4.75% p.a, one would need in the range of $11,000 just to cover this new, additional expense imposed. LOL @ giving people 20c per week...that's $10.44 a year, that might cover the cost of running a light bulb for an hour or two.


- All taxpayers with incomes below $80,000 will get tax cuts - most about $300 a year 


At the rate of $9.90 per week it costs around $515, so even with this "sweetener", working people are still $215 out of pocket every year or 59c per day


- Pension increase to protect them from higher prices


The Government says compensation will be equal to a 1.7 per cent increase in pensions, allowances and family payments - So young, single, working people are discriminated against. If you do the math on the aged pension rate and the 1.7% increase it breaks at about the say $300 figure - same as the tax cut as above.


-  Fuel is exempt for individual motorists and small business, however, diesel for heavy vehicles like semi-trailers will be paying the carbon price from 2014


According to http://www.environment.gov.au/settlements/transport/fuelguide/environment.html  Diesel emits 2.7kg of CO2 per Litre of fuel used, so it takes around 370L to produce 1 tonne of CO2 ($23). According to Western Australia's Government 'Fuel Watch' website (as of 1:45pm AEST) the price of diesel for the 'metro average' is 143.9c/L - Remembering of course this is 2011 prices, and the tax is hitting them in 3 years time...who thinks the fuel price will DROP?!? If it was imposed today it would add 6c per L extra, so the average price per Litre would no longer be 143.9c/L, it would be 149.9c/L


- The scheme will be administered by a new Climate Change Authority


- $9.2 billion from the revenue stream to help businesses and workers impacted by the plan.


Note the acknowledgement of impacts on workers.


- Australia's most polluting electricity generators will be closed and replaced with gas-fired units by 2020


Are Labor getting kickbacks from the Gas industry or something?


-  A $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation to fund new clean energy technology.


- An Australian Renewable Energy Agency to manage a $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation to fund new clean energy technology.


- A target of 20 per cent renewable energy by 2020


The N.S.W Government already had this target before this announcement


- Agriculture excluded from paying the carbon price


According to 'Environmental Conscious Technologies, Australia' using the Australian National Greenhouse Gas Inventory; Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics as sources "Agriculture created 15.6 percent of emissions, or 90.1 million tonnes"


Well there it is, 



No (clear) mention of the 10% of the funds that go to the U.N Climate Change Fund: See Video: