Australia Criticized for Setting “Weak” Carbon Emission Goals
This is a guest post by Meg Hamill who works at an environmental non-profit called LandPaths in partnership with the Open Space District of Sonoma County California.
Australia, the world’s 16th biggest polluter when it comes to carbon emissions, with five times more carbon pollution per capita than China, has come under criticism for setting carbon targets that are too low. Australian climate adviser Ross Garnaut was appointed in 2007 by prime minister Kevin Rudd to examine the impacts of climate change on the Australian economy.
Currently Australia is working on their Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme under a ‘cap-and-trade’ model. Last Friday Garnaut urged the Government to cut greenhouse gases by 10% on 2000 levels by 2020. He set a price of $20.00 Australian ($16.25 USD) per ton in the first years of Australian carbon trading.
