Australia Scrapping Pollution Levy Marks First U-Turn on Climate
By Jason Scott and Mike Anderson Jul 17, 2014 1:03 PM ET
Coal is stockpiled in preparation for loading onto ships for export at the Newcastle… Read More
Australia’s decision to repeal its levy limiting fossil-fuel pollution makes it the first nation to turn back from a market approach to fighting global warming.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s government won final approval from Parliament yesterday to scrap a levy about 300 companies paid for their carbon dioxide emissions. The move leaves Australia, the largest polluter per capita among industrial nations, without a system for reducing greenhouse gases as it prepares to host a meeting of the Group of 20 nations.
“Australia is bereft of a credible climate policy just as the international community focuses on deeper reduction targets,” said John Connor, chief executive officer of The Climate Institute, a Sydney-based environmental group. He called the move an “historic act of irresponsibility and recklessness.”