The recommendation by BHP Billiton boss Marius Kloppers that Australia should move quickly and establish a carbon price has been welcomed by solar energy retailer Energy Matters’ co-founder, Max Sylvester.
Mr Sylvester echoed the call, saying a price on carbon would put downward pressure on the cost of renewable energy sources like rooftop solar power systems and wind turbine technology, as well as help Australia meet its carbon emission targets.
"A market solution to climate change has always been the most realistic way of meeting our greenhouse emission goals. Since the failure of the previous Labor government to implement its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), I believe industry has been left in a kind of limbo, knowing that a price on pollution is coming, but uncertain of when it will happen," Mr Sylvester said.
Mr Kloppers made his remarks at an Australian British Chamber of Commerce business lunch in Sydney yesterday. He called the issue a “long-dated problem” for Australia.
“A carbon tax provides business with the certainty they need to continue trading in a modern economy, while creating a revenue stream that can be directed at investment into supporting other industries that are crying out for assistance, such as the renewable energy sector, an area of growth which has the potential to create thousands of jobs in this country.”
The federal government has reacted cautiously to Mr Kloppers’s recommendations, but must tread lightly in this new age of minority government where Labor owes its election victory to the Australian Greens; who campaigned very strongly on a platform of environmental support, including a $10 billion per year carbon tax.
