Renewables and the Carbon debate

In the interest of balanced debate, I strongly recommend reading Australia’s carbon tax battle: where it fits into the global war which was published today on Crikey and authored by The Breakthrough Institute from the USA.

Its an interesting outsiders view on what happening here in Australia and although more pessimistic than my views about the potential upside of the Carbon Price (should it pass), it appears pretty well considered and poses some interesting ideas.

The authors argue that a small levy on coal could create  a substantial and more effective fund than the Carbon Price. I tend to agree but the authors miss the fact that a)this has been considered and argued for before and b)that trying to get money from the coal lobby is significantly more difficult than trying to get it from the Government. 

I also did a quick number crunch and based on average prices and exports from 2008-2009, I calculate we would need a 17% levy to create a $10B fund as proposed. Granted, thaings have changed but that seems like a tall order?!

Definitely food for thought though, especially in the instance that the Carbon Price fails – maybe a KISS approach with bi-partisan support could work?

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