On May 16, four eco-activists from Rising Tide scaled the walls of Australian Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Greg Combet’s electorate office in Canberra, to draw attention to issues related to the looming carbon tax and how resulting revenue will be spent.
The new Labor Party Prime Minister Julia Gillard is proposing a carbon tax for Australia, to begin by next summer. A carbon tax is an environmental tax that is levied on the carbon content of fossil fuels, such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas. This sort of tax offers a potentially cost-effective means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, in reaction to the tax, energy companies often raise their prices—disproportionately affecting low-income groups.
A potential resolution for the social costs of the carbon tax is to use concomitant revenues to favor low-income groups. However, in Australia, this has become a political hot potato. How much money will households lose? Will tax revenues be used to reimburse them, or to provide incentives for renewable energy projects? And should there be a carbon tax at all? (The energy companies say, no, of course.)
In an April 13 speech, Combet pledged that more than 50 percent of the money raised by the tax will be paid to households as compensation, and that assistance will be permanent. “[Revenue] raised by the payment of the carbon price by the large polluters – because that’s where the obligation resides – will be used to support households to meet price impacts,” Combet said.
The Rising Tide activists who climbed Combet’s walls unfurled a banner saying ‘‘Make Polluters Pay, Fund Renewable Energy.’’ They also placed solar panels on the roof.
Police said the protest lasted about two hours and that the activists complied with orders to remove the banners and leave the premises. No arrests were made.
Rising Tide spokeswoman Naomi Hogan said the group wanted a commitment from Combet to fund renewable energy projects. ‘‘We have put these solar panels up on Minister Combet’s office to highlight the potential of renewable energy to power the nation,” she stated, continuing, “If the government stood up to the clamor of the loud, greedy CEOs of polluting companies, the money could help fund solar on rooftops right across Australia."
The renewable energy industry, particularly the PV solar sector, has endured a number of blows in recent weeks — the 2011/12 Budget saw funding delayed or slashed on large-scale projects and solar schools, the Solar Credits Scheme was further reduced; and last Friday, the NSW government announced the closure of the state's feed-in tariff program to new applications and its plans to reduce the original rate paid to solar households retrospectively.
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Cheryl Kaften is an accomplished communicator who has written for consumer and corporate audiences. She has worked extensively for MasterCard (News - Alert) Worldwide, Philip Morris USA (Altria), and KPMG, and has consulted for Estee Lauder and the Philadelphia Inquirer Newspapers. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Carrie Schmelkin
