Australia: Coal is carbon is emissions is not good

Australia can lead the way because it is a major coal exporter, writes John Perkins.

ASPIRATIONAL goals are not enough. While schemes such as Kyoto might help, they are insufficient to solve the problems posed by global warming. Not all countries are included.

China’s projected carbon dioxide emissions to 2050 are five times what Kyoto will save.

The problem is one of market failure, in that the market price does not include the external environmental cost of greenhouse pollution. The main alternative solutions are “cap and trade” mechanisms for emission control or a carbon tax. A tax would be better but the former has been favoured because there seems to be no way that a global tax could ever be agreed upon.

However, there is a way that a global carbon tax could be introduced, and Australia would have a key role. Coal is the biggest greenhouse polluting fossil fuel because it is composed mainly of carbon. Most electricity generation worldwide comes from burning coal. Most of China’s projected emission increases will come from coal-fired power stations. Australia, as the world’s leading coal exporter, is uniquely placed to play a key role in implementing a global carbon tax, starting with an export tax on coal.

To avoid a catastrophic increase in sea levels, we are advised that we need to reduce global emissions by 50 per cent by 2050. The scientific evidence for this becomes clearer by the year. We need to do much more. Trading schemes are not really the market solution that they are claimed to be.

The Age