EU to hit Australia with a border tax on carbon emissions - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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#15155802
The EU is taking the lead on the border carbon tax. With Biden in the WH, there is hope that the US will follow suite. Four years of Trump have been a tremendous waste in terms of climate change.

Australia has a lot of potential for producing renewable energy. Green hydrogen can also be exported. The climate change deniers in down-under are putting the future of their country at risk. Coal is dead, get used to it.

EU to hit Australia with a border tax on carbon emissions

Australia’s free ride on climate change is set to end, with the European Union taking the first step to introduce a cross border carbon tax.

The European Parliament gave the nod to the move on Friday, which means Australian products entering the EU will be hit by a tariff to make up for the fact Australia has no price on carbon.

“It would be a major blow for the Australian government both economically and diplomatically,” said John Quiggin, economics professor at the University of Queensland.

The move has been on the international agenda for some time and has been taken increasingly seriously since Australia dropped its carbon tax in 2014 following the election of the Abbott government.

“It has been talked about a lot in recent years and the election of [US President] Joe Biden means there is a renewed focus on climate policy around the globe,” said Scott Hamilton, consultant to the Smart Energy Council.

“Everyone is getting serious about it except the Australian government.”

Hitting home
Australia’s lack of a coherent energy policy is starting to hit the energy sector locally and is eroding investment plans from major players.

Last week, generation giant AGL Energy wrote down its assets by $2.7 billion and Origin Energy signalled its earnings would be 13 per cent, or $175 million, below expectations.

AGL has written down a massive $2.7 billion from its asset base because of lower prices for base load coal and losses on forward power purchase agreements,” Tom Allen, energy analyst with UBS, told The New Daily.

AGL had agreed to buy renewable power for over $80 a megawatt hour but the price has since fallen below $50.

Origin’s write-downs consisted of $100 million from gas and $75 million from power generation as prices fell. Without a firm government energy policy in place and with large amounts of new wind power hitting the market, AGL’s coal generation was hit by price drops.

The resulting collapse in the price of wind power meant that previous renewable purchase deals that AGL had made at higher prices became loss makers.

New investment barred
With numerous coal plants scheduled to close in coming years, the market needs AGL to invest in new gas generation to balance growing renewables.

But energy giants AGL and Origin are in a tough bind, as the Morrison government has pledged to help smaller players build gas plants and threatened to build one itself.

‘It is very hard for AGL to make investment decisions about new generation when your competition might get a Commonwealth subsidy and you don’t know how much that will be,” Mr Allen said.

The uncertainty extends to the Prime Minister’s plans for a gas-powered revival in manufacturing, as investment becomes impossible when energy supply is uncertain.



The world is moving quickly to decarbonise and Australia is increasingly being left behind.

In Europe, they are tightening the rules with major manufacturing having new emissions reductions targets for 2030 and 2050,” Mr Hamilton said.

Germany has just put €9 billion ($14.2 billion) on the table for a new green hydrogen strategy and the UK committed to a net zero 2050 target and ambitious 2030 targets.

“Australia is becoming more and more isolated with an emissions reduction target of 26 to 28 per cent reductions on 2005 levels and no clear path to net zero. Others are in the mid to high 30s.”

Scottish test
Mr Hamilton said “it will all come to a crunch later this year with the UN Climate Summit in Glasgow”.

Newly appointed US Climate Commissioner John Kerry has described it as “the last best chance“ to avert the worst environmental consequences for the world.

The pressure from America will add to that from Europe, with Professor Quiggin saying the US and China were likely to follow suit with carbon border taxes of their own.

“Joe Biden has talked about it already. It’s possible that China will go in this direction too,” he said.

“Australia needs to take the matter seriously.

“The main political parties are worried about what Craig Kelly and Joel Fitzgibbon think about this. They aren’t worried about what Europe and the US are thinking.”

“[Major trading partners] Korea and Japan are already on board with a 2050 target but there is no public sign that we are paying attention to it,” Professor Quiggin said.

“It’s not just about energy – it’s about trade. A cross border tariff would be a tax on everything we export.”

Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan told The New Daily that “we do not want to see carbon tariffs used as a new form of protection”.

Australia wanted to be sure climate change engagement and meeting emissions reductions targets were carried out constructively, Mr Tehan said.
#15155806
I'd imagine China limiting/stopping coal imports from Australia should help put the fire on the Aussies that coal is dead. Put a bullet in its head already and move on to renewable.

The potential for new jobs in renewable domestically for western nations is so great, it's basically insane that anyone wants to keep going down the fossil fuel route.
Last edited by Rancid on 09 Feb 2021 17:35, edited 1 time in total.
#15155808
Rancid wrote:I'd imagine China limiting/stopping coal imports from Australia should help put the fire on the Aussies that coal is dead. Put a bullet in its head already and move on to renewable.

The potential for new jobs in renewable domestically for western nations is go great, it's basically insane that anyone wants to keep doing down the fossil fuel route.

Its because the established energy industries have a lot of money to act as a fetter in the transition and got of spineless pricks who practically beg for their corporate masters to tell them what to do.

Though it is surprising the current industries aren’t spearheading the change and establishing their continued dominance in energy. Those in power already are best positioned to maintain power amidst changes as long as they adapt.

Guess it just comes with short term thinking and no collective balls to steer the ship otherwise. One board member pipes up he is replaced, so wheres the pressure against the short term profit motive, don’t know. The rationality of it is so narrow as to be suicidal.
#15155830
Wellsy wrote:Though it is surprising the current industries aren’t spearheading the change and establishing their continued dominance in energy.


Sections of the fossil fuel industry (re. Koch Brothers, et al.) have spread climate change denial for so long that they may have ended up believing their own lies.

That they have promoted a climate change denial narrative for 30 years makes it hard for them to change direction now. How would people like Trump become supporters of renewable energy? That's really hard to imagine.
#15155837
Wellsy wrote:Good, cunts need some pressure on em


YEEESSS WELLSY!

Rancid wrote:I'd imagine China limiting/stopping coal imports from Australia should help put the fire on the Aussies that coal is dead. Put a bullet in its head already and move on to renewable.

The potential for new jobs in renewable domestically for western nations is so great, it's basically insane that anyone wants to keep going down the fossil fuel route.


Too much money invested in Fossil Fuel Rancid. That is capitalism for you. Ignorance over potential. Plus the oil companies already hold most of the research in hydrogen and are shareholders in renewable technology. They just want the oil and coal fields to dry up first before putting the hammer down. I have written and posted some articles on this over the past few years. The technology is already out there to abandon oil tomorrow. But money talks.
#15155883
Wellsy wrote:The rationality of it is so narrow as to be suicidal.


Dude, we can't even get the NBN running smoothly, thanks mainly to the idiots at Telstra and Optus providing shitty service.

Sometimes I still wish Telstra and the Commonwealth Bank were still owned by the government.
#15155893
colliric wrote:Dude, we can't even get the NBN running smoothly, thanks mainly to the idiots at Telstra and Optus providing shitty service.

Sometimes I still wish Telstra and the Commonwealth Bank were still owned by the government.

It really sucks that there isn’t even an appearence of national interest in these things. I worry Australia is goin gonna go to shit without an adaption for the long term. But that would require some hard nut politicians.
The economy has been riding too hard on natural resources and like a mining town run out of profitable mining, Australia will take a hit harder than the situation now post bushfires and pandemic.

What is the position of Australia in the world’s future? I don’t know but feels like we’re getting sold up river for short term dealings.
#15155982
Atlantis wrote:If all else fails, they could still turn it into a Chinese colony.

Haha sadly the Chinese really do have their hooks throughly into Australia and end up with shit as treasonous as this for personal gain.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Darwin#Landbridge_lease

But Australias always been someones bitch, specifically those with the naval power through our trade routes.
Time will tell.

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