National carbon trading: Penny Wong's progress

Well, the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Green Paper (full report) is out.

Excerpt:

Mechanics of a cap and trade emissions trading scheme
Step 1: Significant emitters of greenhouse gases need to acquire a ‘carbon pollution permit’ for every tonne of greenhouse gas that they emit.
Step 2: The quantity of emissions produced by firms will be monitored and audited.
Step 3: At the end of each year, each liable firm would need to surrender a ‘carbon pollution permit’ for every tonne of emissions that they produced in that year. The number of ‘carbon pollution permits’ issued by the Government in each year will be limited to the total carbon cap for the Australian economy.
Step 4: Firms compete to purchase the number of ‘carbon pollution permits’ that they require. Firms that value carbon permits most highly will be prepared to pay most for them, either at auction, or on a secondary trading market. For other firms it will be cheaper to reduce emissions than to buy ‘permits’.
Certain categories of firms might receive some ‘permits’ for free, as a transitional
assistance measure. These firms could use these or sell them.

What can one say about this?
It is looking increasingly likely that this reduction scheme will be riddled by free permits and high levels of get-out-of-gaol-free pollution allowances for certain industries.

The only way the Rudd Government will avoid committing many of the same errors as Europe (when it first approached a mandatory scheme) is if the Australian electorate makes its views known and, signals an unwillingness to tolerate up to 20 per cent of permits being given away for free or exporting industries being allowed up to 90 per cent of their emissions to be exempt from the scheme.

See The Australian article yesterday.

The Federal Minister for Climate Change and Water, Penny Wong, states that submissions on the Green Paper will be accepted.
Organise a group of friends and lodge a submission before the 10 December 2008 deadline.

Submissions can be forwarded to: emissions trading@climate change.gov.au or
Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Green Paper Submission
Department of Climate Change
GPO Box 854
Canberra ACT 2601

Download the full report - Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Green Paper