4th May 2010 2:24 pm in
04/05/2010 - 2:02pm

The Greens have long campaigned for an emissions trading scheme or carbon tax to put a price on pollution and help transform Australia into a flourishing, clean, healthy, zero carbon economy.

But when taking on the climate crisis, the critical thing is not just to do something, but to do the right thing. Bad policy design can make the problem worse. That is why the Greens could not support the Rudd government's CPRS when the government refused to accept any of our sensible amendments that would have turned the bill from a barrier to action into at least a small step in the right direction.

Even after the government has dropped climate action, we have still been working hard to implement our compromise proposal of a carbon levy to start as soon as possible.

From this hub, you can click through to detailed information on:

  • The Greens' position on emissions trading
  • Why the Greens could not support the CPRS unamended
  • How the Greens tried to negotiate improvements in the CPRS
  • The Greens' compromise proposal for a carbon levy
  • Third party support for the Greens' position from the Australian Financial Review to Crikey to climate scientists
  • What you can do to help.

The Greens support putting a price on pollution

The Greens have long campaigned for an emissions trading scheme or carbon tax as part of a broad suite of policies to tackle the climate crisis. The polluter pays principle is fundamental to the Greens' principles, but perhaps more importantly, it is hard to see how we can transform our economy fast enough to meet what the science demands if we do not create strong market drivers and invest the revenue raised in emissions reductions such as renewable energy, grid upgrades, energy efficiency and fast, convenient public transport.

The Greens have designed an emissions trading scheme as part of our Safe Climate Bill. You can read the detail and download the bill itself here.

We understand that this model is not likely to be accepted, so we also proposed a raft of amendments to the CPRS, many of which the government could easily have accepted if it wished to be constructive. These amendments can be found here.

After the CPRS was defeated twice, the Greens proposed a compromise, as originally set out by Professor Garnaut, to put a simple carbon levy in place. Read more about this carbon pricing option below.

Why the Greens could not support the CPRS unamended

The CPRS could have been amended to turn it from a barrier to action into a small step in the right direction. But, unamended, it would have:

  • paid polluters to keep polluting;
  • hidden inaction with smoke and mirrors;
  • undermined global action with its weak target, a target which, once set, would have been impossible to lift without paying more billions in compensation;
  • demoralised and disempowered the community; and
  • repeated the mistakes of the Murray River, over-allocating permits.

A detailed explanation of this can be downloaded here.

The Greens made every attempt to negotiate with the Labor Government

The Greens first attempted to discuss emissions trading plans with Prime Minister Rudd and Minister Wong as soon as the government was elected. Early meetings set the tone for what was to come - a complete refusal by the government to accept Greens input.

Nevertheless, the Greens continued to pursue negotiations in good faith, presenting 22 amendments to the CPRS and seeking to discuss those with the government (you can read about these amendments here, with the amendments themselves linked from the bottom of the page). All attempts were rebuffed.

You can read the timeline of letters sent and attempts made to negotiate here (halfway down the page).

A Labor source was recently quoted in Fairfax press acknowledging that it was the government who would not negotiate with the Greens, not the other way around:

"Kevin was crystal clear from the start - the Greens couldn't be allowed any sort of ownership of the [emissions] trading scheme."

- Labor source, quoted in Fairfax press

The Greens' compromise proposal of a carbon levy

In January 2010, the Greens proposed a compromise to break the deadlock on climate action - that the parliament adopt Professor Garnaut's proposal of a simple levy on polluters.

You can read the detail of the proposal here, read the explanation in the press release here and listen to the press conference here.

The proposal has received strong support from

  • environment groups, unions and others for this proposal (here and here);
  • Professor Ross Garnaut (here at p12) and his key adviser, Frank Jotzo (here);
  • 72% of Australians according to a Galaxy poll;
  • the Fairfax business pages (here).

Recent reports suggest that ALP MPs are raising the issue with the Prime Minister (here and here).

What others say that supports the Greens

The Greens are far from the only ones whose analysis of the CPRS was that it would hold back climate action and could not be supported unamended. From the editorials of the Australian Financial Review to climate scientist James Risbey to Crikey.com.au,the Greens have strong support for our decision.

You can read a selection of statements that back up the Greens' position here.

ACT now to help the Greens get serious climate action through the Senate

If we are to have any chance of bringing the government to the table to negotiate with the Greens, we need your help to lift the level of public pressure on the government.
     • Writing letters to the editors of newspapers is a powerful public pressure tool. You can find all you need here.
     • Write to the Minister here, the Prime Minister here and email your local MP here to ask them to get behind the Greens' simple levy on polluters..
     • Sign up for our action emails here.
     • Talk to your friends and spread the word!

Further Reading: