Australian Greens proposes carbon levy
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The Australian Greens have started negotiations with the federal government to get an interim carbon levy in place next year, Australian Associated Press reported on Tuesday.
The Greens leader Bob Brown wrote to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd asking him to consider the idea of the government's climate adviser Professor Ross Garnaut, for a levy of 20 dollars (18.5 U.S. dollars) a tonne. The revenue would be used to help reduce household, commercial, transport and industrial emissions.
The Greens want the plan put to parliament in the next three Senate sitting weeks, and propose a start date of January 1 next year.
Deputy leader Christine Milne said she believed the federal government was still serious about climate change, even though the issue had been on the backburner for months. Australia needed to bring something to climate talks in Mexico later in the year, the first since the Copenhagen meeting.
"What we need to do here in Australia is move as quickly as we can to try and introduce an interim carbon price so the diplomacy can continue," Milne said, adding that would give a very powerful signal to investors in the short-term.
The effort to break the deadlock on climate action had the support of seven non-governmental organizations that met in Canberra for the Greens' announcement.
Meanwhile, polling commissioned by grassroots political group GetUp! shows 44 percent of respondents support an immediate levy on polluters while an international agreement is finalized.
The polling by Essential Research showed 32 percent support for the opposition's plan to use tax revenue for emissions reduction initiatives, and 29 percent support for the government's proposed emissions trading scheme.
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