The heated debate over a carbon tax for Australia
Every nation on the globe needs to be thinking about its contribution to global warming and debating what it needs to do to reduce its carbon footprint. This is especially the case for Australia which simultaneously contributes more than its ‘fair share’ of emissions and is especially vulnerable to the impact of climate change.
On the contribution front, Australians need to be aware that its population of just 22 million is responsible for 1.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, compared to Britain which – with almost three times the population – produces just 1,7%. In spite of its small population, Australia is one of the top 20 polluters in the world. A major problem for Australians is its heavy reliance on cola-fired power stations.
On the vulnerability front, Australians need to be conscious that, of all the advanced economies, Australia is perhaps the one most vulnerable to climate change. A brutal reminder of this was the fires of February 2009 which burned over a million acres of land and killed 173 people. Record high temperatures and exceptionally dry summers make such a mega-fire increasingly likely to reoccur.
You can read about the ferocious debate in Australia to introduce a carbon tax here and the supportive views of one Australian novelist here. As I said at the beginning of this posting, this is a global issue and you can check how other major polluting nations are doing here.