CPRS Rejected Once – What now?
East Perth Power Station. Setting a trend for coal-fired power generation in Australia?
Unsurprisingly, the proposed CPRS legislation was rejected in the Senate yesterday in what was a sad day for the environment and Australian politics.
In 2007, Rudd was voted in with a campaign that promised an Emissions Trading Scheme. Even before this Howard had announced his government’s support for an ETS. Here we are, nearly 2 years later following significant community and industry consultation and the chance to show some leadership in the global response to climate change, and our political parties can’t get past the bickering to pass the law or even to enter into meaningful negotiations.
So what now? The Government has two options: Negotiate changes to the bill to gain further support; or do nothing and table the bill in November with the aim of triggering an early election before taking it to a joint sitting. Either way, both approaches will take time – one of the most precious resources in the climate change response.
So what can you do? Rather than wait out the politics, why not use this time wisely to prepare? A cost of carbon is inevitable in some shape or form. Now is the ideal time to start educating your workforce, conduct a risk assessment and develop a long-term strategic response to climate change.
Tags: cprs
