Australia compromises on climate change bill
ADELAIDE. August 17. KAZINFORM The Australian government split a climate change bill that would cut greenhouse gases and force the use of renewable energy into two parts Sunday in an effort to break a deadlock in the Senate, which voted against the legislation this past week; Kazinform cites Today's Zaman.
While opposition parties support the bill's plan for 20 percent of electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020, lawmakers had bickered over a plan to slash and tax carbon emissions. The opposition Liberal party had urged the government to split the bill so the renewable energy portion was not dependent on the carbon emissions scheme.
Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said the renewable energy portion of the bill would now be voted on separately from the emissions trading scheme, which sets a national cap on carbon emissions and allows for the selling and trading of permits that allow large industries extra emissions. "We think the best arrangement would have been the one we put forward, but we're serious about renewable energy so we have gone to Plan B," Wong told reporters in Canberra; Kazinform has learnt from Today's Zaman.