The ineffective CPRS

A report released yesterday by the Australia Institute points out that, contrary to what we have been led to believe, the CPRS will not actually reduce the emissions of our coal-fired power stations in a meaningful way.

Some excerpts:

Coal-fired power stations comprise the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Australia, accounting for 36 per cent of total emissions in 2008.  Any determined effort to tackle what Prime Minister Rudd has referred to as the ‘moral challenge’ of climate change would presumably seek to reduce emissions from that source significantly. The proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS), however, does not. (p 1)

[T]he CPRS is complex, expensive and ineffective. The government’s strategy appears to be to suggest to voters that it is taking significant action on climate change while simultaneously assuring industry that no such transformation is occurring. (p 4, emphasis added)