Carbon Tax In Australia

In February 2011, Australian federal government announced a framework to implement a Carbon Tax from July 1, 2012 has triggered an intense controversy among the Australian citizens. The term “Carbon tax” refers to an environmental tax that polluters will pay per ton of carbon they release into the atmosphere. This essay will argue that carbon taxes should not be introduced in Australia due to inefficacy, financial burdens and better actions to protect environment. First of all, implementing carbon taxes would not do anything to solve the greenhouse effect. Take cigarettes for example, cigarettes are universally taxed all over the world in higher amounts than other products. However, the number of purchasing cigarettes is not dropped and neither do we witness the less people dying of smoking related diseases. While it might be argued that Aussie will reduce the use of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) for the sake of thrift, the increase expenditure
NSW government analysis reported that such tax will increase construction costs in the state by up to 2% lift the cost of public transport fares by up to 3.6% and some commuters have to pay $150 per year in transport. (Seniorau.com.au, 18 July 2011).More significantly, carbon tax is likely to have more impact on the poor which is a struggle to use their own car and kitchen devices. Moreover, a carbon tax maybe destroys the balance of economy in the country. For instance, mining and coal industries will be heavily affected by carbon taxes which possibly result in a loss of jobs for a number of workers. Although it may be argued that many new job positions will be created by emerging renewable energy companies or industries, the fact is that technology of renewable energy is not mature enough so that oil still lead to the majority in the energy at the