Will Australia's new carbon legislation be a driving force for the U.S.?
Recently and after years of debate, Australia passed national carbon management legislation that will begin setting a price on carbon by July 2012. Australia will soon join the ranks of the European Union and New Zealand who both have active carbon trading schemes requiring large emitters to procure and surrender permits to cover their GHG emissions. While the U.S. is busy developing and then fighting itself over implementing a patchwork of energy and environmental policies, much of the developed and developing world, including China, are forging ahead with comprehensive national carbon policies.
Just as utilities and other major emitters in the U.S. thought that the looming cloud of carbon legislation had passed, could action from some of our biggest trading partners in the race to transition to a low carbon economy be a driving force for domestic carbon and energy management legislation in the foreseeable future? It is certain that the U.S.’s lack of action to reduce its contribution to global GHG emissions may have slowed, but certainly has not stopped global action. The upcoming United Nations Climate discussions in Durban, South Africa may offer some gauge of the U.S.’ thoughts on the matter, but as we see it there are a lot of political winds that need to shift to bring back the threat of carbon legislation in the U.S. in the near-term.