Australian Prime Minister John Howard announced yesterday that Australia, one of the worst per capita polluters in the world, will launch a domestic carbon trading scheme in 2012 to fight global warming.
But Howard warned that capping the carbon dioxide belched out by coal-fired power stations could seriously hurt the economy and Australia might have to turn in part to previously shunned nuclear energy.
"Implementing an emissions trading scheme and setting a long-term goal for reducing emissions will be the most momentous economic decision Australia will take in the next decade," he said.
"If we get this wrong it will do enormous damage to the economy, to jobs and to the economic well-being of ordinary Australians, especially low-income households," he said.
Howard, whose government joined the US in refusing to sign the Kyoto Protocol on limiting greenhouse gas emissions, said Australia's trading scheme would be better than those already in place in Europe.
"More comprehensive, more rigorously grounded in economics and with better governance than anything in Europe," he told an annual meeting of his Liberal Party national council.
But his refusal to set a target for the reduction in emissions until next year and the delay in implementation until 2012 drew immediate criticism.
"Climate change is not going to wait for the Liberal Party," Australian Greens leader Senator Bob Brown said.
"Keeping global temperature rises to two degrees Celsius or less requires rigorous action now," he said.
Howard attributed the delay in setting a target to a need for rigorous economic modelling, but critics noted that it also meant he would not have to announce the figure before general elections at the end of this year.
The opposition Labor Party, which has pledged a cut of 60 percent in emissions by 2050, has a strong lead in opinion polls.
Climate change has become a major political issue in Australia, where the worst drought in a century is hitting agriculture and the economy and threatening drinking water supplies to cities.
Howard said Australia, which holds 40 percent of the world's uranium reserves, would also have to set aside opposition to atomic energy and consider the introduction of nuclear power stations.
The plan would involve the government setting a cap on emissions and granting businesses permits to cover the amount of greenhouse gases they produce each year. Firms wishing to emit more carbon dioxide than their allocated quota would have to buy permits from companies with a surplus, thereby creating an economic incentive to reduce pollution.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he