UPDATE: Rio Tinto Says Australian Carbon Scheme To Cost Jobs
October 15 2009 - 8:56PM
Dow Jones News
Rio Tinto Ltd. (RTP) said Friday Australia's proposed carbon
pollution reduction scheme, or CPRS, needs to be amended or it will
hurt the nation's mining industry and cost jobs.
In its strongest statements to date on the scheme, the miner
proposed four amendments it said should be made before the
legislation is passed through parliament.
"Without these changes, the CPRS legislation will affect the
international competitiveness of Australian resources companies and
will have long-term consequences for Australian jobs and the
Australian resources sector's ability to compete in global
markets," Rio said in a statement.
Australia's center-left Labor government plans to introduce a
cap-and-trade scheme - similar to one operating in Europe since
2005 - that would cap carbon dioxide emissions from July 2011,
forcing heavy polluters to account for their greenhouse-gas
emissions. But its first attempt at legislating the scheme was
rejected by a hostile Senate in August.
Rio's comments appear to be directed as much at the main
opposition conservative Liberal-National coalition as at the
government, with coalition lawmakers due to meet Sunday to decide
on amendments to the carbon scheme they hope to extract from the
government.
The government is due to reintroduce its climate change
legislation into parliament in November, and has indicated a degree
of willingness to negotiate with opposition lawmakers to push the
scheme through.
Labor has a majority in Australia's lower House of
Representatives, but needs the Senate support of either the
conservative coalition, or all seven minor party senators, to pass
any new laws.
Coalition leader Malcolm Turnbull has previously flagged that
conservative lawmakers may seek further compensation for
electricity generators, as well as concessions for the coal
industry and agriculture - key export sectors that may otherwise
struggle to compete against nations that don't have a carbon scheme
in place.
Rio said the current scheme disproportionately impacts the coal,
aluminum and alumina industries and threatens the viability of
low-emissions technology.
It called for amendments to the scheme to ensure fair treatment
of the coal industry and to support low-emissions technology.
The miner also called for changes to the point at which a carbon
liability is imposed to ensure the carbon price signal works
effectively.
The annual permit reduction for trade exposed industries should
also be removed until international competitors face similar carbon
constraints, Rio said.
-By Alex Wilson, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-3-9292-2094;
alex.wilson@dowjones.com