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Environment
Briefs .....
The New Zealand Green
Party has unveiled
proposals
that would charge companies for their greenhouse gas emissions. Under the plans,
companies bringing fossil fuel into the New Zealand economy – whether through
mining or exporting it – will be required to purchase carbon emission units to
cover the carbon released when that fuel is burned. Among the other industries
covered by the plan are agriculture – and in particular dairy farming – and
forestry. Jeanette Fitzsimons, Green Party co-leader, said the plan offers a
viable framework for meeting New Zealand’s carbon commitments. The Green Party,
she said, is of the opinion that it should be carbon emitters, and not the tax
payer, that meet the cost of the country’s Kyoto liabilities. “By using a
mixture of carrot and stick,” she argued, “we can gradually link the New Zealand
economy to the world price of carbon”.
April, 2007 |
