FP BLOG

The Environmental Movement in Australia: Carbon Tax Controversy

It’s no secret that green living has caught on in much of the world since the beginning of the 2000s. Ad campaigns and government-sponsored legislation in Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom has driven more and more people to start conserving energy. Everyone remembers the constant campaigning for recycling in the 90s, and analysts say that it really drove the point home. According to an international survey from Rasmussen Reports, 71% of Australian families now actively recycle, up from a bit over 60% in 1992.

At the beginning of 2011, the Australian government announced that it would be putting a carbon tax in place effective on July 1, 2012. The carbon tax would essentially be implemented over a period of three to five years to help give the new tax a smooth transition. The government states that the money collected from the carbon tax will go into programs for research and implementation for renewable energy sources.

Surprisingly, the Australian Green Party did well in the last election, and this was not mirrored in Britain or the United States. Does this go to show the rest of the world that Australia and its people are leading the way to a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle?

This isn’t anything new. As many know, Australia was the first country on Earth to have a large environmental political movement, and it was also home to the world’s first Green Party. The carbon tax really targets big polluters like the coal industry and major Australian flight airliners, so does this mean the average Australian household will support the carbon tax?

It is true that it may cut down on some emissions. Just above Australia is the largest hole in the Ozone layer, which concerns many researchers who support the theory of global warming, but there are those who believe that the carbon tax will be ineffective in cutting down on emissions. Many Australians protest the carbon tax due to concern that energy companies will start to raise utilities bills to overcompensate for the new government legislation.

In the end, people will usually always be more concerned about the survival of their household than the environmental movement. Rising utility bills means that Australians could be living a bit less comfortably. It will take widespread public concern before the Green movement dominates the Australian psyche.