On July 10, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard introduced Australia's first tax on greenhouse gas emissions effective from July 2012 to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and encourage renewable energy in the world's biggest coal exporting country. The tax targets to cut Australia's carbon emissions by 159 million mt per year.
Coal miners, steel and aluminum manufacturers and other heavy emitters of carbon gas polluters will pay an initial charge of A$23 (US$24.74) per mt of carbon dioxide and the government plans to increase the charge by 2.5 percent a year.
Meanwhile, Australia's coal mining industry predicts that the carbon tax will lead to job losses and fewer collieries, as Reuters reported.
Xstrata, one of the country's biggest coal mining companies, said it was "disappointed at the government's lack of genuine consultation", other miners also complained that the added cost to control emission will reflect on selling prices.
Australia, the world's biggest coking coal exporter, relies on coal to generate 80 percent of its electricity, accounting for 37 percent of national emissions. Coal is also one of the nation's top export earners, worth A$46 billion (US$49.4 billion) in overseas sales last year.