Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has brushed off the Greens’ proposal to ban coal and gas developments as the centre-left government seeks to pass the climate safeguard mechanism in the upper house.
Labor’s safeguard mechanism, which would deal the resource sector a heavy blow, would mandate Australia’s 215 businesses that emit the highest levels of greenhouse gas cut their emissions by 4.9 percent each year.
Facilities that breach the limit must purchase or trade their carbon credits with other firms, which Labor argued would bring the total emissions across the sector down by the same amount.
The left-wing Australian Greens have threatened to oppose the policy unless Labor takes a step further to prohibit new fossil fuel developments. The Greens repeated the warning in a Senate committee inquiry released on March 6 that said new coal and gas projects pose a “danger” to a “stable climate and safe society.”…