14 DAY TRIAL // The Australian government seems to have succumbed to the increased pressures and threats coming in from the fossil fuel and mining industries. Their representatives have warned that, if the new set of legislations on regulating greenhouse gases passes, they would basically take their business elsewhere, rather than stop destroying the environment. Aussie Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said that the decision had been taken on account of the poor economic climate, and that a final decision on how the carbon emission trading scheme (ETS) would be implemented would be taken in 2011, rather than in 2010.
Originally, the environmental package was slated to be launched in June 2010, even though the laws have come under intense fire in recent months, from both activists and the big industry. Protesters, on the one hand, said that the rules were too relaxed and that they left too much leeway for polluters, whereas companies argued that the bills were too strict and that they would be forced to fire a lot of people in response, in order to remain competitive.
Kevin Rudd also argued that, at the moment, the decision was a good step in the right direction, and that it constituted an appropriate response to the way things were unfolding in the country's economic climate. However, in a press conference he held in Canberra, he added that environmental protection measures would not be forgotten, but merely adapted. The vagueness of his speech could meant absolutely anything, but the only thing that's sure is that the large coal, oil and gas companies have won an additional year of polluting, according to their own whims.
The Prime Minister also stated that Australia could be pushing for a 25 percent decrease of carbon emissions from the 2000 levels, rather than the 15 to 20 percent first planned. This means that, by 2020, companies would have to make numerous investments in their infrastructure, in order to become compliant with national regulations. Otherwise, enterprises will simply have to buy large numbers of carbon credits from efficient companies to offset their high levels of pollution.