Carbon price $23, with 500 to pay

THE Gillard government's carbon tax will start at $23 a tonne and be paid by only 500 companies rather than almost 1000 liable under earlier estimates. The number of companies required to buy permits fell because of the Government's decision to remove fuel from the pricing scheme, which meant about 200 fuel refiners and distributors were no longer the taxing point for fuel emissions. Together with a decision to regulate two "synthetic" greenhouse gases through existing ozone legislation, which removes some manufacturers from the carbon tax scheme, the new "Clean Energy Future" package will now require about 500 firms to buy pollution permits. The revelation comes as the government prepares to start its $12 million carbon tax advertising campaign during Julia Gillard's nationwide selling tour, before the climate deal is put to Parliament in August. The campaign is being market-tested, and the advertisements are before the government's Independent Communications Committee, but the Herald understands television advertisements are due to start within weeks. An existing budget allocation is paying for the development of a website for the climate package. The Herald has also learnt the compensation and spending promised in negotiations over the climate deal together cost more than $4 billion over the first four years on top of what the scheme will raise in revenue.

Protecting polluters slugs households as we clean up energy sector

The Climate Institute today released new analysis showing that protection for big polluters under the Renewable Energy Target will cost households and other businesses an estimated $7.1 billion over the life of the scheme Climate Institute CEO John Connor called for an end to scapegoating of renewable energy programs and said it was time for the claims and compensation of big polluting industries to come under regular and rigorous scrutiny. "Some in politics, business and the media would have you believe that clean energy schemes have caused all the recent electricity price increases when recent regulator reports show that the cost of renewable energy schemes will make up just 4% of average household energy bills in NSW. This is around $1.20 per week," said Mr Connor. "The Renewable Energy Target is a critical tool to help clean up our ageing energy sector. Australia has the eighth most carbon polluting electricity sector on the planet and the Renewable Energy Target is essential to build capacity to cost effectively meet long-term pollution reduction targets and to unlock jobs and investment in Australia's abundant clean energy resources like wind, solar and geothermal." "However analysis in the TCI's report "Shielding The Big Polluters" shows that to fund protection for some big polluters, households are paying around 23 per cent more for renewable energy than they otherwise would, an estimated $2.7 billion over the life of the scheme." "The entire economy ultimately benefits from clean energy investments. Big polluting, trade-exposed industries consume around 25 per cent of Australia's electricity but currently help to pay for only around 8 per cent of the total effort of the Renewable Energy Target," said Mr Connor. The Shielding the Big Polluters report reveals that over the life of the Renewable Energy Target scheme, this burden on households and other business is valued at approximately $7.1 billion, or $338 million per year on average. Approximately $4.4 billion of the subsidy will be paid by non-trade exposed businesses, while around $2.7 billion will be paid by households.

South Africa media watchdog slams Shell fracking ads

South Africa's advertising watchdog criticized oil giant Shell on Wednesday for newspaper claims about its use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to explore for gas in the Karoo, a semi-desert wilderness. The Advertising Standards Authority described the adverts as "unsubstantiated" and "misleading" and ordered them to be withdrawn. The Treasure the Karoo Action Group (TKAG), which believes fracking will damage the Karoo's delicate ecosystem, had complained that Shell had underplayed the possible impact of the process. "It is critical that with an issue so important to South Africa as fracking that the public is not misled, as Shell clearly intended in its advertising," TKAG's Jonathan Deal said in a statement. "We should not be misled by the emotional calls and manufactured facts of such adverts." Karoo farmers and conservationists are concerned about the possible impact of fracking, in which drillers blast millions of liters of water, sand and chemicals at high pressure into underground rock to create cracks for gas and oil to escape. Bonang Mohale, head of Shell in South Africa, said he was disappointed by the ruling and denied trying to mislead the public. "The advert was a technical statement of our opinions and understanding of the implications of shale gas exploration in South Africa," he said.