10 November 2011
Australia Passes a Carbon Tax
Posted by John Freeland
In a bold move, Australia has passed a carbon tax. The 500 largest polluters will pay $23 per tonne. Farmers can cash in by selling carbon offsets, presumably through ways including soil carbon sequestration.
Obviously, the measure’s not popular with everyone. Australia mines and uses a lot of coal, even though, as part of the law, there is a lot of money appropriated to support displaced jobs. Scientific American has the story here.
John Freeland earned a PhD in Soil Science (Pedology) at North Dakota State University and is a consultant working in the private sector. He has published soils research and taught at the high school and college levels. John is interested in wetlands, soil genesis, science communication, the intersection of art and science, and soil-water-landscape processes. John lives near the Ohio-Michigan border and plays bass in multiple music projects.