Why progressives shouldn't freak out about Australia's carbon tax fail

This is probably just a brief setback

Australia
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Rob Griffith, File))

Climate hawks the world over hung their heads last week, as Australia's new government, led by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, axed its carbon tax. One of the more aggressive climate policies, the policy had made some real progress in cutting Australia's emissions, which are very high.

Australia's policy had covered about 60 percent of all its emissions, and levied a tax of about $23 per ton of carbon emitted. In 2015, it was supposed to evolve into a cap-and-trade plan, and link up with the EU's similar carbon-trading system. Now all that's left are a few minor subsidies for emissions reduction.

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.