Carbon trading slammed

Courier Mail
Wednesday 12/11/2008 Page: 76

OIL giant Exxon-MobilExxon-Mobil yesterday took a potshot at federal Treasury's view of the likely economic effects of emissions trading, saying it wanted no part of the carbon reduction scheme. The company also said policymakers were too ambitious in pinning their hopes on the yet unproven technology of carbon capture and storage (CCS) to buffer Australia's coal dependent economy from a low emission future.

"People talk about CCS fairly glibly, not understanding what it will cost to make it work and the costs if it doesn't," Exxon-MobilExxon-Mobil Australia and New Zealand refinery head Glenn Henson said. Mr Henson warned that the company would not be able to compete with cheaper, imported oil exempt from the carbon costs Australian refineries would have to pay once emissions trading began in 2010.

"Don't give me money just give me a level playing field," he said after addressing a business forum on Treasury's climate change modelling. None of Exxon-Mobil's local operations quality for transitional assistance under the revenue rules in Climate Change Minister Penny Wong's carbon reduction green paper.