Can a Carbon Price Save Us from Catastrophic Global Warming?

Abstract

Adelaide Festival of Ideas session, Adelaide Town Hall, 12:00pm, Saturday 8th October, 2011. Chaired by Peter Mares. Scientists say significant climate change is already locked in and urgent action is needed to limit global temperature rises to 2°C – the target set by world leaders at Cancun. From next July, big emitters in Australia will pay $23 for every tonne of CO2 pumped into the atmosphere, but this still leaves coal-fired electricity far cheaper than gas, let alone renewable energy. Is it too little, too late? The task of cutting emissions poses a far bigger technical challenge than flying to the moon, so why don’t we have programs of Apollo-like proportions to further develop and deploy alternative energy? And why would we rule out an existing technology, like nuclear power?