"Cheeky" Caltex Calls For Carbon Tax On Drivers - Not Refiners  

One story from last week that I missed while I was on holiday was local refiner Caltex Australia calling for a carbon tax to be introduced.

While I think carbon taxes are a great idea, it appears Caltex were more interested in shielding themselves from the cost of carbon trading schemes than in good policy. Caltex's preferred policy option is for refiners to be exempt from any future carbon trading market - with drivers instead paying a direct carbon tax on petrol.

The claimed benefit of this policy is that it would shield refiners from "unacceptable" levels of risk - with the Caltex spokesman further recommending that the tax on petrol be "clearly identifiable at the fuel pump", as this would be "more effective at changing driver behaviour" compared to the costs of carbon trading which would have "much less carbon price visibility" and that this "hidden" tax would be "far less environmentally effective".

Just in case your head isn't spinning yet with all this balderdash, the spokesman went on further to whinge that under an emissions trading scheme exposed them to a risk that "middlemen", such as "financial institutions and offshore speculators" would become involved in the market and push carbon prices higher. Who knew that the oil industry was openly afraid of markets. What next - calls for the government to regulate the price of petrol ?

John Connor of the Climate Institute said that this proposal would set a dangerous precedent, and that other groups would also demand exclusions. The RACV dubbed the idea "very cheeky", further noting "It is far too early for Caltex to be calling for this burden to be put on motorists when we are already struggling with record high petrol prices, in a country that is devoid of an alternative fuel policy".