Published November 8, 2011 12:00AM
The Australian Senate voted 36-32 on Tuesday to approve a tax on carbon emissions. Australia follows the European Union as the world’s second-biggest economy to impose a tax on emission. The new laws will charge $23.70 per ton of carbon emitted by the country’s 500 biggest polluters. The tax is seen as a victory for Prime Minister Julia Gillard, but opposition leader Tony Abbot has already said he will repeal it if he is elected in 2013. In 2015, the plan will change to an emissions trading scheme.
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