And therefore, its a political issue
So, Straya's carbon pricing is an interesting policy I guess. Its technically an ETS, although in the first three years the price is fixed (starting at AU$26/tonne and escalating by 4% per year I think), and its only directly paid by 280 of the countries biggest emitting entities at this stage. After the three year fixed price period, it becomes a full blown cap n trade - so I guess then anyone who wants carbon permits can pay for them. Its mostly going to hit power generators, waste dumps, utility companies, some chemical manufacturers and some local councils (that have waste dumps); so the direct impact is minimal. However it flows through the economy (hopefully I don't have to explain why), and everyone is waiting to see how it affects broader prices. An anecdote we've already heard from a food manufacturer is that a chemical gas used in his refrigeration system will see its price rise by 234% by the end of the month (so $4,000 a unit to $14,000 a unit) as a result of the policy.
Which, hey, is doing its job because its raising the relative price of carbon-intensive goods and services. I dispute why Australia, of all places, should lead the way on pricing carbon given our comparative advantages, at least in an industrial sense, lie almost exclusively in carbon-intensive raw materials such as coal, agriculture, fertaliser and the like. All we can hope for now is that the world gets into gear, otherwise we will be putting our economy at a self-inflicted competitive disadvantage for years.