Australia needs to do more for the environment – or at least that's what treasurer Wayne Swan would have us believe.
In his latest economic note, the minister revealed that Australia is lagging behind many other developed nations, generating more carbon emissions per capita than the US.
The comparisons don't stop there – our emissions are more than twice those of the UK, five times that of China and ten times higher than Indonesia.
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Wayne therefore believes it is time to take action not only through the controversial carbon tax, but also by encouraging greater investment in clean technologies.
This will be accommodated by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, which has been tasked with managing $3.2 billion in grants and financial assistance to help develop new projects.
So who knows, we could see more solar panels cropping up across the country, as the funding is expected to kickstart $100 billion of investment throughout the renewables sector.
Hopefully Australia's next report card will be a little more impressive – we obviously need to think big if we're to match the carbon reduction efforts of the US, UK, China and Indonesia.
Posted by Mike Peacock