NSW treasurer Michael Costa has called for Kevin Rudd to exempt coal-fired power generators from a national emission control scheme. The coal-fired generation of electricity in New South Wales produces 58 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, accounting for more than a third of the state’s total greenhouse gas emissions. The cost of offsetting that much carbon dioxide is in the billions of dollars. Costa has claimed that adding those costs to the price of electricity will cripple the state’s economy. Greens MP John Kaye, said that the proposal is simply to prop up the sale of the coal generating plants to balance the state budget.
