Australian PM confirms new ad campaign on climate

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's conservative government is preparing a major advertising campaign on climate change as it tries to win back voter support ahead of looming elections, Prime Minister John Howard confirmed on Tuesday.
With backing for his ruling coalition at record lows after 11 years in office, Howard said the government had yet to approve the ads, to be run after he decides how to price carbon pollution in order to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate change is emerging as a key election issue after a seven-year drought across much of the country. Polls show up to 80 percent of voters are concerned about it.
Centre-left Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd has promised to sign the Kyoto Protocol, and slash the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming, if he wins power later this year.
On Tuesday, Rudd labeled Howard "a rolled gold climate change denier," prompting a prime ministerial warning that the government's response to climate change and carbon trading was the nation's most crucial economic decision in a decade.
"I am not a climate change skeptic, I am a climate change realist," Howard told parliament, adding that Rudd's plan to cut greenhouse emissions by 60 percent by 2050 was "driven by extreme ideology and not common sense."
Rudd has spent the past week grilling Howard about the advertising campaign, which he said would be called "Climate Clever" and feature an old lady boiling water for a cup of tea.
LETTER TO VOTERS
Rudd said the taxpayer-funded ads were being market-tested, and the campaign would include a letter from Howard to Australian households to explain government policies.
Under Howard, Australia has joined the United States in refusing to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, which sets limits on carbon emissions for developed countries but imposes no caps on carbon pollution from developing countries.
Australia is the world's largest coal exporter, and obtains 85 percent of its own electricity from coal-fired power stations. Howard has regularly said that capping greenhouse emissions would hurt the national economy and lead to job losses.
Now, though, he is poised to overturn his long-held opposition to carbon trading. On Thursday, the government is due to receive a report on how it can price carbon emissions without hurting the country's coal industry or economy.
"This will be an Australian report, for Australian conditions, to preserve the strength of the Australian economy and make sure we protect Australian jobs," Howard said.
Carbon trading sets caps on pollution for companies and puts a price on carbon emissions, providing a financial incentive for firms to clean up pollution so they can sell leftover allocations to others.
Australia's next election is due any time from August, but is widely expected to be called for late October or November, after Howard hosts world leaders at September's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (
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The latest polls show the government trailing Labor by about 17 points on a two-party basis, where minor party votes are distributed to the main parties to ultimately decide the winner.
Last week Howard told coalition lawmakers the government would be annihilated if the current polls translated into the election result.