Carbon emissions plan needs targets: lobby group

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The Prime Minister says the Govt wants to introduce legislation this year to set-up a process for monitoring greenhouse emissions. (File photo) (Reuters: Tim Wimborne)
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The Climate Institute of Australia, has welcomed the Federal Government's announcement it will introduce legislation to monitor greenhouse emissions, but says the plan lacks detail.
The Government says it will increase spending on measures to tackle global warming by $627 million.
As part of the scheme, the Government will set-up an emissions regulator to track industry emissions and provide $1,000 to 250,000 to households to help install solar water heating.
Prime Minister John Howard says the Government wants to introduce legislation this year to set-up a process for monitoring greenhouse emissions.
But, the Climate Institute's director of policy and research, Erwin Jackson, says while the scheme is on the right track, it is useless without specific targets.
He says what is needed are clear and transparent plans from both sides of politics, outlining their respective policies on lowering greenhouse emissions.
"You can't have an emissions trading system without a cap on emissions, it's like giving someone a credit card without telling them what the limit is," he said.
"You need to know, industry needs to know, where it's going, the environment needs to see significant reductions in emissions and the only way you achieve that is by setting a cap in the short-term."
The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) also says the Commonwealth must set a target immediately.
Tags: environment, climate-change, government-and-politics, federal-government, australia