The Australian Coal Association welcomes the Opposition's statement of issues that it wants addressed before it would be able to support the Government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) legislation. ACA Executive Director Ralph Hillman said the Coalition has presented two effective solutions for addressing the competitiveness problems facing Australia’s largest export industry.

Additional Government funding announced today for carbon capture and storage projects in Australia will go a long way to making Australia a world leader in developing the technology that will substantially reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, the Executive Director of the Australian Coal Association, Ralph Hillman said today. “The Government’s budget allocation of $2 billion could help fund up to three carbon capture and storage demonstration projects in Australia, including a commercial scale demonstration project of gasification technology,” Mr Hillman said.

At least another 10,000 jobs will go, 16 coal mines will close and State Governments will lose substantial royalties as a direct impact of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS), according to independent analysis released by the Australian Coal Association today. These job losses are in addition to thousands of coal jobs already lost since December as a result of the Global Financial Crisis, according to ACA Executive Director, Ralph Hillman.

The changes announced today by the Prime Minister to the CPRS show welcome recognition of the impact of the global financial crisis on Australian businesses and the importance of addressing the international competitiveness of Australia's trade exposed industries....But the changes do not address the loss of international competitiveness that the CPRS will impose on Australia's biggest export industry -- the black coal industry which pumps over $20 billion into our economy every year.

Strong government, industry and research support for the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute illustrates the growing global importance of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies in tackling climate change, the Executive Director of the ACA, Mr Ralph Hillman said today.

The commercial release of offshore areas for potential greenhouse gas storage marked another important milestone on the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in Australia, the Executive Director of the Australian Coal Association, Mr Ralph Hillman, said today.

Australia’s leading commodity export industry faces a further loss of jobs and competitiveness if parliament does not deal with the exclusion of the coal industry from the provisions of emissions trading legislation that aim to maintain the competitiveness of Australia’s export industries, the Executive Director of the Australian Coal Association, Mr Ralph Hillman said today.

The Executive Director of the Australian Coal Association Ralph Hillman said today the coal industry would be carefully examining the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme White Paper for the impact of emissions trading on future investment and jobs in the industry.

The growing global importance of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies in tackling climate change was illustrated by strong support for the Government’s proposed Global CCS Insitute at a preparatory meeting in London this week, the Executive Director of the Australian Coal Association, Mr Ralph Hillman said today.

A new interactive website to explain carbon capture and storage and the coal industry’s work to develop low emissions technologies was launched by the Australian Coal Association today. ACA Executive Director Ralph Hillman said the black coal industry in Australia had long been committed to playing its part in reducing carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of coal...