ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the failure of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme in Australia, connecting it to the global peak of climate action, which was quickly followed by a trough after the disappointing UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen. Australian environmental politics took a similar turn to the one visible in European and North American societies. Political attention became focused on the regulatory capture of environmental and resource policy by the fossil fuel lobby. The centre of the climate policy debate across most of 2008 focused on the Ross Garnaut Review, which became a Federal governmental initiative after the Kevin Rudd government was elected. Government operations and party strategy under Rudd became radically centralised and chaotic over time. Rapid transition in energy production and consumption was another key objective, which saw attempts to bridge expert-talk about energy technology and policy with grassroots mobilisation.