Local Government faces some major challenges with the proposed introduction of a carbon tax by the Federal Government. Indeed, it is surprising to learn that some Local Governments fall into the category of being among the largest polluters in Australia.
The Federal Opposition has focused on the additional impost the carbon tax will have on ratepayers, if their council is a heavy emitter.
Putting aside the political posturing, Local Governments do release a significant amount of greenhouse gases from a range of their services, particular if they operate landfills.
The central challenge for Local Government is the landfills they operate, and it is looming as a large one. There are 458 landfills across Australia, of which 190 release more than 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
The issue concerns the breaking down of material in landfill that continues to release various greenhouse gases over many years.
The Australian Local Government Association has taken a lead role in working with the Federal Government to work through the detail of this issue. It is to be congratulated for these efforts.
What the carbon tax has highlighted is that landfill may no longer be an effective environmental solution for waste.
In spite of councils and their communities working hard for many years to divert as much material as possible from going to landfill, via recycling, composting and the like, refuse that continues to go to landfill will need to be carefully considered and revised all over again.
Local Governments will need to think laterally about ways to trap the greenhouse gases that cannot be contained under ground.Capturing landfill gases and converting these into a clean energy source has been successfully done by some councils for a number of years. As we move to a low carbon economy, this process has now become much more viable.
However, Federal funding to assist councils to introduce the required technology and infrastructure is vital. With such funding there is no doubt that Local Governments will rise to the occasion.
Local Governments have been responding to the challenge of reducing their carbon footprint for a number of years – well before climate change became front page news.
Right across the nation, councils have been initiating a host of environmentally friendly programs.
Even with this proud record, it seems Local Government must face this new challenge and it is one that it will undoubtedly meet.
