"Australia Scraps Carbon Price as Abbott Meets Election Pledge"

"Australia’s Senate voted to scrap the nation’s price on carbon, fulfilling Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s election campaign pledge to abolish a 'toxic tax' he said threatened the nation’s economy.

The repeal bill was passed 39 votes to 32 in the 76-member upper house today, dismantling a mechanism introduced by the previous Labor government that initially charged polluters A$23 ($21.5) per ton of greenhouse gases emitted.

Repealing the carbon price may put Australia, which is hosting the Group of 20 nations summit in November, at loggerheads with President Barack Obama, who is seeking to form a worldwide agreement to combat climate change. Australia, the world’s biggest emitter of fossil fuels per capita, hasn’t backed U.S. calls to add the issue to the G-20 agenda when leaders meet in Brisbane. "

Jason Scott reports for Bloomberg News July 16, 2014.