It's still Australia's toughest climate challenge: what to do about coal exports, our biggest earner? If it survives the next election our carbon tax-cum-emissions trading scheme - along with complementary measures such as the renewable energy target and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation - will start a slow shift away from coal for our domestic energy needs. That won't bother the coal industry one bit given export markets are more lucrative and are expanding rapidly. The industry is hoping to double or triple export volumes in the next five to 10 years. Advertisement: Story continues below Back-of-the-envelope figures by one industry analyst (see side story), based on approved or planned...
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