A Western Australian sustainability expert has said it is possible for Australia to be carbon neutral within three years under a bold plan to tax carbon emissions. The former director of the WA Government's sustainability policy unit, Peter Newman, said to the ABC that his plan to introduce a tax of $US11 per tonne of carbon dioxide produced would create a carbon offset fund of $3 billion per year. The money could then be used to fund projects to reduce CO2. "My proposal goes beyond what Kevin Rudd and the states are suggesting," he said. "They are reducing the amount of CO2 produced." "My suggestion is that we can actually eliminate it by going carbon neutral in order to be a world leader in this area, not hanging back." Mr Newman's statements come as Australian political parties attempt to formulate their climate change policies in the face of a federal election due at the end of the year.

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