Australia: State begins slow squeeze on emitters

On the same day Ms Firth was promoting the benefits of reducing the state's reliance on coal-fired power, her counterpart in the Energy Resources portfolio, Ian Macdonald, announced that another coal exploration licence had been awarded.

China's biggest coal-mining company, the state-owned Shenhua Group, will pay the state $300 million for the right to search for coal on 190 square kilometres of the Liverpool Plains, near Gunnedah.