The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies has called for an open debate on carbon tax and carbon trading after Premier Alan Carpenter told reporters a carbon emissions trading system was inevitable.
"We are supporting a national move by other states in that direction. We want WA to go in that direction and we need support from the federal government," he said.
Mr Carpenter said a carbon emissions trading system could not work without federal government support.
The Premier today released WA's Greenhouse and Energy Taskforce report, which recommended a $25 a tonne tax on carbon.
Mr Carpenter did not commit to implementing the recommendation but said it would enable WA to meet the report's aim of a 50 per cent reduction in state's 1990 greenhouse gas emission levels by 2050.
AMEC Policy and Public Affairs Manager Ian Loftus cautioned against the move saying that a carbon tax would inevitably be passed on to the whole community.
"The state government needs to tread carefully on this issue, and ensure that efforts to address the carbon problem don't put the community offside through much higher power costs and through the potential unemployment resulting from increased costs on industry", he said.
"WA doesn't exist in isolation, and we need to make sure that we don't simply push the carbon issue to other states or overseas through an ill-thought out process."
Opposition environment spokesman Steve Thomas dismissed the idea of state-based carbon trading regimes, saying the problem was global and needed a global solution.
"A state-only scheme, even in a state as vast as Western Australia, can't survive on its own and won't have a significant impact on worldwide climate change," he said.
