Australia looks to make a dent in its carbon footprint.

Australia, one of the leading exporters of coal and iron in the world, recently announced that it intends to reduce its carbon footprint by five percent by 2020, and by eighty percent by the year 2050. It is a highly ambitious goal, but one Australia is well equipped to achieve. Due to its proximity to the equator, Australia’s potential for solar energy is incredible, and with tracts of undeveloped land, it has more than enough space to establish the plants necessary to reach the energy goals they’ve set.

The government of Australia also announced that they are budgeting ten billion dollars towards this globally important goal. It’s one thing to say that a country will work towards green energy, but Australia has really put its money where its mouth is. Many countries have balked at the price tag of clean energy, overlooking the long term benefits and dividends of such a strategy, but Australia is taking the bull by the horns.

Australia is setting an example that more and more of the nations around the globe are starting to follow. Even as their neighbors are pulling back on their green energy plans, countries like Scotland, Iceland, Australia, and even the United States are starting to step up to the green energy plate. Even Iran is on board for green energy reform. Hopefully the rest of the world will take up the reins, and invest in their world’s future.