A long awaited energy policy paper from Martin Ferguson, Australia's Minister for Resources and Energy, said that an emissions standard for new power plants, a campaign promise that Prime Minister Julia Gillard said would end the building of "dirty" power plants, had become redundant in the face of the nation's carbon market. The Labor Party's proposed regulations would have required newly built power plants to emit less than .86 tons of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour and be carbon capture and storage ready. However, Ferguson said that the issue had changed due to the new market mechanism. The paper also cast doubts on the nation's nuclear future, stating that Gillard "unambiguously" did not support nuclear, but that a future government may hold a different view. For the full story, see http://www.smh.com.au/national/dirty-power-plant-rules-abandoned-20111213-1ot4h.html.