As of 1 July, all motorists will have to pay their part of the ETS.
One by one, the oil companies bumped up prices by 3c a litre for petrol, which took 91-octane petrol at most stations to about $1.79 a litre.

The AA thinks that that on its own will not change driver behaviour but might do so in conjunction with higher ACC, GST and excise levies.
The big chains in fact raised prices by slightly less than the full impact of the ETS, citing competitive needs as their reason.

Even so, emissions trading in the energy sector will generate immense transfers of wealth. Drivers burn 3.2 billion litres of petrol a year, and at 3.1c more a litre the oil companies must accumulate $90 million in order to buy emissions credits payable to groups such as foresters, whose growing wood absorbs the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide.