It’s been a depressing three weeks for Australian climate policy. Abbott kills large-scale renewables On 22 October, the Abbott government announced it would seek to persuade the Senate to slash the 2020 large-scale renewable energy target (LRET) from 41,000 to 26,000 GWh. Renewables will be allowed to meet no more than 50% of new energy …
Category Archive: Energy
Aug 22 2014
Is Energy Australia lying to its customers?
My household recently switched energy companies. The main reason was that the one we left, Energy Australia, has been lobbying to sabotage the federal Renewable Energy Target (RET). When an employee asked us why we were leaving we told them so, to which they innocently responded that Energy Australia is a leader in renewable energy …
May 21 2014
Bust the budget 2: Fossil fuel profits over fixing climate reality
This is the second part of a series arguing against the Abbott government’s first budget. Part 1 summarizes the overall unfairness and debunks the justification offered for this agenda. This part examines how the budget affects climate, environment, fossil fuel subsidies, business, and science. Unless otherwise hyperlinked, budget facts are sourced from either Joe Hockey’s …
Mar 14 2014
Tasmania needs a Greens opposition
Tomorrow, Tasmanians and South Australians will go to the polls for their respective state elections. In both cases the Liberals are expected to gain government, but the Tasmanian election may present an unexpected opportunity for the Greens. The Tasmanian situation is reminiscent of last year’s federal election, pitting an unpopular governing coalition of Labor (led …
Feb 02 2014
Great Barren Reef: the cost of coal exports
On Friday the Abbott government approved the dumping of three million cubic metres of dredged seabed in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. That’s enough waste to fill 150,000 dump trucks. This outrage is occurring because of a planned coal export boom. Environment Minister Greg Hunt quietly approved the dredging in December while you were …
Precarious Climate
- The Paris Agreement was a sham anyway
- Australian election: say no to the polluting major parties
- Will Turnbull act on climate?
- Are we approaching peak stupidity?
- Is Turnbull a green Liberal?
- 2014 the warmest year as global heating speeds up
- The Trans-Pacific Partnership: the dirtiest trade deal you’ve never heard of
- Tony Abbott’s intergenerational theft
- 2014: the year that was
- Australia continues climate obstructionism in Lima