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: Renewable Energy Target
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 …
Apr 04 2014
Why the WA re-election matters
Western Australia will go back to the polls tomorrow for a rerun of last year’s Senate election (due to the count having been bungled in that state). The re-election will be critical in deciding the makeup of the new Senate from July this year, and is a key opportunity for the Greens. To pass legislation …
Aug 11 2013
Scrutinizing the business lobby’s election agenda
Australia’s federal election is fast approaching (recently rescheduled for 7 September). Recently the Business Council of Australia (BCA) released an “Action Plan for Enduring Prosperity”. Given the disproportionate influence of the business lobby on the non-green political parties, the BCA Action Plan deserves as much scrutiny as the policy documents released by political parties. The …
Jan 11 2013
Liberals Part 1: Climate denial and deregulation
Almost all of my posts to date have focused on criticizing Australia’s incumbent Labor government. I have written very little about the alternate Liberal/National Coalition government. But as we enter an election year, it is time to examine the Liberals’ policies. Can the Liberals be trusted? To begin with, it is worth noting that the …
Precarious Climate
- 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
- I Didn’t Vote for Abbott