What a week it’s been in Australian politics! Failed media regulations, a failed leadership spill, mass ministerial resignations, and more… But in today’s post I’ll focus on a piece of news that didn’t make the front page: yesterday Australia’s Climate Change Minister Greg Combet finally announced the Labor government’s response to the recommendations of last …
Tag Archive: Renewable Energy Target
Mar 03 2013
Liberals’ climate policy just got stupider
This week as Australia concluded its hottest summer on record, the climate change policies of the Liberal/National Coalition got even sillier and more contradictory. According to Climate Spectator, Liberal climate spokesperson Greg Hunt reconfirmed on Wednesday that the Liberals’ proposed Direct Action Emission Reduction Fund (DAERF) is (as I’ve explained in detail before) like a …
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 …
Dec 19 2012
Response to RET Review
Today the Climate Change Authority (CCA) released the final report of its Renewable Energy Target review. It repeats all the same arguments I debunked in my response to the discussion paper released in October, and makes similar recommendations (though some of the details have been refined). The RET Review fails to acknowledge that Australia and …
Nov 15 2012
Response to RET Review discussion paper
I have submitted feedback (which you can read here) to the Climate Change Authority (CCA) on its Renewable Energy Target review discussion paper, released last month containing draft recommendations. A report with final recommendations will be released by 31 December. In September, I wrote: The RET review will be a key test of the Greens’ …
Oct 14 2012
A terrible week for the climate
This week’s events illustrate (not that further illustration was needed) that both of Australia’s major political parties are in the pocket of the fossil fuel industry, though Labor hides it behind a veneer of greenwash while the Liberals are overt about it. On Monday in New South Wales, the Planning Assessment Commission approved the Ashton …
Aug 03 2012
Renewable Energy Targeted?
Australia’s new independent Climate Change Authority recently embarked on a review of the federal government’s Renewable Energy Target (RET). At least one company, Origin Energy, is using the review as an excuse to demand the RET be weakened. Australia’s current target is 45 terawatt-hours (TWh) of new renewable energy by 2020, split into the 41 …
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