Australia’s re-elected conservative Liberal-National Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced his new ministry and somewhat disappointingly for the environment and the renewable energy industry Angus Taylor has been re-appointed as the Energy Minister, and also given responsibility for emissions reductions.
Mr Taylor has not made any secret of the fact that he’s not a great fan of renewable energy and will now lead Australia’s energy policy while trying to meet the country’s emissions reduction targets at the same time.
In a tweet, Mr Taylor said he was looking forward to getting on with the job of lowering power prices for Australian people and businesses and to ensure Australia’s was on track to meet its 2030 emission target.
In the last cabinet, emission reductions were the responsibility of the environment minister, then Melissa Price, who has now been demoted to Defence Industry.
The CEO of the Australian Conservation Foundation said no matter under what portfolio the emission reductions were, the key was to reduce them.
“Climate damage is one of the biggest risks that Australians face right now, so we need Angus Taylor to understand that and take action to move the country towards renewable energy,” the foundation’s CEO Kelly O’Shanassy told SBS News.
Ms O’Shanassy said the new government needed to better address the issue.
“Having the same minister in charge as before the elections makes me very concerned that the Liberal-National government has no plan for changing the way it deals with energy in the way it deals with climate change.
“And that’s quite terrifying giving the way we produce our electricity in this country is fueling global warming and climate damage. “
About 60 per cent of Australia’s energy is derived from coal, and coal mining, including questions over the final approval of the controversial coal mine proposed by the Indian conglomerate Adani in Queensland, was a key factor in the Liberal-National’s election win.
The Liberal-National coalition has said that it is committed to finding solutions to climate change.
Under the $3.5 billion climate solutions package, set to be rolled out over 10 to 15 years, the government plans to deliver on the country’s 2030 United Nations sponsored Paris Agreement climate commitments.
The package includes money for the pumped hydro project Snowy Hydro 2.0, energy efficiency programs and grants for community organisations to buy solar panels.
The aim is to reduce emissions by 26 to 28 per cent below 2005 levels.
However, critics have said these policies will fall short of what’s required to meet the Paris Agreement targets.
The CEO of Energy Networks Australia, the national industry body representing Australia’s electricity networks and gas distribution businesses, welcomed Mr Taylor’s re-appointment.
“Our key priorities are the grid integration challenges of connecting renewable energy, both large and small scale, the National Hydrogen Strategy and maintaining the sector’s finance ability,” Andrew Dillon said.
“Energy and climate policies are closely linked and combing the two is a positive step towards the policy certainty and stability the industry needs,” he said.
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One Response
How about the 4 trillion dollars climate change is projected to cost Australia. Let alone coal mining countries about be sued for hundreds of trillions of $ for their death and destruction of the planet. The cost is many millions of times any financial benefit from coal as the royalties are a pittance. Let alone the responsibility for the death of half the planet. The criminal ignorance and greed is unbelievable from some of the worlds most evil people.