New South Wales was once a world leader on climate action, but a new Climate Council report shows it is now far behind, spewing more greenhouse gas pollution into the atmosphere than any other state or territory. The Climate Council report – Ageing and Unprepared: Energy in New South Wales – examines the state’s ongoing dependence on coal and gas power stations and its tardy transition to renewable energy.
NSW is lagging behind all the other states and territories in the transition to clean energy. NSW is a drought declared state, with catastrophic bushfires and extreme heat waves across the state. Regional towns are on the brink of running out of water, millions of fish are dying in the Murray Darling Basin and heatwaves are threatening lives. It's time for action, and we have a plan.
There are calls from the backbench and elsewhere for the federal government to safeguard the future of coal. But do those calls make economic sense? A look at Queensland's energy landscape suggests not. This article was originally published on The Conversation.
