SYDNEY, Feb 8, 2019 – Solar is leading Australia’s clean energy boom, but the rapid rollout of renewable projects will trickle to a halt if the Coalition and Labor Party fail to come up with a framework to keep that momentum going.A report published this morning by the Australia National University portrays the transition from dirty coal power to clean energy as a fait accompli. However, the findings are underpinned by the assumption that current growth rates will continue into the future – which is unlikely given the current policy vacuum at the Federal level. [1]
“Australia is in the midst of a clean energy boom driven by existing policies, particularly the Renewable Energy Target. That ends next year, and current indications from the major parties is that we won’t see a replacement Federal target able to keep up this tempo. All signs at the moment are that the heavy lifting is going to be done by the states,” Greenpeace Australia Pacific campaigner, Alix Foster Vander Elst, said.
“The Liberal Party are incapable of taking climate change seriously, while the Federal Labor Party suffers a chronic lack of ambition. Whether your target is for 26 percent renewables in 2030, like the Liberal Party’s, or 50 percent, like that of the Labor Party, you’re planning to fail.
“The shorter-term impact is most critical, however. Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten let the industry know what they are going to do to ensure that its wonderful growth doesn’t drop significantly when the impact of the Renewable Energy Target is removed – and that Australia is able to continue to move beyond its ageing, unreliable coal fleet toward a future powered by clean energy sources like wind and solar.”
“It’s telling that the only roadblock to renewables that the report identifies, is politics – reliability and affordability are simply no longer barriers.
“Australians love renewables. They are already seeing the benefits of lower electricity prices and a cleaner environment.”
Notes:
For interviews:
Greenpeace Australia Pacific Communications Campaigner, Martin Zavan
0424 295 422