“By willfully undermining renewable energy in Australia, the Abbott Government is showing the lengths it will go to prop up its friends in the fossil fuel industry,” said Greenpeace Climate and Energy Campaigner Nikola Casule. “Labor is right to walk away from the Renewable Energy Target negotiations in the face of the government’s industrial sabotage.”
“When the effects of dangerous climate change - from extreme weather to rising sea levels - are being felt all over the world, it is criminal for the government to be attacking a successful scheme which has substantially cut carbon pollution in Australia.”
“Even aside from the obvious environmental benefits, the Renewable Energy Target has created tens of thousands of jobs and resulted in billions of dollars of investment,” said Casule. “The government’s own modelling shows that the Renewable Energy Target will reduce electricity prices in the medium term. It’s no wonder that survey after survey shows that renewable energy has the overwhelming support of Australians. Renewable energy’s only sin has been to put yet another dent in the ailing business model of the fossil fuel industry.”
Greenpeace Australia Pacific has produced a report analysing how and why Australia’s biggest three energy retailers - Origin, EnergyAustralia and AGL - have been working to undermine the target in their own interests.
“The government’s attempt to slash the Renewable Energy Target is a retrograde effort to undermine an industry which is central to Australia’s future and to ensuring a habitable planet,” said Casule. “It’s time for this government to pull its head out of the sand, and support renewable energy in Australia by strengthening the Renewable Energy Target.’
Wednesday 12 November: Greenpeace is condemning the Abbott Government’s ideologically-driven attacks on business and the environment which have led to today’s collapse of negotiations on the Renewable Energy Target (RET).