Australian Greens Senator, Christine Milne, stated yesterday that the Rudd Government should ignore the agenda of Australia’s big polluters and fulfil its commitment to increase the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target set for Australia.
According to Senator Milne, referring to the big businesses involved being the “green mafia”, parties with an alternative agenda are intensely lobbying the Government in order that they be able continue generating massive profits without being penalized for the carbon pollution they emit.
Senator Milne accuses companies and organizations such as The Australian Industry Group, the Business Council, Cement Australia and the Aluminium Council of attempting to lock Australia into a resource economy and deny Australians the benefits of moving rapidly into a “clean, clever future”.
The Australian Industry Group claims that making it compulsory to have 20 per cent of energy as renewable by 2020 will impose unnecessary costs. The group considers the “RET as an ill-advised and risky policy proposal” and “it would appear that a better national approach for the Commonwealth to take would ensure that existing renewable energy initiatives were wound back rather than extended.” The group represents industry sectors including automotive, biotech, chemical and mining.
