Some who considered freshly minted senator Ricky Muir to be merely a roo poo flinging rev-head are having second thoughts – he’s turning out to be a friend of renewable energy.
It’s been a curious couple of weeks for renewables on the political front.
We experienced Clive Palmer and Al Gore getting along like best buds; then the Prime Minister continued to get it very, very wrong on the impact of the Renewable Energy Target on power bills even though facts have been well established on this front (over and over and over and …).
Now it appears Senator Muir will be one of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s saviours.
As mentioned earlier on, ARENA has been in the crosshairs of the government; which has backflipped on a promise to maintain it. The loss of ARENA would threaten projects such as the construction of a solar thermal power station in Port Augusta.
“ARENA has played a critical role in supporting the innovation and development of the renewable energy sector, particularly supporting large-scale solar projects, solar R&D and the emergence of geothermal and marine energy,” said the CEC’s Kane Thornton recently.
“So, we were all bitterly disappointed when the government reneged on an election commitment and announced it would slash its budget and shut down ARENA.”
Senator Muir to the rescue.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party senator will introduce amendments to the carbon tax repeal bill that threaten ARENA. Not only does Senator Muir want to see ARENA preserved, but expanded.
There had been various reports in the lead-up to Mr. Muir assuming the role of senator that the man who loves his cars also has a real fondness for renewables. It would seem those reports are proving to be correct; and with no pushing from Clive needed.
“Renewable energy is the way of the future and it’s something that very much interests me,” Senator Muir reportedly told AAP on Tuesday.
Trivia – according to Wikipedia, Ricky Muir discovered the Australian Motoring Enthusiasts Party via social networking sites just four months before the election.
