Released yesterday, the Australian Greens’ Safe Climate Bill is what the party is calling first legislative attempt to rapidly transform Australia into a “flourishing carbon neutral powerhouse”.
The Bill aims to see Australia’s emissions reduced to at least 40% below 1990 levels by 2020, and that the 350 ppm goal be enshrined in law.
The Greens want to see auctions of all permits instead of free ‘grandfathering’, based on the recommendations of the Garnaut Review and the experience in Europe.
The party also has a vision for Australia to be powered by 100% renewable energy, with a minimum of 30% by 2020. The Greens see no technical or economic reason why Australia cannot secure a reliable supply of clean electricity from a mix of solar power, wind energy, ocean, biomass and geothermal power.
The Greens maintain that with these technologies already developed Australia and ready to scale up to utility size now, it will also benefit regional communities across the nation with abundant new, long-term and high-quality jobs.
The Bill would see the removal of solar water heaters and heat pumps from the definition of renewable energy, however, these would be supported through the payment of upfront costs of implementation and paid back by savings on energy bills.
The Greens also want to see the Solar Credits program ended, replaced by a gross, national feed in tariff for renewable energy that would give investors the certainty they need to invest in renewable energy and provide targeted support to all renewable energy technologies at any size – from rooftop solar panels to gigawatt scale solar thermal or geothermal power stations.
A briefing and full texts relating to the Safe Climate Bill can be viewed here.
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