With the Greens possibly holding the balance of power after the next election, the stakes are high for the Australian Government.
On Monday, Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown and Deputy Leader Christine Milne tabled a 5 point plan for rapid government action on climate change and a legislated carbon price soon after the election.
Senator Brown says the Greens’ plan incorporates a stay on the controversial issue of emissions targets, but a go-ahead on a ‘carbon price’. The plan also promotes an end to coal fired power generation and a national energy efficiency target.
“We understand that the government is set to announce new solar and wind projects, but Australia’s business sector needs a carbon price for forward planning and now is the time for government to send that signal,” said Senator Brown.
The Greens also claimed yesterday that the Australian Government said at the G20 meeting last weekend Australia has no fossil fuel subsidies that would fall within the scope of the G20 agreement to phase out such subsidies.
While Australia has little in the way of subsidies for the exploration and production of fossil fuels, billions of dollars of subsidies each year are provided for the consumption of fossil fuels; subsidies the Greens say could be spent in better ways.
The Greens have also been critical of the Gillard government signing a deal to export brown coal to Vietnam. Brown coal is the filthiest of fossil fuels and plays a major role in Victoria’s greenhouse gas emissions. Victoria has a heavy reliance on brown coal for power generation and has come under increasing pressure to close its main offender, the Hazelwood power station.
