The Climate Council has labelled the NSW Government's decision to keep Australia's largest coal-fired power station operating well past its scheduled 2025 closure date as a failure of climate leadership.
Climate Councillor and Economist Nicki Hutley said: "This decision is a triple failure: it fails policy, it fails climate leadership, and it fails to protect the health and wellbeing of communities across NSW and the nation. As NSW residents endure worsening climate impacts – like the Black Summer bushfires and last year's Great Deluge – driven by climate pollution, the state and federal governments have failed to build enough clean energy to ensure this coal clunker closes on time.
"As a result, every NSW taxpayer will bear the financial burden of this decision, which undermines climate targets for both NSW and Australia and delays the shift to cleaner, lower cost energy."
Head of Policy and Advocacy at the Climate Council, Dr Jennifer Rayner, said: "The science is clear: every tonne of coal burned pushes us closer to climate disaster. The latest analysis from the energy market operator shows solar, wind and storage projects in the pipeline can more than meet the electricity needs of every home and business in NSW.
"Keeping the coal fires burning at Eraring sends the wrong message when urgent action is needed to fight the climate crisis. This must never happen again – in NSW or any other state. Governments must now throw everything at accelerating the shift to renewable energy sources like wind and solar. This will create new clean energy jobs, help lower power bills and, most importantly, tackle the climate crisis."
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The Climate Council is Australia's leading community-funded climate change communications organisation. We provide authoritative, expert and evidence-based advice on climate change to journalists, policymakers, and the wider Australian community.
