Australian Greens Leader, Adam Bandt, says today is a grim day for the climate, with the Prime Minister revealing plans to gas-fire Australia's economic recovery, and Labor abandoning its 2030 climate targets.
Recent analysis has confirmed that to be consistent with limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees, as set out in the Paris Agreement, Australia would need targets of a 48% cut on 2005 levels by 2030. Net-zero by 2050 alone, without strong 2030 targets, will blow Australia's '2 degree' budget.
Greens Senator for NSW Mehreen Faruqi has also said that the last thing NSW needs is a new fossil fuel-fired power station.
As renewable energy gets cheaper year-on-year, gas has been the biggest contributor to increases in household energy bills.
As stated by Greens Leader, Adam Bandt
"Our world is on fire, the Liberals are pouring fuel on the flames and Labor is egging them on."
"Gas is as dirty as coal, Scott Morrison is locking in climate collapse and Labor is walking away from the Paris Agreement."
"In the US, Joe Biden has called Donald Trump a 'climate arsonist'. In Australia, Scott Morrison is burning down the house and Anthony Albanese is refusing to call the firefighters.
"Labor's official Resources spokesperson has today claimed credit for Morrison's gas plan and complained that the government wasn't acting quickly enough.
"Under Anthony Albanese, Labor risks becoming just as bad for the climate as the Liberals, dropping their climate targets while fretting that Morrison's gas plot isn't bold enough.
"Renewables are getting cheaper and gas keeps getting more expensive, so Scott Morrison's plan to tie Australia to gas is just a plan to throw public money at his mates in the gas industry.
"This locks Australia's manufacturing industry into an outdated energy source, while shifting the burden of climate action onto the next generation. If we don't take action now, they'll be the ones trying frantically to phase out gas while battling to survive in a rapidly heating world.
"We need to help households and business make the switch from gas to electricity, not push more gas on them.We need to increase our ambition to prevent global heating, not push action out to 2050. We need to invest in clean energy, not more gas."
NSW Senator, Mehreen Faruqi, commented on plans to build new fossil fuel plants in the Hunter Valley:
"The last thing NSW needs is a new fossil fuel-fired power station.
"The Liberals are hellbent on running a protection racket for dangerous fossil-fuels and wilfully turning a blind eye to the science of climate change.
"We can take a different approach and create much-needed jobs in the Hunter and across NSW that don't destroy the climate.
"Hunter workers need support through the transition to a post-carbon world, not the destructive fantasies of the Liberals and their corporate donors.
"We know that the technology and the public will are there to invest in renewable energy. The political will is what is lacking," she said.
