"Today we learned that Chief Minister Andrew Barr believes our efforts to transition away from polluting gas by 2040 - in some two decades time - are "crazy".
This is the ALP digging in deep for a gas-led future that will serve no-one. This is the time for ACT Labor to tell the public whether they support Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese's gas-led recovery, or instead a zero emissions recovery that gives us all a future? Will ACT Labor side with gas industry profiteers, or a safe future for Canberrans?
The Greens won't let fear-mongering get in the way of what climate scientists tell us we need to do to avoid a climate catastrophe.
The ACT Government has already committed to phasing out of gas by 2045 as part of our Climate Change Strategy. With technological advances, the Greens believe this can be achieved by 2040, and we are simply setting out a clear, achievable pathway to support our community to get there.
Of course, it's disappointing to learn that the Labor Party is shying away from major and urgent climate action.
The Chief Minister has not read the policy, has misunderstood it, or is deliberately misrepresenting it.
Our package is about supporting households and businesses to choose clean, zero emissions energy. It's about finding solutions that mean, as a community, we can achieve our goals, while making sure nobody gets left behind.
This is what Greens leadership in Government looks like - we pull the old parties in the right direction on the issues that matter to our community and our planet the most.
"The choice here is clear. A vote 1 for the Greens this election is a vote to put our climate first."
