With his self-groomed halo tarnished forever more, Rudd has revealed himself to be the devil in the detail when it comes to climate change, after the Federal Government announced it would only set a 5% emissions reduction target yesterday.
“This is significant step towards Federal Labor exposing themselves as being more closely intertwined with their colleagues in NSW than they would like to admit,” says Greens MP Ian Cohen.
“For a government that was swept to power with all the grandiose climate change promises it could muster, this paltry 5% target will certainly prove to be lump of coal in the throats of most Australians.”
The White Paper, ‘Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme: Australia's Low Pollution Future’, released by Prime Minister Rudd yesterday, has revealed a government more concerned with appeasing big polluters than shoring up new and emerging renewable energy industries, as the $4 billion promised to the coal industry demonstrates.
“Australia is at the forefront of some of the most innovative and exciting technologies in the world when it comes to renewable energy. Sadly, many have been moving offshore for commercialisation because they find it so hard to get started in our own backyard. We need to be moving Australia into a high skills, sustainable energy based economy, not shoring up the Jurassic interests of only a few”
“Just how much of the coal cabal’s $4 billion bonanza will actually translate to real emissions cuts? According to the McKinsey Australian 2020 carbon abatement cost curve emission reductions to be gained from residential water heating efficiency, commercial lighting efficiency and residential heating/ventilation efficiency are the low hanging fruit that the Rudd Government is ignoring.
“Just look at the Sydney CBD at night. All too often whole office buildings are lit up for no good reason - even on weekends.”
“What is also glaringly absent from the Rudd White Paper is an acknowledgement of the role of forestry in Australia’s abatement portfolio. The forestry industry makes up 31% of Australia’s GHG emission reduction opportunity yet Rudd has turned a blindeye, preferring to bankrole a handsome corporate welfare package.”
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