Antinuclear

Clive Palmer’s position will prevent Abbott from destroying renewable energy industries

Ross Garnaut praises Clive Palmer’s decision to block abolition of Renewable Energy Target, ABC News By political correspondent Emma Griffiths and Kerry Brewster 27 Jun 2014,  The man who helped design Australia’s current carbon pricing scheme has praised Clive Palmer over his decision to block the abolition of the Renewable Energy Target.

Economist and carbon pricing expert Professor Ross Garnaut says the Palmer United Party’s position to vote to retain the RET and other key climate change bodies will have “important” and positive effects. “We’re in a better position than we were before this news,” he told the ABC’s 7.30 program on Thursday. “We’re in a better position than when we were facing abolition of carbon pricing, major tampering with the Renewable Energy Target, abolition of the Climate Change Authority, abolition of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. “It may not be the ideal way of doing things, but Mr Palmer’s support for keeping existing arrangements will have important effects.”

On Wednesday, Mr Palmer revealed his party would vote with the Coalition in the Senate to repeal the carbon pricing scheme if lower power prices were locked in, a condition the Government says it is “happy” to enshrine in law.

However PUP will vote to block the Government’s bid to abolish the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the Renewable Energy Target and the Climate Change Authority.

Professor Garnaut says retaining the RET will help Australia significantly reduce its emissions because “it’s actually delivering and it will continue to deliver”.

“The Renewable Energy Target is a very powerful instrument for emissions reduction,” he said. “In the first two years in the current set of policies – carbon pricing, Renewable Energy Target, the whole lot of policies in place – emissions fell by 14 per cent in our electricity sector.

“If the current policies are kept in place for the Renewable Energy Target, given what’s happening to electricity demand, we’ll find that by 2020 emissions in the electricity sector will be down by well over a quarter.”

Mr Palmer also revealed his party would push for an emissions trading scheme similar to the one proposed by former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd, but one that would only come into effect when Australia’s main trading partners established similar schemes.

The PUP leader met Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Thursday morning to discuss the minor party’s policies just before debate resumed in the Lower House on legislation to repeal the carbon tax.

The legislation passed on Thursday afternoon and will now be ready to be put before the new Senate as a likely first order of business.

The billionaire businessman’s party will hold three seats in the Senate, a balance-of-power role that has been bolstered by an agreement with the Victorian Motoring Enthusiast Party senator Ricky Muir…….http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-26/garnaut-praises-palmers-defence-of-climate-change-agencies/5553214

June 28, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy, politics