Antinuclear

Ian Macfarlane: Coalition is sticking to reduction in renewable energy target  theguardian.com, Sunday 26 October 2014  Industry minister says that because electricity consumption has fallen 15%, the RET must be reduced by the same amount The government is sticking to its proposed reduction in the renewable energy target (RET), saying that “nothing has changed” in terms of its climate policy.

Industry minister Ian Macfarlane has told the ABC that cutting the renewable energy target from 41,000 gigawatt hour to 27,000 gigawatt hours is reflective of a fall in household energy consumption………

Labor’s climate change spokesman, Mark Butler, said that the opposition wouldn’t accept a “real 20% target, which equates to a 40% cut” to the original target……

The Greens leader, Christine Milne, told Sky News that keeping the original 41,000 gigawatt target would drive down energy costs.

“Renewable energy is undermining the business case for the old fossil fuel generators,” she said………

The government can bypass negotiations with Palmer United on the RET if Labor agrees to the changes.

Negotiations on the policy are underway. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/oct/26/ian-macfarlane-coalition-is-sticking-to-reduction-in-renewable-energy-target