Antinuclear

And in the wake of international plans to tackle emissions, Premier Denis Napthine said Victoria’s reliance on coal-fired power would continue for some time, while also saying alternative energy deserved more attention.

The Climate Council  will release on Tuesday a comparison of each state’s renewable energy sector, which has found Victoria the worst performing state.  The Brumby government set a 20 per cent emission reduction target by 2020, which was scrapped by the Baillieu government.

The Coalition also quietly abandoned a target of having 5 per cent of Victoria’s power coming from solar energy.

“Victoria now has the worst policy environment for renewables in the country,” the report says.

“Victoria’s new planning rules have cost the state an estimated $4 billion in lost investment and 3000 jobs.”

The Climate Council’s chief councillor,  Professor Tim Flannery, said states had a critical role to play, especially in energy generation and some, such as Victoria and NSW, were not providing the right environment for renewable energy.

In Victoria, just one in 10 homes has solar panels, compared with South Australia where 25 per cent of homes have solar panels.

The report highlights that a coal mine can be built within 100 metres of home but there is a two kilometre veto zone around proposed wind turbines – Labor has promised to halve this zone.

Professor Flannery said Victoria had just as good conditions for wind and solar power as South Australia but was still too fixated on coal and was not providing the right regulatory conditions to encourage renewables.

With less than two weeks to go before the election Professor Flannery called on both parties to commit to a renewable energy target.

“Renewables create jobs and can reduce the cost of power as well as reducing greenhouse emissions,” he said……… : http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/victoria-state-election-2014/victorian-election-2014-state-has-worst-renewable-energy-policy-environment-20141117-11ofqh.html#ixzz3K14GKIKj