Antinuclear

Three Australian States pushing Fed govt for climate change action

Victoria’s environment minister, Lisa Neville, said she was seeking “urgent” talks with the NSW and SA governments to forge a united front against Tony Abbott’s stance on climate change.

Neville told Guardian Australia the states would seek greater clarity on how the federal Emissions Reduction Fund, which will provide grants to businesses, would work. The federal government’s leadership on climate change would also be questioned.

“I’m looking to have urgent conversations with NSW and South Australia on the role they can play with us,” she said. “We’ll look at whether there’s a shared view on emissions reduction and also national advocacy so we can put climate change back into public debate.

“Each state has a responsibility to push the federal government in this area. National action will have the most impact on climate change, so we need a unified voice to get the federal government, first of all, to acknowledge climate change.

“The Abbott government has, unfortunately, walked away from its responsibility to act on climate change. We’d prefer strong national and international action, but if we have to play a leadership role in Victoria, we will do that.

“We need to put pressure on the federal government as well as build a proper community conversation about climate change again.”

Neville, who will have her first meeting with the federal environment minister, Greg Hunt, this month, said the federal Coalition needed to resolve the “mess” surrounding its attempts to cut the national renewable energy target and ensure its ERF grants were spent effectively to bring down emissions……….

South Australia’s renewable energy investment has forged ahead of Victoria and NSW, at a time when all states are experiencing a trend of rising temperatures…….

The NSW government, while keen to not publicly criticise its Coalition counterpart in Canberra, has indicated that it wants stronger action on climate change…….“The NSW government also has a renewable energy action plan to increase the proportion of renewable energy in NSW and has made its position on the renewable energy target clear.”

….Hunt’s office did not respond to a request for comment. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jan/08/climate-change-victoria-seeks-join-nsw-south-australia

January 10, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming