The Greens will back the government’s hallmark Safeguard Mechanism policy reforms, but only if the government agrees to a moratorium on new coal or gas projects. The Greens hold the balance of power on the policy’s fate and their resolution has sparked fears that Australia could see a repeat of the dreaded climate wars.
Victoria’s coal-fired power plants would be progressively shut down by the end of the decade under a climate bill to be introduced to state parliament this week.
After a decade of climate policy failure, Wednesday brought good news and slightly less good news for Australian action on climate change.
The Federal Government this week introduced its hotly awaited climate change bill to parliament. Despite the attention and controversy it’s attracted, the proposed legislation – as it stands – would be almost entirely symbolic.
Last week, two influential environmental groups warned the Greens not to stymie progress on Australia’s climate policy. In an unusual intervention, Greenpeace and the Australian Conservation Foundation urged the Greens to “play a constructive role” with Labor or risk being blamed for holding climate policy back.
In May, Australia voted out its conservative government, which had held power for almost a decade. Instead, it turned to Labor, female independents, and minor parties with far greater climate ambitions. In short, it shifted to an entirely different approach to politics.
The Greens are proposing to electrify an entire Australian town and a suburb in a major city, including providing electric vehicles for households, the party’s leader Adam Bandt has revealed. The proposed pilot, which would be enabled by a $235 million fund, was inspired by Australian Saul Griffith’s ‘electrify everything’ campaign.
The Greens have announced a $6.1 billion plan to boost the uptake of electric vehicles and reestablish auto manufacturing in its previous hub, South Australia.
The South Australian Greens Party has proposed a tax-and-spend plan for the state that goes against everything the Federal Government advocates, in favour of massive funding of essential services and reducing carbon emissions in the process.
“Imagine what we could achieve if we had a government that wasn’t backed by the fossil fuel industry,” said Australian Greens party leader Adam Bandt on the weekend as he launched his next Federal Election policies centred on arresting climate change.
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