My head is exploding on this new energy stuff.
The Greens are in uproar:
Greens leader Richard Di Natale says the government has “effectively pulled out of the Paris Agreement” as he labelled Malcolm Turnbull “hollow” and “cowardly”. Senator Di Natale said the government would “argue against the laws of physics” by saying it could meet Australia’s emissions reduction targets under its new energy plan. “Malcolm Turnbull has done what Donald Trump has done he has just not done it as extravagantly,” Senator Di Natale told Sky News. “He has effectively pulled out of the Paris Agreement; we can’t achieve those reduction targets based on this plan.” He said the Turnbull government was the most pro-coal and anti-renewables government in Australia’s history. “Malcolm Turnbull has shown himself to be a hollow and cowardly prime minister, he had an opportunity to stand up and lead and take a stand against those dinosaurs on his own backbench, instead he has gone to water and he is now going against where the rest of the world is going,” Senator Di Natale said. “Malcolm Turnbull is not prime minister of the country right now, Tony Abbott is.”
Labor is incensed:
Labor has all but confirmed Australia will not have a bipartisan approach to energy, with energy spokesman Mark Butler slamming the Coalition’s new energy plans. Mr Butler said the government was “hell bent on destroying renewable energy” as the government prepares to announce a policy that will force retailers to buy a minimum amount of baseload power from coal, gas or hydro for every megawatt of renewable energy. Mr Butler said Australia would fail to meet its international emissions reduction commitments under the Coalition’s policy, which jettisoned the clean energy target and subsidies for renewables after 2020. “What the announcements that are set for this morning do make very clear is that Malcolm Turnbull’s capitulation to Tony Abbott’s radical right-wing agenda for Australia is now utterly complete,” Mr Butler said. “The idea reported in newspapers this morning that renewable energy growth will be restricted over the coming three decades to just 4.5 per cent growth over 30 years will place at risk thousands of jobs in the renewable energy industry and make it utterly clear that Australia is completely unable to satisfy and discharge its commitments around carbon pollution reduction that it made at the Paris conference in 2015.”
Senator Jacqui Lambie on Monday dealt a blow to the government’s chances of securing her vote, telling Fairfax Media the government’s abandonment of the prospect of a clean energy target leaves her home state of Tasmania “high and dry”.
Senator Nick Xenophon on Monday said an emissions intensity scheme – a measure the government has ruled out – was his “first choice” on energy policy, casting doubt on whether the government will win his party’s three Senate votes.
“The government knows my views in terms of of what needs to be done,” Senator Xenophon said.
“[An emissions intensity scheme] is the most cost effective way of reducing carbon pollution, of meeting our Paris agreement targets and at the same time not impacting on energy prices to the same extent as alternative schemes.”
Senator Xenophon said he will wait to see the proposed package before making a decision, as did Justice Party senator Derryn Hinch and Australian Conservatives senator Cory Bernardi, a climate sceptic.
Liberal Democrats senator David Leyonhjelm said a clean energy target risked driving up energy prices by making baseload power too expensive.
…One Nation did not respond to request for comment. Any sidestepping of a clean energy target will bolster the government’s hopes of winning support from the far-right party’s four senators, who reportedly do not support the measure.
If the government can get ON, DL and AC it’ll have 35 senate votes. If Labor and the Greens get JL and NX then they’re on 37. That leaves Hinch and Lucy Gichuhi for the government to sway and it still won’t get over the line.
But it’s not even clear that legislation will be needed. The rules that govern the National Energy Market are controlled by the states, in particular, SA. The COAG Energy Council could agree to implement new rules without any federal legislation.
Would they? Probably not given their own policies are going the other way. It’ll depend upon this:
The Turnbull government’s policy is expected to equate to a renewable energy mix of between 28 and 36 per cent by 2050 compared with the 61 per cent effective renewable energy target adopted by Labor.
That means that there will also be an emissions intensity component to the National Energy Guarantee that may, in effect, cancel out coal as a dispatchable power source for retailers and gentailers seeking to meet the new obligations. Moreover, because their are no permits or anything else trackable in how they meet the guarantee, the costs will be buried in manifold decisions and accounts.
In short, this may all be a elaborate trick played upon Tony Abbott.
Which he seems to be onto:
Tony Abbott has warned against a key element of the federal government’s new energy plan during the Coalition party room meeting being held to sign off on the policy. The Australian has been told the former prime minister raised concerns about the “emissions guarantee” that will tell energy retailers to provide a proportion of their electricity from sources that have low greenhouse gas emissions. This component of the plan is separate from a reliability guarantee that will tell the same retailers to buy a proportion of their energy from reliable sources like coal, gas, hydro, biomass and renewable generators with battery storage.
Queensland backbencher George Christensen has backed Mr Abbott on the concerns, a source told The Australian.
Sky News is also reporting that former resources minister Matt Canavan has expressed similar objections. Some backbenchers with a strong interest in energy policy, such as Western Sydney Liberal MP Craig Kelly, expressed support for the government’s direction before the meeting. The indications from within the meeting suggest two or three critics but no wider show of support for Mr Abbott’s stance.
