Carbon Economy

From The Australian: Tony Abbott is set to defy US President Barack Obama and other world leaders by releasing a post-2020 target that is lower than that of most advanced economies, on the grounds that Australia must bear the burden of stronger population growth.

I don’t usually bother posting on the final Caixin PMI number, only when it deviates materially from the Flash number, and it just did coming in at 47.8 in July versus a Flash reading of 48.2.

From the FT: The Obama administration will on Monday unveil the most far-reaching action on climate change in US history by imposing stringent emissions cuts on the power sector, a move that faces ferocious opposition from political rivals and industry.

From The Australian: The Abbott government is being urged to strip billions more from subsidies to wind farms in the final report of a Senate committee that has already pushed renewable ­energy investment to favour solar.

From The Australian: In a series of statements yesterday aimed at the Flinders University Council and the Coalition, the Weatherill government warned Dr Lomborg that he was not welcome in the state as it would damage South Australia’s image among the climate change fraternity.

Crikey it’s pathetic, from Tristan Edis: When questioned yesterday by Andrew Bolt about Labor’s 50 per cent renewable energy target by 2030, Labor frontbencher and a public critic of the Renewable Energy Target several years ago, Joel Fitzgibbon, said: “it’s not a policy – it’s an aspiration”.

From The Australian: The Prime Minister, in his first public comments following the weekend conference, today predicted the enhanced renewable energy target would cost consumers “perhaps $60 billion or more” even without the impost of Labor’s floating carbon price.

From The Australian: The Abbott government has held talks with Flinders University about hosting a major policy centre­ in Adelaide based on the methodology of controversial Danish academic Bjorn Lomborg.

From Fairfax: Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is set to unveil a bold climate policy goal requiring half of Australia’s large-scale energy production to be generated using renewable sources within 15 years.

From the FT: A groundbreaking UN climate-change deal is edging closer, according to a French government document, as countries scramble to avoid a repeat of the last big summit on the issue in 2009, which ended in acrimony.

From the AFR: Labor has confirmed it will take a new emissions trading scheme to the next election, after a damaging leak from its climate change spokesman Mark Butler’s office revealing a new proposal.

From The Australian: Carbon emissions cuts of between 15 and 25 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030 are under calculation as the Abbott government for­mulates its target for the Paris ­climate change conference.

Former head of BHP coal Dean Dalla Valle from The Australian: …has told a Washington, DC audience that the private sector needs to play a part in this year’s Paris climate talks.

An unprecedented alliance of business and consumer groups has today released a joint statement on the climate change mitigation that humiliates the Abbott Government and its UN conspiracy-nutters.

From the ABC: The Ararat wind farm has secured finance to build 75 turbines in south-west Victoria, helping the Australian Capital Territory to meet its renewable energy target (RET).

From Reuters: It will cost China over $6.6 trillion (41 trillion yuan) to meet the greenhouse gas reduction goals it will lay out later this month in its strategy for United Nations climate negotiations, the country’s lead negotiator for the talks said Tuesday.

Some good news today of sorts: A bipartisan deal – agreed to last month after a lengthy political stalemate that hamstrung the clean energy sector – will slash the target from 41,000 gigawatt hours to 33,000…the government did a deal with four crossbenchers to establish a wind farm commissioner.

From Fairfax: The Abbott government is weighing tougher emissions reduction targets for the post-2020 period than conservatives in cabinet had wanted in a move that would restore Australia to the international mainstream on climate change policy and challenge the Prime Minister’s reputation as a global warming denier.

by Chris Becker The leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis is about to release a new statement on church doctrine, pushing even harder than his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI on the subject of climate change.

From Fairfax: Alinta Energy has decided to close its two coal-fired power stations in Port Augusta in South Australia with the loss of about 440 jobs after suffering about $100 million of operating losses amid a glut in power supply exacerbated by growth in renewable energy.

From Fergus Green and Nicholas Stern: China has grown rapidly – often at double-digit rates – for more than three decades by following a strategy of high investment, strong export orientation and energy-intensive manufacturing.

From Fairfax comes the Conspiracy for World government: Australia has become a climate change “free-rider”, dropping off the list of nations taking “credible” action to curb greenhouse gas emissions, according to a panel led by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.