Photo: Greenpeace
By SAT News Desk
SYDNEY, 28 February 2020: The environment group Greenpeace Australia has criticised the federal government for sticking to coal when affordable renewable energy can power the country. Responding to talking points circulated this morning regarding the Federal Government’s Technology Roadmap, Dr Nikola Casule, Head of Research and Investigations at Greenpeace Australia Pacific said:
“Images of koalas burned alive are still so fresh in our minds, yet the Federal Government just keeps kicking the climate can down the road with another tactic to ignore coal as Australia’s top source of emissions.
“This roadmap is going entirely in the wrong direction. The technology to solve today’s problems is available now and already powering the country in the form of clean, reliable and affordable renewable energy and storage.
“Huge global economies like Germany and the United Kingdom are already well on their way in making the transition to renewables, leaving the Australian Federal Government lagging behind.
“If this is the plan Taylor intends on taking to the world stage, Australia can once again be expected to be seen as a global blocker of climate action.
“Using delay tactics like this instead of accelerating the shift to renewable energy is yet another example of the fossil fuel lobby having too much influence over the Federal Government.
“The Federal Government must stop putting the interests of the fossil fuel industry ahead of the interests of Australians.
“The Federal Government has no plan to drastically reduce emissions to keep Australian families safe from the worsening impacts of climate change.
“In the wake of one of the biggest climate disasters our country has ever seen, what Australian communities need now is strong leadership on phasing out coal, oil and gas as the primary cause of climate change.
