In response to the Coalition’s newly released gas policy modelling, Joe Rafalowicz, Head of Climate and Energy at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, has blasted what he calls a disastrous energy plan.
‘Peter Dutton’s policy to supposedly achieve meagre changes to gas prices is a distraction from the fact that we don’t need gas and the seismic blasting, methane leaks or the fracking it involves, because we already have the technology available to build affordable clean energy to power homes and businesses for the long term.
‘Gas is a dangerous fossil fuel that drives worsening floods, bushfires, cyclones and droughts, he said. ‘The Coalition wants to greenlight gas expansion like Woodside’s Browse project and fracking in the Beetaloo Basin, which threaten our environment and the climate.
‘The Coalition’s energy policy and its “modelling” on electricity prices simply don’t pass the sniff test. A future-proof policy is one that accelerates the transition to clean, affordable renewable energy, helps Australian businesses electrify and get off gas, and quickly phases out fossil fuels.’
Gas can’t compete with renewables
‘Renewable energy is already the cheapest form of energy, and is reducing or even eliminating electricity bills for millions of Australian homes and businesses today. When it comes to reducing bills, gas simply cannot compete with renewables,’ said Mr Rafalowicz.
‘Australians can’t afford worsening gas-fuelled climate disasters like the Black Summer bushfires, Tropical Cyclone Alfred, and the Queensland floods that have racked up clean-up costs in the billions of dollars.
‘The Coalition has also refused to dump its nuclear plans despite criticism from fellow Liberals, and estimates by experts which show that the cost of building nuclear reactors alone will cost taxpayers up to $600 billion. Peter Dutton has provided no plan for how the additional costs of nuclear waste management, insurance, and safety will be funded either.
‘The enormous costs of the Coalition’s plan to expand climate-wrecking gas and build risky nuclear reactors in Australia overshadow any paltry gas savings released in its questionable modelling today,’ Mr Rafalowicz concluded.
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