Australian Greens: Govermnent is Delaying Renewable Energy Development
An Australian Senate Committee has recommended the Senate take no immediate action to rollout a national renewable energy feed-in tariff to boost the investment and deployment of renewables. Pressure has been mounting in Australia for the federal government to take a more aggressive stance on developing renewable energy.
The Australian Greens are calling the move a stall-tactic that avoids a discussion about feed-in tariffs being the best way to supplement the country’s mandatory renewable energy targets.
The decision would instead be referred to a much slower political process where a “uniform tariff” would be developed as quickly as possible, according to reports. The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) is the peak intergovernmental forum in Australia, comprising the Prime Minister, State Premiers, Territory Chief Ministers and the President of the Australian Local Government Association.
“The Government Senators could not get around the evidence that feed-in tariffs are overwhelmingly positive for renewable energy,” said Greens Deputy Leader and Climate Change Spokesperson, Senator Christine Milne.
Milne says now is no time for COAG’s legendary glacial pace. By guaranteeing a fair price for all renewable energy generated by anyone, Milne argues, “feed-in tariffs give householders, farmers and businesses the certainty they need to invest in renewable technologies.”
“This is the way to deploy renewable energy and I’m really disappointed that in spite of the fact that there was overwhelming support for this, the committee recommended that it go through the COAG process,” said Senator Milne.
Image: agentdeclan via flickr under a Creative Commons License
