Whose climate policy is that?

Two months ago, Scott Morrison gave his best impression of being fair dinkum about climate change.

Is that your electric car? Scott Morrison and his
energy minister, Angus Taylor, shown here in 2017.

Snowy 2.0 would deliver round-the-clock renewable and reliable power, he declared. A second interconnector between Tasmania and Victoria would unlock the “battery of the nation” to supply more zero-emissions hydro power to the mainland. The Coalition would spend $2 billion over ten years to buy more emissions reductions. New initiatives would promote energy efficiency among households and, wait for it, a national strategy would encourage electric vehicles.

For a moment it looked as though he was responding to public sentiment, in the shape of polling showing rising levels of concern over climate change.

But ScoMo’s attempt at catch-up was soon overwhelmed by the visceral urge to mount another fear campaign against Labor. The idea was to label Labor as extreme on climate change, but in the process the PM sent a different message — a message about a Coalition that is dragging its heels on climate change and doesn’t believe in its own policies.

Read the story from Inside Story by Mike Steketee - “Whose climate policy is that?”