Labor’s climate policies are 'unshakeable' despite election loss, Mark Butler says

Mark Butler wants to make one thing clear: the shadow minister for climate change and energy is not for turning. It wasn’t a mistake to pursue an ambitious climate policy in the 2019 election and “we are not going to change our position to get to a level of profound irresponsibility [on policy], like the government”, he tells Guardian Australia’s politics podcast.

The shadow climate minister, Mark Butler,
with the current Labor leader, Anthony
Albanese, and the previous Labor leader,
Bill Shorten.

“Our position on climate is unshakeable.”

This declaration might seem hard to square with Butler’s swingeing self-assessment of just over a week ago. The shadow minister, a leftwing powerbroker and close ally of Anthony Albanese, used a speech at a book launch in Canberra to send a message to colleagues that there can be no sugarcoating Labor’s election loss, and all policies, including the ones for which he had direct portfolio responsibility, needed to be subjected to a “ruthless and unsparing” review.

Read the story from The Guardian by Katharine Murphy - “Labor’s climate policies are 'unshakeable' despite election loss, Mark Butler says."

Parliament must back Labor’s climate policy if party wins power, Mark Butler says

The shadow climate change minister, Mark Butler, has issued a stark warning before the coming election campaign, declaring the Australian parliament must end the stalemate and back Labor’s climate policy in the event of a Bill Shorten victory, or politicians will betray the next generation.

 Shadow minister for climate change Mark Butler says if
Labor wins the coming election, changes will be
implemented regardless of pushback.

In an interview with Guardian Australia’s political podcast, Butler says Labor’s commitment to reduce emissions by 45% on 2005 levels by 2030 is a “rock solid commitment”, not an “aspiration” or “something that would be nice to achieve” – and he says voters are more agitated now about climate action than he has ever seen during his time as an MP .

Butler says the Morrison government is lining up to deploy “tired old scare campaigns” about carbon taxes in the coming campaign – with Scott Morrison this week characterising the measures this week as a “Borat tax” – “but what I see as I get around the country after a very angry summer … the hottest summer we have ever had … is Australians are sick of it”.

Read the story from The Guardian by Katharine Murphy - “Parliament must back Labor’s climate policy if party wins power, Mark Butler says.”

Labor says it will reach 50% renewable energy regardless of PM's guarantee

The shadow climate change minister, Mark Butler, says if state governments don’t veto the Turnbull government’s national energy guarantee, and if the policy passes into law, Labor will ramp up the level of emissions reduction in the event it wins the next federal election.

Mark Butler and the opposition leader, Bill Shorten.
Butler says Labor has been ‘crystal clear’ on energy policy. 

Butler says Labor has been “crystal clear” in discussions with industry stakeholders, and with state governments, that it will use any mechanism, either one of its own, or one it inherits, to drive 50% renewable energy by 2030.

In an interview with Guardian Australia’s Politics Live podcast, Butler says it is not relevant at the moment whether federal Labor supports or opposes the government’s new national energy guarantee, because the Turnbull government will not be in a position to implement it if the states veto it.

Read Katharine Murphy’s story on The Guardian - “Labor says it will reach 50% renewable energy regardless of PM's guarantee.”

Adani mine 'not a positive thing for Australia', Labor's Mark Butler says

The shadow climate change minister, Mark Butler, has blasted the idea that the commonwealth could finance new coal-fired power stations, and is holding to Labor’s declaration that it will not support a clean energy target if coal is in the mix.

The Bayswater power station near the NSW town of Muswellbrook.
 Labor frontbencher Mark Butler says Labor will not support
commonwealth funding for coal power.

In an interview with Guardian Australia’s politics live podcast, Butler has also articulated a significantly tougher line on the controversial Adani coalmine than the Labor leader, Bill Shorten – saying it would “not be a positive thing for Australia for the Adani mine to go ahead”.

Butler says he can “understand why the Queensland government might be pressing [the Carmichael coal mine development] but from a national perspective, I just don’t think it stacks up.”

Read the story by Katharine Murphy on The Guardian - “Adani mine 'not a positive thing for Australia', Labor's Mark Butler says.”

Breaking down the cost of renewables

Kobad Bhavnagri

Debates about renewable energy are back in the headlines.

Tony Abbott popped up on the weekend saying that the Renewable Energy Target should be scrapped, because it will push up power prices.

But yesterday, the Shadow Energy minister Mark Butler told RN Breakfast that the target puts downward pressure on prices.

So can we really continue our transition toward renewable energy without any extra costs?

Listen to today’s Radio National interview by Hamish Macdonald with the, head of Bloomberg New Energy Finance in Australia, Kobad Bhavnagri - “Breaking down the cost of renewables.”

'Factcheck' thumbs up to Mark Butler emissions statement

‘Australia is now pretty much the only major advanced economy where pollution levels are going up, not coming down.’ – Labor shadow minister for the environment, climate change and water, Mark Butler, speech to the National Press Club, May 18, 2016.

Mark Butler.

During a debate with environment minister Greg Hunt, Labor’s shadow environment minister Mark Butler said that Australia is “pretty much” the only major advanced economy where pollution levels are rising.

Is he right?

Checking the sources

When asked for data to support his assertion, a spokesperson for Butler referred The Conversation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the UN agency that oversees international climate negotiations. The spokesperson also referred us to the website of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which suggests that by pollution he meant “greenhouse gas emissions”. However, the spokesperson did not specify what data set the statement was based upon, nor what Butler defined as a “major advanced economy”.

The IMF defines a “major advanced economy” as the G7 nations (and Australia is not among its members). In this FactCheck, we aim to compare Australia’s emissions with a range of advanced economies including the G7 member countries, the EU bloc and a selection of others such as Iceland, Korea and New Zealand.

Read The Conversation story - “Election FactCheck: is Australia among the only major advanced economies where pollution levels are going up?”

Tony Abbott defends the indefensible admiting he want the CEFC gone

P

rime Minister Tony Abbott says it is "no secret" he wants the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) abolished, but while it is still in place it should be as useful as possible.

The Opposition and the Greens have accused the Government of trying to get rid of the taxpayer-funded authority by stealth, by issuing a new directive to stop the CEFC from investing in wind farms and household rooftop solar projects.

"The Parliament set up this corporation with a very expert board and very expert staff to make these decisions free of political interference," Opposition environment spokesman Mark Butler said.

"What we see now is Tony Abbott trying to nobble this corporation for his own ideological purposes."

But Mr Abbott says it is not useful for the CEFC to invest in established technologies that can easily attract private funding.

Read the ABC story - “Clean Energy Finance Corporation: Tony Abbott defends decision to axe wind,solar from renewables spending”.