Daniel Andrews lashes power companies over blackouts

Premier Daniel Andrews vowed to take energy distributors to task as the government announced a review into a major power outage that left more than 90,000 households without electricity at the peak of the state’s weekend heatwave.

Victorian Energy and Environment Minister Lily D'Ambrosio.

Unprecedented demand for a Sunday exposed the distributors as unprepared when fuses blew at local power substations, leaving tens of thousands without cooling on one of the hottest January nights on record.

Read the story in today’s Melbourne Age by Cole Latimer and Rachel Dexter - “Daniel Andrews lashes power companies over blackouts.”

Turnbull has politicked himself into irrelevance on energy and climate in 2018

As we approach the end of the year, it’s useful to look back and forward. Now is an auspicious time, as two major energy-related reports have been released this week: the federal government’s review of their climate change policies, and a discussion paper from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) on future energy paths.

The difference between the two is striking. The AEMO paper is practical, direct and realistic. On the other hand, the climate policy review relies essentially on Australia buying lots of international carbon permits to meet our Paris target (and, implicitly, on state governments taking up the challenge their Canberra colleagues have largely abanondoned).

It’s amusing to read a document that plays with numbers in such creative ways. But it is a fairy story, and it’s no way to drive national climate policy.

Read the piece on The Conversation by a Senior Industry Fellow at RMIT -  University, Alan Pears - “Turnbull has politicked himself into irrelevance on energy and climate in 2018.”

Controversial Abbott-era climate fund will survive climate review: Josh Frydenberg

A controversial Abbott-era fund that uses public money to pay companies to reduce their pollution will survive the federal government's review of Australia's climate policies.

Environment and Energy Minister, Josh Frydenberg.

In an interview with Fairfax Media, Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg also expressed confidence that future generations would avoid disastrous predicted impacts of climate change, saying technology would drive the transition to decarbonised economies and "get us where we need to be". 

Read Nicole Hasham’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Controversial Abbott-era climate fund will survive climate review: Josh Frydenberg.”

Back to square one in energy policy: we now have a plan to produce a plan

A year and a day — that’s how long it took Frydenberg to kill off “Finkel”.

Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull (left) and federal environment
and energy minister John Frydenberg during a press conference
at parliament house in Canberra on 17 October 2017.

On 7 October 2016, just nine days after a series of tornados took out at least 22 transmission pylons in South Australia and set off a cascading series of events resulting in a state-wide blackout, federal environment and energy minister John Frydenberg commissioned chief scientist professor Alan Finkel to review the stability of our energy system. Finkel’s expert team met with regulators around the world, considered 390 submissions, held 120 meetings and commissioned modelling from multiple experts.

On 8 October this year, word trickled out that the clean energy target (CET), Finkel’s centrepiece, was dead.

A week later, Frydenberg announced the national energy guarantee (Neg). In just three weeks, with no public process, no modelling, no consultation with the Coag energy council, whose approval it requires, the newly formed Energy Security Board (ESB) had knocked together an alternative “conceptual framework”, described in an eight-page letter and a media release, that proposes to push responsibility for reliability and emissions reduction to electricity retailers.

Read the story by Simon Holmes à Court on The Guardian - “Back to square one in energy policy: we now have a plan to produce a plan.”

Renewable energy booming but could soon turn to bust, analysts warn

Australia produced enough renewable energy to power 70 per cent of households last financial year, new data shows, but advocates warn the booming industry will flounder unless the Turnbull government commits to a clean energy target.

Sunverge chief executive Ken Munson said
Australia's high penetration of rooftop solar,
where one in five homes use power from
 the sun, put the country at the forefront of
 the transforming energy industry. 

The government is sharply divided over whether to adopt the target, the central recommendation of Chief Scientist Alan Finkel's review of the national electricity market.

New data to be released on Monday shows Australia produced enough renewable energy to power 7.1 million homes, or 70 per cent of households, in the year to June.

This avoided carbon pollution equal to removing 8.1 million cars from the road for a year – more than half the cars in Australia.

Read Nicole Hasham’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Renewable energy booming but could soon turn to bust, analysts warn.”

Native vegetation threatned by new draft land clearing legislation

When clearing laws were relaxed in Queensland,
 so much was cleared it looks set to completely
 undo greenhouse gas emissions cuts made
 under the federal government’s Direct Action policy. 

Land clearing regulations are set to be relaxed in NSW, as the government releases draft legislation that would allow farmers to clear native vegetation without approval in many cases, and give others access to “offsets”.

It has also committed $240m over five years to pay farmers not to clear land, followed by $70m a year thereafter.

The government said the changes would improve biodiversity, even though they will allow protected areas to be cleared.

Three laws would be scrapped under the proposal: the Native Vegetation Act, the Threatened Species Conservation Act and the Nature Conservation Trust Act. Parts of the National Parks and Wildlife Act will also be repealed. The legislation will be replaced with two new acts: the Amended Local Land Services Act and the new Biodiversity Conservation Act.

The moves largely follow recommendations of a review completed in 2014.

Read The Guardian story - “NSW land-clearing law will let farmers clear native vegetation with no approval.”

Fortunately, climate activists have a 'loud voice' on their side

N

aomi Klein has a loud voice and fortunately it is on the side of those eager to do what they can to mitigate the causes of climate change.

A review of her latest book - “This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate” – appears on The Treehugger website.

The review begins, “Naomi Klein's latest book is about more than just science. She explores the extractivist mentality and historic decisions that have led us to where we now find ourselves, living in a totally unsustainable way.

“The core message of Naomi Klein’s newest book rings loud and clear from its opening pages: It’s time for a mass movement of regular people to declare a climate crisis. We have waited long enough for politicians, corporations, and large environmental organizations (a.k.a. “Big Green) to negotiate behind closed doors in token attempts to save our planet, but those traditional power-wielders have failed us.”