Federal Budget Fails On Renewables And Climate

The smattering of new cash for renewables and the lack of real action on climate change in last night’s Federal Budget have been criticised.

CEC: Budget Missed The Mark On Renewables

While welcoming funding for microgrids and off-grid systems for rural and fringe-of-grid communities, the Clean Energy Council said last night’s Federal Budget 2022-23 missed the mark in terms of the big picture for renewables.

“The lack of transmission investment is now one of the most critical challenges facing Australia’s energy industry,” said CEC Chief Executive, Kane Thornton. “Instead, yet another Federal Budget has prioritised the fossil fuel industry when Australia’s bottom line should be focused providing a better future for communities through clean, low-cost renewable energy and storage.”

The fuel excise reduction announced last night will no doubt be welcomed by many, but it’s at best a toxic sugar hit and a band-aid over a gangrenous wound – a wound that will be further irritated.

The CEC says greater focus on the electrification of transport was needed to “release our shackles” from fluctuating fuel costs as a result of events occurring overseas.

“The transport sector accounts for nearly 20 per cent of Australia’s emissions,” said Mr. Thornton. “The Federal Government’s own target is for 30 per cent of all new car sales being electric by 2030, and tonight’s Federal Budget doesn’t get us any closer to that target.”

The CEC also welcomed aspects such as the three-month extension of the apprentice wage subsidy, which it sees as a small step in addressing the clean energy skills crisis. However, support is lacking for engineers and specialist trades, and the CEC says more needs to be done for coal communities in terms of pathways to help transition many coal workers into clean energy careers.

Climate Council: “Massive Lost Opportunity”

The Climate Council lamented what it said was any meaningful new commitments to address escalating climate change in Australia, and calculated just 0.3% of total expenditure for 2021-2024 has been committed to climate change initiatives – with much of that already committed prior to this Budget.

Commenting on cash earmarked for disaster recovery, Climate Councillor Nicki Hutley said:

“The costs of disaster recovery are stark, and yet there is nothing in this Budget that addresses the root cause of climate change, which is exacerbating these extreme weather events and their impacts.”

Like the CEC, the Climate Council believes the fuel excise reduction could have been better spent on supporting electric vehicles and EV infrastructure investment; as well as public and active transport initiatives.

Greens: A Budget Of Bribes

Greens leader Adam Bandt didn’t pull any punches, saying it was budget of bribes funding coal and gas and making housing more expensive.

“The Liberals say Australians are ‘resilient’,” he tweeted. “We have to be. We’ve put up with almost 10 years of your bullshit.”

On a somewhat related note, the second edition of BNEF’s G-20 Zero-Carbon Policy Scoreboard released yesterday notes 11 out of the 19 nations upped their total scores this year. But Australia was among the countries whose scores declined, dropping 2 percentage points to 45%. In the power category:

“Australia and Turkey took the biggest tumble mainly due to rising greenhouse-gas emissions, coal fleet expansion plans, and unambitious renewables and fossil-fuel policies.”

Original Source: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/budget-renewables-climate-mb2414/