ALP ahead of Government on renewables but neither has coherent plan

Australian Greens Climate and Energy Spokesperson, Senator Christine Milne, today called on both the major parties to stop promoting ad hoc election-focussed measures and set out strategic plans to roll out renewable energy for Australia.

Senator Milne said "Mr Rudd is offering a lot more money for renewable energy than Mr Howard, but both of these announcements are election-driven cash hand-outs, not strategic, coherent plans for renewable energy.

"Mr Howard's paltry $75 million offering is only three times as much as his misleading climate advertising campaign. It pales into insignificance next to the Government's handouts to the coal industry, which the Greens would redirect to coordinated renewable energy research and development.

"Labor's solar schools announcement will deliver a kickstart to the solar industry but it provides no long-term investor certainty to keep the industry going. The real risk is that it will repeat the mistakes of the Government's stop-start-stop solar rebate program and lead the industry through a boom-bust cycle instead of continued growth.

"The biggest hurdle to the development of a renewable energy-based network is stop-start support without a consistent, coherent policy framework.

"Neither the Government nor the Opposition's announcements sit in any kind of supportive policy framework. Neither provide ongoing, coherent support to help the industry grow. They are clearly attempts to shore up support during an election campaign, rather than to achieve large-scale commercialisation of renewable energy.

"The Greens have proposed a 10 year, $3 billion structured investment program for renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, called the Sun Fund.

"The Sun Fund will transfer the $300 million in current annual Federal Government subsidies for fossil fuels across to renewable energy. This will provide a significant, ongoing investment to underpin research, development, commercialisation and capacity building across the broad range of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.

"That is the scale of the investment that will be necessary if we are to meet the Greens' targets of 25% renewable energy by 2020."

Contact: Tim Hollo on 0437 587 562

Tim Hollo
Media and Communications Adviser
Senator Christine Milne
Phone: + 61 (0) 2 6277 3063
Mobile: + 61 (0) 437 587 562
Email: tim.hollo@aph.gov.au
Skype: timhollo

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