2020-10-28
As the Morrison government talks up fossil fuel subsidies with its so-called ‘gas-led recovery’, only 12% of Australians want our economic recovery to be primarily powered by gas, compared to 59% who prefer investment in renewables.
The Australia Institute’s Climate of the Nation report showed Australians are overwhelmingly ready for strong climate action. It came as scientists have found terrifying evidence that global warming is causing the release of massive frozen methane deposits in the Arctic Ocean.
“On a day of catastrophic climate news, a major survey shows Australians want climate action and even Boris Johnson is asking us to clean up our act, but Scott Morrision remains obsessed with gas and coal,” Bandt said.
“The COP 2021 in the UK approaches, and we know it will focus on strengthening 2030 targets. Meanwhile, Scott Morrison continues to drive Australia into a high-carbon future, one that would be diplomatically and economically ruinous.
“83% of Australians support the Greens’ call to phase-out of coal fired power stations, but the Morrison government is giving millions of taxpayer dollars to Liberal donors to keep coal plants burning.
“Coal and gas are a bad bet for the future and will cause economic and climate disaster sooner rather than later,” Bandt said.
The Climate of the Nation also revealed strong support (65%) for a disaster levy funded by fossil fuel exports.
“The principle is clear and fair. Those who are profiting while contributing to the warming of our planet should pick up the tab for the destruction of events supercharged by climate change, like bushfires,” Bandt said.
The Greens recovery plan: https://greens.org.au/recovery