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Category: General news
Managing director of Ebono Institute and major sponsor of The Generator, Geoff Ebbs, is running against Kevin Rudd in the seat of Griffith at the next Federal election. By the expression on their faces in this candid shot it looks like a pretty dull campaign. Read on
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Sign the petition before Thursday’s threatened species summit! ACF
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Unbelievable. CLAIRE SOLAR CITIZENS
Something’s not right.We’re having trouble connecting to Google. We’ll keep trying…More1 of 57Unbelievable.
Inboxx Claire, Solar Citizens
5:36 PM (8 minutes ago)to meDear Neville —Just when you thought the Federal Government’s war on solar and clean energy couldn’t get any more unbelievable, reports yesterday revealed the Abbott Government has banned the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) from investing in small-scale solar projects*.
The CEFC has been a roaring success, helping thousands of Australians cut their bills by providing cheap finance for rooftop solar projects on homes, businesses and community buildings across the country.But this latest attack means thousands of Australian who want solar will be denied the opportunity.
The true intentions of the Abbott Government have never been clearer. This government wants to see our solar industry destroyed and they’re willing to do the dodgy on ordinary Australian families and businesses to achieve their aims.
I’ll make no bones about it. To protect and grow solar in Australia we need a real opposition that kicks off real debate on what our nation’s ambitious solar future looks like. We need Bill Shorten and the ALP to show some leadership, nothing less. And to make sure they do this, we’re going to flood the upcoming ALP National Conference with thousands of personal messages from the ordinary Australians they represent – that’s you and me.
Add your voice to the call. Click here to submit your personalised message to ALP National Conference Delegates. We’ll print them on sunny postcards and place them into the hands of the decision makers at the Melbourne conference on 25-26 July, just over a week from today.
Thousands of Solar Citizens from across the country have been lobbying hard for months now – emailing, calling and meeting with their local Labor MPs and Senators – asking them to Stand Up For Solar ahead of the ALP National Conference later this month. If you’ve been part of the effort so far, thank you!
Right now, the moment we’ve been building to is just around the corner and we won’t be leaving anything to chance. It’s more important than ever that Labor adopts a visionary solar and renewables policy platform ahead of the next Federal Election. That’s why we’re going to make sure Australia’s clean energy future is front of mind for our ALP representatives before they go to vote.
During ALP National Conference Solar Citizens volunteers will deliver your messages directly into the hands of each and every decision maker, reminding them to Stand Up For Solar. At every opportunity we’ll be there with a stack of sunny personalised postcards – when delegates arrive for the day or leave for the evening, when they pop out for a coffee break or when they drop by our Conference stall to check out the Tesla electric car we’ll have on display.
Click here to submit your personalised message to ALP National Conference delegates.The Abbott Government may be doing its best to destroy solar, but it’s community members like you and I who hold the keys to Australia’s sun-powered future. By acting together we can turn this train wreck around.
Yours in stunned disbelief and dogged determination,
Claire O’Rourke
National Director, Solar Citizens
P.S. Personal message submissions close 5pm this Friday, so make sure you get yours in ASAP: http://www.standupforsolar.org.au/your_message*http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/12/abbott-government-extends-ban-on-renewable-energy-to-solar-panels?
Solar Citizens
http://www.solarcitizens.org.au/-=-=-
Solar Citizens is an independent community-based organisation bringing together millions of solar owners and supporters to protect and grow solar in Australia. You can keep up with Solar Citizens on Twitter or like us on Facebook.
Was this email forwarded to you? Click here to add yourself to Solar Citizens. This email was sent to nevilleg729@gmail.com. To stop receiving emails, click here. But, just know, we’ll miss you!
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Abbott’s war on clean energy GET UP
3 of 57Abbott’s war on clean energy
Inboxx Sam R – GetUp!
5:13 PM (28 minutes ago)to meDear NEVILLE,Prime Minister Tony Abbott just upped the ante in his bizarre and devastating war on renewable energy. He has demanded the $10 billion investment fund for renewables — the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) — stop investing in any small-scale solar or wind power projects.1
It’s a spiteful, ideological move designed to cut our renewable energy industry off at the knees to serve his friends in the fossil fuel industry. With strong public support for renewables across the whole country, it’s likely that many of Abbott’s own backbenchers are unhappy. But to speak out against the leader of their own party, they’ll need to know they have the support of their constituency behind them.
Can you write to your Coalition MP or Senator now and demand they stand up for clean power?
Many new wind and solar generators are now cheaper to build than new coal-fired power. Investment in clean renewable power is even outstripping coal, gas and oil combined.2,3 The writing is on the wall, and investment in renewables is taking off across the world. Last Thursday, Denmark provided 140% of its electricity needs from wind, selling the excess power to neighbouring countries.4
But the emergence of such cheap, clean power is a threat to Abbott’s polluting friends in the dirty fossil fuel industry — and the move to cut funding to wind and small-scale solar is another cynical ploy to cripple Australian investment in the worldwide clean renewable power boom.
Not only will it stifle investment and jobs growth, it will stop small businesses, renters, public housing residents, local churches and low income earners from getting access to cheaper, cleaner power.
The plan is so unsound that Abbott’s own party is beginning to revolt. Environment Minister Greg Hunt appears to have not even known about the changes before they were announced, and talks of a split in Abbott’s Cabinet are surfacing.1 As much as Abbott is determined to attack wind and solar power, he can only do it with the support of his own Government. If Coalition backbenchers from all over the country hear from an overwhelming number of Australians, we can cause them to stand up to Abbott and slow down his maniacal attack on our burgeoning renewable sector.
Will you write to your Coalition MP or Senator now and demand they stand up to Tony Abbott and defend our clean energy future? https://www.getup.org.au/clean-power
As Abbott looks determined to take his war on renewables all the way to the next election, it’s so important we undermine his agenda as early as possible, and there’s no better place than with his own party.
Thanks for standing up for clean renewable power,
Sam R, for the GetUp team
[1] ‘Tony Abbott has escalated his war on wind power’, Sydney Morning Herald, 12 July 2015
[2] ‘Wind power is now cheaper than coal in some countries’, New Scientist, 11 February 2013
[3] ‘Fossil Fuels Just Lost the Race Against Renewables’, Bloomberg Business, 15 April 2015
[4] ‘Wind power generates 140% of Denmark’s electricity demand’, The Guardian, 10 July 2015 -
A wholesale attack on Renewables Inbox x LABOR
Something’s not right.We’re having trouble connecting to Google. We’ll keep trying…More1 of 55A wholesale attack on Renewables
Inboxx Mark Butler Unsubscribe
3:09 PM (12 minutes ago)to me
“The Abbott government has opened up another front in its war on renewable energy by pulling the plug on investments in the most common form of alternative energy, rooftop and small-scale solar.” — Heath Aston, The Sydney Morning Herald, 13 July 2015Inga — You and I know that Tony Abbott is stuck in the past — especially when it comes to his views on climate change.
But now Tony Abbott is actually holding Australia back. Over the weekend the Abbott Government banned the Clean Energy Finance Corporation from investing in wind farms (presumably because he doesn’t like how they look).
And today there are reports that he’s extending that ban to solar power. This goes well beyond Tony Abbott’s opposition to the aesthetic value of wind farms — it’s a wholesale attack on renewable energy.
Not only is this a backwards environmental policy, it also puts thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in investment in the renewable energy sector at risk.
Greg Hunt made sure to come out Sunday in support of Tony Abbott’s decision. Greg Hunt should hear exactly how angry Australians are about his failure to do his job. We’ll give you some talking points and his phone number — just click here to get the details.
Our environment minister should be standing up for renewable energy and our environment, not destroying it.
I know Australians won’t take this attack on renewable energy lying down. Please call Greg Hunt to make sure he understands how important renewable energy is to Australians.
Thanks for your support,
Mark Butler
Shadow Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and WaterP.S. Renewable energy has a bright future under Labor. Please click here for the details on the announcement I made with Bill Shorten about Labor’s plans for renewable energy.
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Of clowns and coal THE Australia Institute
Something’s not right.We’re having trouble connecting to Google. We’ll keep trying…More1 of 56Of clowns and coal
Inboxx The Australia Institute <mail@tai.org.au>
2:13 PM (9 minutes ago)to me
Dear Neville — Demand for coal is cooling off, but demand for coal news is hotter than a super-critical ‘clean coal’ power plant right now. As usual, we’ve been at the coal face. Our Director of Research, Rod Campbell, has the following dispatches on three flashpoints:
Barnaby Joyce and the Shenhua coal project
The biggest story in coal last week was Environment Minister Greg Hunt’s approval of the Watermark mine, owned by Chinese coal giant, Shenhua. The mine is located on the Liverpool Plains, NSW’s premier agricultural region, which is represented in Federal Parliament by the Agriculture Minister himself, Barnaby Joyce.
Locals are opposed to the mine because of its potential to affect the groundwater that their farms depend on and they’re furious that Joyce has been unable to stop the project. Joyce claims that he has done “everything in my power to try and stop the mine.”
The Australia Institute, through Rod Campbell and Mark Ogge, has also done everything in our power to try and stop the Shenhua project. Not that it’s a competition, after all, Joyce is a Federal Minister and we’re just a think tank, but let’s tally up the scores:
Effort against Watermark project
TAI’s Rod Campbell and Mark Ogge
New England MP Barnaby Joyce
Made a submission on the Environmental Impact Statement Yes
No
Made a submission to the Planning Assessment Commission Yes
No
Went to Planning Assessment Commission hearing in Gunnedah, NSW Yes
No
Said the following: We like to romanticise the complexities and sinews of our economy but we really have a very simple business plan – we survive on the charges we raise to allow people to dig up black rocks and red rocks: coal and iron ore
No
Yes
This won’t be the last you hear of this project. Before any digging happens a mining licence needs to be issued by the NSW government. By the time that happens, New England could have a new/old Member of Parliament – Tony Windsor, who is thinking of throwing his big hat back in the ring because of the Shenhua mine.
The Battle for Bulga
The village of Bulga continues its David vs Goliath style battle with Rio Tinto, with interesting recent developments.
In previous episodes the Land and Environment Court and the NSW Court of Appeal rejected Rio Tinto’s bid to expand their Warkworth mine near the historic Hunter Valley village of Bulga. But through furious lobbying, Rio got legislation changed and now its project is back in front of the Planning Assessment Commission.
The final decision was to be made without a public hearing, but due to the level of public interest two days of hearings were held in Singleton. TAI’s Rod Campbell went to Singleton and presented on the first day.
But then something happened… or did it?
New NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes has moved to repeal the controversial regulations that Rio had earlier lobbied for, which put ‘economic benefits’ as the primary consideration for project approval. The coal industry cried blue murder, while the people of Bulga commended the move.
Our take is a bit different. As Rod wrote in Climate Spectator:
The mining industry should be celebrating this move. It helps divert attention away from some of their greatest embarrassments and dodgy economic claims.
The repeal is sensible– economic effects should be balanced with environmental and social impacts, which the change emphasises. But it makes little difference to most decisions. For example, more coal mines have been rejected since the change Rio lobbied for than before it. At a time when the economics of coal mines is very uncertain, the last thing the coal industry should want is decision makers focusing on their marginal finances.
The change in regulation is likely to have little actual effect. What is interesting is that the change has been made at all. Not only is there a new minister, but there are also some changes in senior personnel within the NSW Planning Department.
The Planning Assessment Commission has now re-opened submissions in light of the changes. The battle for Bulga continues.
Galilee Basin
The Australia Institute have been arguing for some time that the huge Carmichael mine proposed for Queensland’s Galilee Basin is unviable without massive government subsidy. Turns out, Queensland Treasury agrees with us.
Documents released under freedom of information (FOI) show that senior Treasury officials felt they were being “set-up” in meetings with the mine and their colleagues at the Department of State Development. Treasury says that the project is “unbankable”.
We’ve also submitted a few FOI requests in on these issues. Who knows what else might be happening in the Queensland bureaucracy?!? Stay tuned in the coming weeks.
Also, I’ll be heading up to Queensland to be in the State Budget Lockup. Will the new Labor Government continue to be the nations leading coal subsidiser? Or will they invest in schools and hospitals instead? I’ll let you know.
– Rod Campbell
Follow me on twitter at @R_o_d_Cps. Tomorrow’s Financial Review will feature a great article by Richard Denniss. It will be a story of a tragic love affair between a Prime Minister and… fossilised carbon.
Weekly updates from TAI
We aim to keep you updated every week. Every fortnight we send out the Between The Lines which provides an overview of our research and topical issues. On alternate weeks we send out a newsletter based on our work in equity and mining. If you would like to receive those, click here, choose your newsletter, and we’ll make sure they land in your inbox.
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I’m not about to stop now BILL SHORTEN
1 of 51I’m not about to stop now
Inboxx Bill Shorten Unsubscribe
2:25 PM (2 minutes ago)to me
Inga, I’ve spent my whole adult life standing up for the pay and conditions of working Australians — and I’m not about to stop now.
No matter what Tony Abbott and the Liberals throw at us, Labor’s record stands proud against WorkChoices.
At the Beaconsfield mine disaster I saw first-hand how important workplace safety is. And as Parliamentary Secretary, I fought for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. I want to keep on building on that important work and form the next Government.
Telling Australians about Labor’s positive plan for the future, compared to Tony Abbott’s plans to drag us back to the past, is important if we want to win the next election. That’s why I’ve recorded a quick message about my vision for Australia: and as a dedicated Labor supporter, I wanted you to see it first.
Tony Abbott and the Liberals had a red hot go this week at trying to distract us from what they’ve really been up to. But Tony Abbott’s Royal Commissions won’t make us forget his attacks on Medicare, his plans for $100,000 degrees, cuts to pensions, and his bizarre war on renewable energy.
If Tony Abbott wants us to focus on Labor’s record of standing up for the pay and conditions of working people, instead of the lies he told to get into office or his $80 billion in cuts to schools and hospitals, then so be it.
But I want Australians to know I am more determined than ever to stand up for a future that makes good schools, good hospitals and good jobs accessible to every Australian.
Thanks for standing with me on this,
Bill
Australian Labor Party
Authorised by G. Wright, Australian Labor, 5/9 Sydney Avenue, Barton 2600 ACT
