[Greens-Media] Paying the polluter, Propping up a failing industry

[Hollo, Tim (Sen C. Milne)]

Paying the polluter, Propping up a failing industry

Canberra, Wednesday 16 April 2008  Australian Greens climate change
spokesperson, Senator Christine Milne, today condemned calls by the
Australian Coal Association, CFMEU, WWF and the Climate Institute, for
increased government support for geosequestration as greenwashing a
proposal to pay the polluter and prop up a failing industry.

Senator Milne said "The Cancer Council did not push for government
funding to tobacco giants to see if low tar cigarettes caused less
cancer. Neither should WWF, the Climate Institute and the CFMEU be
pushing the government to help the equally rich coal companies see if
they can bring down emissions to levels which, as they know, will still
be dangerously high.

"The answer then was quit smoking. The answer now is just as
straight-forward. Why throw taxpayers' dollars at an expensive and
unproven technology when the renewable energy and energy efficiency
alternatives are affordable and ready to start cutting emissions
immediately?

"As WWF and the Climate Institute should know, the urgency of dealing
with climate change is such that we must put every bit of support we can
into the technologies that can reduce emissions now, not pin our hopes
on an unproven and risky techno-fix that would be completely bypassed if
it didn't involve one of the world's most powerful industries.

"The dream of cleaning up coal is slipping away, with the collapse of
the FutureGen project in the USA being the latest example of blown-out
budgets and timelines. Industry spokespeople in Australia and around the
world are now admitting that their expectations of commercially-viable
'clean coal' by 2020 are looking increasingly unlikely.

"Under what perverse logic does the failure of an industry to perform
require that it is given extra support? Many gigawatts of
baseload-capable renewable energy are being installed around the world
today, while the best estimates of the coal sector, that they could have
a handful of commercial plants online by 2020, are being revealed as
wishful thinking.

"The argument that we need to know if 'clean coal' can work is only
justifiable if you see the world through a cloud of coal dust. What we
really need to know is: what are our best, fastest and most effective
options for completely decarbonising our energy supply?

"We already know the answer, and so-called 'clean coal' fails to make
the grade as it is unproven, slow and can never be truly carbon free.
Investing now in efficiency and proven renewables like solar thermal and
wind is the real answer to the real question.

"Today's proposal would undermine the planned emissions trading scheme
by undermining the polluter pays principle that lies at its heart.
Calling for the Government to take control of finding carbon dumping
sites and carrying liability for leaks, let alone asking for tax
incentives and accelerated depreciation for Australia's biggest and
richest polluters, is simply untenable.

"The goal of 10,000 GWh from geosequestration by 2020 is both optimistic
and a tiny drop in the ocean of carbon emissions. Renewables already
generate more power than that in Australia and, by 2020, will be well on
their way to making coal redundant.

"If you want to reduce emissions fast, do not head down this
"coal-de-sac"."


Tim Hollo
Media and Communications Adviser
Senator Christine Milne
+61 (0)2 6277 3063
+61 (0) 437 587 562
www.christinemilne.org.au

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