[Greens-Media] Tracking to Kyoto shows huge potential for emissions cuts

[Hollo, Tim (Sen C. Milne)]

Tracking to Kyoto shows huge potential for emissions cuts

Hobart, Monday 25 February 2008  Australian Greens climate change
spokesperson, Senator Christine Milne, today welcomed the release of the
latest Tracking to Kyoto paper, and called on the Rudd Government to
abandon defeatism and recognise the potential for deep and fast
emissions cuts implied by the paper.
 
Senator Milne said "If there is one key lesson from today's Tracking to
Kyoto, it is that major keystone policies like an increased renewable
energy target can achieve very significant cuts in emissions. The vast
bulk of savings in this analysis come from the 20 million tonnes
provided by Labor's 20% MRET.

"The best outcome of this paper's release would be if Prime Minister
Rudd and his Ministers now recognise that, by adopting several more such
sensible, large-scale policies, they would see several more such chunks
taken out of our emissions profile, putting us on track towards the kind
of reductions we need to prevent catastrophic climate change.

"For example, EASI, the household energy efficiency retrofit program the
Greens took to the last election, would generate 30 million tonnes of
savings every year were the Government to adopt it.

"Similarly bold programs to shift priorities from roads to rails, and to
stop old growth logging, would see Australia's emissions trajectory turn
around and start heading downwards.

"My worry is that the Government will rely on their emissions trading
scheme, as yet not factored into the calculations, to make up the
difference. But experiences around the world show that, while
beneficial, emissions trading schemes cannot achieve major cuts on their
own and must be backed up by a comprehensive array of policies to boost
clean industries and bring them to market.

"Instead of being defeatist about the scale of the challenge, instead of
hiding behind Howard Government rhetoric of protecting the economy from
measures to reduce emissions, Rudd and Wong should acknowledge the
conclusions of the recent McKinsey Report. This backed up many previous
studies that have shown we could achieve 30% cuts below 1990 levels by
2020 while slowing projected economic growth from 3% per annum to 2.98%.

"We have no time to lose. May's Budget must start shifting fossil fuel
subsidies to renewables, efficiency and clean fuels, and we must see
plans to make 2008 the year Australia's emissions peak, not simply
slowing continued growth right through to 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 at aph.gov.au
Skype: timhollo

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