Labor's own modeller warns against dodgy carbon credits
Monday, 19 September 2022
RepuTex, the company that helped draft Labor’s climate policy before the election is warning the Albanese government that it shouldn’t reward big polluters with new carbon credits that do not equate to a direct environmental improvement. According to RepuTex, half of Australia’s 215 biggest carbon polluters are actually in line to receive a financial windfall – instead of being required to reduce their emissions.
Renewable energy has had a smashing week, with three records broken and the share of renewables in the National Energy Market hitting a whopping 64.6% on Sunday. This came as record lows for coal and for fossil fuels were blown away by wind, which alone hit a new record high share of 35.92 per cent early on Sunday morning.
And in in cool news, thanks to solar power ice cream is back on the shelves in the northern Lebanese village of Toula after two years of power cuts.
Labor modeller says plan for free credits could kill integrity of Safeguard scheme
The federal Labor government’s plan to issue free carbon credits to high polluters has been slammed by its own modelling consultancy. Reputex, whose modelling formed the basis of Labor’s emissions reduction target, says the country could miss the 43% emissions reduction target unless carbon credits reflect real and additional abatement.
Wind and solar records tumble again, as coal and fossil fuels hit another low
Renewable energy has beaten record after record in the past few days, with the share of renewables in the National Electricity Market leaping to 64.34 per cent at on Saturday, beating the record set just two days before.
Billionaire Trevor St Baker sells Vales Point coal power station
In a deal that could see the station remain open beyond its planned closure date of 2029, billionaire Trevor St Baker and his business partner Brian Flannery have sold NSW’s Vales Point coal power station for more than $200m to Czech company Sev.en Global Investments.
New Climate Change Tracker shows employees increasingly anxious about future of planet
Employees are increasingly anxious and frustrated about the current state of climate action, new statistics show, as two Australian CEOs unite to launch a tool to help Fortune 500 companies develop their net zero strategies.
Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen has pledged to transition 75 per cent of the federal government's 10,000-strong fleet of internal combustion vehicles to electric as they begin to come off their customary three-year leases.
How Australia's CO2 targets and EV incentives compare to the rest of the world
With no legal fuel-efficiency targets, no national plan to ban the sale of new fossil fuel-powered cars by a certain date, and no federal incentive schemes in place offering rebates or subsidies for buying an electric vehicle, Australia’s CO2 standards are widely considered to lag behind the rest of the developed world’s. Here’s how they compare.
Revival of Kimberley coal mining ambitions not on the table, WA Environment Minister says
Traditional Owners have long held concern over a proposed thermal coal mine close to the Fitzroy River, but WA’s Environment Minister has poured cold water on the prospect of reviving coal mining ambitions in the Kimberley’s Fitzroy Valley.
Criticism intensifies after big oil admits ‘gaslighting’ public over green aims
Criticism in the US of the oil industry’s obfuscation over the climate crisis is intensifying after internal documents showed companies attempted to distance themselves from agreed climate goals, admitted “gaslighting” the public over purported efforts to go green, and even wished critical activists be infested by bedbugs.
Amid an energy crisis, ice cream returns to a Lebanese village thanks to the power of solar
Last winter, residents of Toula barely had three hours of daily generator-driven electricity, but now they can enjoy ice-cream again thanks to solar power.