Renew Economy - Giles Parkinson
Australia energy minister Josh Frydenberg has been “caught out”
lobbying the US in favour of the controversial Carmichael coal mine in
Queensland’s Galilee Basin, earning it the first “fossil of the day”
award at the Marrakech climate talks.
Frydenberg was heard talking to US energy secretary Ernest Moniz at
the COP22 conference in Morocco, complaining about the support of US
charities for communities and environmental activists opposing the
construction of what would be the largest coal mine in Australia and one
of the largest in the world.
The intervention came less than a week after Australia ratified the
Paris climate treaty, which aims to cap global warming at “well below
2°C” and as low as 1.5°C, and hours after the International Energy
Agency said this would require completely decarbonising the world’s
electrify sector by 2040.
“Australia ratified the Paris Agreement last Friday, so lobbying for
coal expansion at the United Nations climate negotiations is an ugly,
ugly thing to be doing. Shape up, Australia,” said the Climate Action Network, a collection of environmental groups, in awarding the Fossil of the Day award.
Moniz is in the last few weeks of his tenure as energy secretary,
given the election of Donald Trump as the new US president, with his
administration to begin its tenure on January 20.
Trump has previously threaten to withdraw from the Paris climate
treaty and scrap all of President Barack Obama’s clean energy
initiatives. He has appointed a climate denier, Myron Ebell, to oversee
the transition team for the Environmental Protection Agency.
A spokesman for Frydenberg told confirmed to The Guardian that the minister had raised the issue with Moniz.
“Frydenberg noted the issue raised concerns in Australia and
reiterated that Australia had a very effective environmental approvals
process and that a large amount of conditions we’re attached to the
Adani mine approval,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ACT climate change and sustainability minister, the
Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury, who is also visiting Marrakech talking
about his territory’s 100 per cent renewable energy target for 2020, has
called on the Federal Government to heed the global calls for a
moratorium on coal.
“While I have been proud to speak about the ACT’s ambitious
leadership on renewable energy, one thing is undeniably clear – the lack
of action by the Federal Government is letting down Australians, and
the world,” he said in a statement.
“Australia’s obsession with coal is economically and environmentally
irresponsible. We must end our reliance on dirty fossil fuels and stop
investment in new coal mines.
“Like we have done in the ACT, it’s time for Australia to
embrace the jobs and opportunities that the renewable energy economy
offers Australia, and to plan a transition away from coal to renewables.
“We must be looking to the next wave of technologies to reduce our
reliance on coal and gas including renewable energy generation, battery
storage, electric vehicles and affordable public transport systems
powered by renewable energy.
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