(AU) Four Corners: Climate Wars

ABC Four Corners

“What climate policy? I mean, it's basically a mess. It's incoherent and has been for a decade.”  Former Department Secretary

Image: Four Corners

Climate Wars, reported by Michael Brissenden, goes to air on Monday 18 May at 8.30pm. It is replayed on Tuesday 19 May at 1.00pm and Wednesday 20 May at 11.20pm. It can also be seen on ABC NEWS channel on Saturday at 8.10pm AEST, ABC iView and at abc.net.au/4corners.

For more than a decade the climate wars have raged in Australian politics.

Brutal disputes over how and even if climate change should be tackled have claimed one political leader after another and resulted in a seesaw of policies.

“It's like watching a train wreck in slow motion, to almost be able to visualise this and to see this happening, and year after year after year go by.”  Former Chief Scientist

In Canberra’s corridors of power, the nation’s most senior public servants have been there through it all.

Usually they keep their thoughts private, rarely making a foray into public debate, even in retirement.

Now several of these former mandarins, who have worked with the highest levels of government, are speaking out. 

“I think the history of this has more to do with personal ambition than anything else,” Former Department Secretary

Four Corners Climate Wars Promo

Former heads of the Office of Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Department of the Treasury along with former Chief Scientists have decided they can no longer stay silent about what they believe has been a colossal failure by politicians of all stripes to comprehensively tackle climate change.

“The level of intellectual input into that argument has been close to zero.”  Former Chief Scientist

They describe cases of flawed decision making and reveal how parties on all sides of the political spectrum have squandered important opportunities in pursuit of their short-term political interests.

“I've asked myself this question many, many times. Why do I still feel angry about it? And the reason I feel angry about it is that I feel angry about what Australia has lost.”  Former Department Secretary

Many of them look back upon their time working with government with regret that they could not achieve more.

“We have failed, no doubt about that.  We’ve all failed I think. I mean, I look back on it now and I still feel gutted.”  Former Departmental Secretary

As these senior government policy specialists reflect on the challenge ahead, they are calling on Australia’s leaders to do more.

“It’s about having the strength to lead and it’s about staring down some people who you know are basically wrong, whatever their motivation might be.”  Former Chief Scientist

Links

• (AU) Australia Listened To The Experts On Coronavirus. It's Time We Heard Them On Climate Change
• (AU) Call To Integrate Post-Virus Rebuild With Land And Climate Repair
• (AU) Kyoto Credit Use Will Halve Cut To Emissions: Climate Change Authority
• (AU) World’s Top Climate Negotiator Condemns Australian Response To Climate Change
• (AU) Scott Morrison's Duty Is To Protect The Australian People. There Is No Greater Threat Than Climate Disruption
• (AU) Government Urged To Set 'More Aggressive And Ambitious' Climate Goals
• (AU) Anthony Albanese Says Coal Mining Could Continue In Australia In A Net Zero Emissions World
• (AU) Australia Says Climate Change Targets Can’t Risk Economy, Jobs
• Zali Steggall Wants The Public To Force Politicians To Act On Climate Change, Malcolm Turnbull Hits Out At Nationals Over Coal

(AU) Australia's Reserve Bank Fuels Call For Post-Pandemic Renewables Push

The Guardian - Adam Morton

Exclusive: Government urged to make clean energy part of Covid-19 recovery, as RBA finds 50% slump in projects last year

RBA research shows the number of large-scale clean energy projects reaching the point of commencement slumped about 50% last year. Photograph: 5B

Research by the Reserve Bank showing renewable energy investment fell sharply last year is fuelling calls for federal and state governments to back changes to help the industry rebound and drive a post-pandemic recovery.

Renewable energy surged to make up nearly 5% of non-mining business investment across Australia in 2018, according to the research note by RBA economists, but the number of large-scale clean projects reaching the point of commencement slumped about 50% last year.

Investment is expected to fall further over the next year or two, in part due to the national renewable energy target being filled and not replaced and challenges in integrating solar and wind farms in remote parts of the national grid.

The Morrison government has defended criticism of its response to the climate crisis in part by saying record levels of wind and solar power were added to the grid last year as investment in 2018 flowed through. It is yet to acknowledge the subsequent fall.



The note says the renewable energy industry had supported activity and employment, particularly in regional areas. While most components used in solar and wind farms are imported, the RBA found 25-40% of spending went to local suppliers in some cases, and manufacturing companies had reported stronger demand for locally produced electricity generation equipment.

The former Liberal leader John Hewson, now at the Australian National University’s Crawford school of public policy and a director of an energy storage business, said the RBA had “gone out of its way to make a point” about the importance of renewable power to the economy.

“There’s no doubt this is more than a nudge and wink. It is saying this is where we should be going,” he said. “With Covid, it’s even more important. It is an opportunity to take a long-term strategic view in the national interest and looking ahead to where the country should be going given its [solar and wind] assets.”

The RBA note was published online on 19 March, before the impact of the Covid-19 imposed economic shutdown. Since the pandemic there has been a growing push internationally and in Australia for policymakers to use stimulus programs designed to help the economic recovery to also address the climate crisis.

Hewson said the renewable energy industry did not require subsidies, but needed improved regulations and a clear policy framework that made clear fossil fuels would be phased out and the country would move to low greenhouse gas emissions over the next three decades. With renewable energy cheaper than its fossil fuel competitors, he said the grid could run on 100% renewable energy well before 2050 with the right support.

Erwin Jackson, policy director with the Investor Group on Climate Change, said the RBA note showed renewable investment had been an important contributor to economic growth but had fallen, in part due to policy paralysis.

“The critical implication of the analysis is that the industry faces the risk of a boom-bust cycle,” he said. “Governments can help stimulate new investment, and in turn new jobs and growth, by prioritising a net zero emissions transition and clean energy plans in a sustainable recovery from Covid-19.”

The RBA research echoes assessments by industry group the Clean Energy Council and consultants Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which both found investment in renewable energy projects was cut in half last year.

Alan Rai, a former senior economist at the RBA, now a director with consultancy Baringa Partners, said the central bank’s focus on the scale and benefits of renewable energy spending was instructive. The bank had been concerned about the level of non-mining investment since the global financial crisis in 2008, he said.

“The fact that renewables have become such a big pipeline of non-mining investment and then fallen drew their attention,” he said. “It is important to the country on a macroeconomic level.”

The report found the longer-term outlook for clean energy investment was more positive, but would depend on government policy, electricity grid considerations and wholesale electricity prices holding up. Prices have fallen in recent months and are expected to stay low if the economic impact of the shutdown is extended.

Prof Frank Jotzo, director of ANU’s Centre for Climate and Energy Policy, said the renewable energy boom has helped bring down electricity prices in the wholesale market and cut emissions. Electricity sector emissions were 7% lower in the first quarter than at the same in 2019.

But he said lower electricity prices meant lower revenue for renewable plants, and there were no longer sizeable subsidies. “If the Covid economic trouble turns into a prolonged recession, this could also pull the rug from under planned wind and solar power investments,” he said.

“That means a risk that there may not be sufficient renewable power available to easily cover for the next coal plant shutting down. It also means that we would see an end to big annual emissions reductions from the power sector, making it harder to achieve the 2030 emissions target.”

Jotzo said federal and state governments should step into the breach and contract for the construction of wind and solar parks in identified renewable energy zones.

“Public investments or financial guarantees for developments in the renewable energy zones are a safe bet, because we know that these investments will be needed, and they will be an excellent way to stimulate the economy, especially in the regions.”

Links

• Seizing the moment: how Australia can build a green economy from the Covid-19 wreckage
• Australian businesses call for climate crisis and virus economic recovery to be tackled together
• Green steel industry could secure jobs future for Australia's coalmining heartland
• Labor calls for end to 'decade-long barney' on climate wars in post-pandemic recovery
• Australia's electricity grid could run with 75% renewables, market operator says
• Australia could get 90% of electricity from renewables by 2040 with no price increase
• Zali Steggall calls for investigation of Coalition plan to underwrite gas, hydro and coal power
• Proposed Queensland coal-fired power plant under cloud over emissions and financing
• Energy companies will face pressure to lower prices as wholesale costs tumble
• Australia to spend $94m on crude oil stockpile – but will store the fuel in the US
• Westpac urged to stop supporting projects that boost fossil fuel industry
• Australia’s path to net-zero emissions lies in rapid, stimulus-friendly steps

Climate Scientist Katharine Hayhoe's 'Global Weirding' Videos

Yale Climate Connections - SueEllen Campbell

Scientist Katharine Hayhoe is widely recognized as a leading climate science communicator. This sampling of her videos provides a taste of why she's earned that reputation.

Katharine Hayhoe. Image credit: Climate Models / Global Weirding video

SueEllen Campbell is a retired Colorado State University English professor.

Texas Tech climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe is well-known for her skills as a climate science communicator and educator.

Search the internet for her name and you’ll get abundant results, many of them videos, often of talks she has given. (Many are linked on her personal website.)

If you haven’t been keeping up with her series of mostly 9- to 10-minute videos called Global Weirding, it’s time to treat yourself to a good handful of those pieces.

Even if you’re well-versed in climate change, you’ll enjoy them and learn from them.

They’re smart, informed, and thoughtful; they’re full of great analogies (and cartoon illustrations), metaphors, and examples; they are lively, direct, friendly, clear, and very accessible.

The series currently comprises more than 50 videos on a wide range of topics.

Here are some to begin with.


Climate Change and Coronavirus. One of the best and most informative pieces on this subject.


What’s the Big Deal With a Few Degrees? Exemplary in its clarity about this non-intuitive topic.


I’m Not a Tree Hugger. You don’t have to be an environmentalist to care about climate change; you just have to care about human life and civilization, since climate touches everything.


Climate Models. Again, exemplary in its clarity and how it addresses common confusions and mistakes.


I’m only a kid, I can’t do anything about climate change …. right? More substantive suggestions than usual, with inspiring examples.

Links
Other topics in the Global Weirding series include:

• Is Carbon Dioxide Really a Pollutant?
• Fossil Fuels
• Climate vs Weather
• The easiest ways to fix climate change is population control and going vegan - right?
• Does messaging with fear really work?
• So, why is two degrees the magic number?
• Is a warmer world a better world?
• How much are CO2 levels rising?
• What if we cut carbon emissions completely?
• How can we do MORE than the Paris Agreement?