In response to the Victorian Auditor General’s report on renewable energy, Environment Victoria campaigns director Mark Wakeham said today:
“It’s very disappointing that Victoria’s renewable energy share has not increased over the past decade, given the urgent need to reduce pollution to limit climate change.
“Although the amount of renewable energy being generated in Victoria is slowly creeping up, we’re also burning 10% more coal than a decade ago, which shows why we need to put a price on pollution and provide more effective support to renewable energy.
“It’s one thing to set targets to increase renewable energy or reduce greenhouse pollution, but if you don’t develop a clear roadmap of how to get there and have the right policies in place, you won’t be able to meet those targets.
“The Baillieu Government should heed the lessons of this report. It has adopted targets to reduce Victoria’s greenhouse pollution by 20 percent by 2020 and to secure 5 percent of Victoria’s electricity from large scale solar, however it has released no plan to achieve these targets.
“It’s critical that the new state government develop detailed plans in the next few months to meet these targets, or Victoria will continue to be left behind in the race for a clean-energy future.
“Wind energy has been a great success story in Victoria, producing clean, affordable electricity. But now that industry is at risk because of the Baillieu Government’s restrictive wind farm development policy.
For comment
Mark Wakeham, Campaigns Director 0439 700 501
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