Environment Victoria has today described the Abbott Government’s proposed emissions reduction target of 26% by 2030 (from 2005 levels) as reported in the The Australian inadequate, reckless and illogical.
Environment Victoria CEO Mark Wakeham said today:
“These pollution reduction targets, if adopted by Australia and other developed nations, would guarantee irreversible and catastrophic global warming of 3 to 4°.”
“The Prime Minister’s proposed 2030 target for Australia would make Australians the most polluting developed nation per capita by far in 2030, and prolong our reliance on dirty and outdated energy sources.
“These targets have the dirty fingerprints of Australia’s coal industry all over them.”
“By proposing these targets the Prime Minister is proposing an unsafe future for Australia that involves more extreme heatwaves, more deadly bushfires, harsher droughts and more dangerous floods.”
“The Prime Minister is proposing the destruction of Australia’s agricultural industries and regions like the Murray Darling basin, and guaranteeing our coral reefs including the Great Barrier Reef will die.”
“The Coalition is in policy chaos on global warming. While its targets are inadequate and reckless they are still well beyond anything that could be achieved by the Coalition’s inept Direct Action Plan in which Australians are paying polluters to pollute just a little less.”
“And yet the Abbott government continues to run fear campaigns about a price on carbon which they themselves will need to adopt if they intend to achieve their inadequate 2030 target.
“While the Coalition defaults to running fear campaigns on everything from renewable energy targets to an emissions trading scheme (once supported by the Howard Government) it is demonstrating that it is incapable of moving beyond ideological attacks to deliver credible policy to solve one of the greatest challenges Australia has ever faced.”
For For further information or comment:
Environment Victoria CEO, Mark Wakeham, 0439 700 501