Matthew Stocks and Andrew Blazers write in The Conversation (26.6.18) about calls from the Coalition backbench and elsewhere for the federal government to safeguard the future of coal. The authors argue that a look at Queensland’s energy landscape suggests such calls don’t make economic, let alone environmental, sense.
‘As the federal government aims to ink a deal with the states on the National Energy Guarantee in August, it appears still to be negotiating within its own ranks. Federal energy minister Josh Frydenberg has reportedly told his partyroom colleagues that he would welcome a new coal-fired power plant, while his former colleague (and now Queensland Resources Council chief executive) Ian Macfarlane urged the government to consider offering industry incentives for so-called “clean coal”.
‘Last month, it emerged that One Nation had asked for a new coal-fired power plant in north Queensland in return for supporting the government’s business tax reforms.
‘Is all this pro-coal jockeying actually necessary for our energy or economic future? Our analysis suggests that renewable energy is a much better choice, in terms of both costs and jobs.’
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