The Sustainable Energy Association of Australia (www.seaaus.com.au) has released its 2013 Policy Scorecard in advance of the Federal election on 7 September. SEA’s Scorecard evaluates the policies of the leading political parties against the needs and objectives of the sustainable energy industry.
The Scorecard focuses on the main policy areas of interest to SEA members, including climate change; emissions reduction; renewable energy; energy efficiency sustainable built environment, and transport.
Each political party's policy support for relevant issues is rated using colour – GREEN indicates the party supports the policy; YELLOW indicates the support is conditional or the party has no published policy, and RED shows the party does not support the policy.
“The results present a compelling visual snapshot of how the parties line up around issues like support for the fixed Renewable Energy Target (RET) and carbon pricing," says Chief Executive Kirsten Rose.
The Greens are true to their name with the most green-shaded boxes on the Scorecard, which reflects their unqualified support for emissions reduction, carbon pricing, and renewable energy.
Labor holds strong with their belief in a market-based carbon price, a fixed renewable energy target, and support for renewables through entities such as the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC).
“In our view, Labor has an opportunity to promote stronger policies to support a sustainable built environment and sustainable transport.” says Ms Rose.
The real concern, which the Scorecard highlights, is the lack of support for these issues by the Liberal National Party (LNP) Coalition.
“We believe that the Coalition's Direct Action plan is inadequate on many levels and has the potential to take us backwards quickly,” says Ms Rose.
“Of particular concern is the Coalition's lukewarm position on the fixed Renewable Energy Target, which has historically enjoyed bipartisan support and fundamentally underpins the development of renewable energy in Australia,” she adds.
“Treasury and private analyses have shown that the Coalition's budgeted $3.2 billion will not be sufficient to achieve the 5% emissions reduction that Australia has committed to. Mr Abbott seems perfectly comfortable with that, which is frankly reprehensible.”
‘The lack of Coalition policy support would make it a more challenging environment for the sustainable energy industry, but we have momentum and public opinion on our side,' says Ms Rose.
ABC’s Vote Compass (www.abc.net.au/votecompass) has effectively polled 1 million people and 82% of respondents have said they support action on climate change, with 61% wanting increased action. ABC News Article
Ms Rose concludes by saying, “This validates the enormous popular support for renewable energy; energy efficiency; and emissions reduction, and increasingly, the economics are speaking for themselves."
Download Scorecard here.
The Sustainable Energy Association of Australia (www.seaaus.com.au) is a peak body representing over 250 members in the sustainable energy industry. As a business chamber, it promotes the development and adoption of renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainable energy technologies and services.
Media contact: SEA CEO Kirsten Rose – 0434 920 486
Kirsten Rose
Chief Executive
Sustainable Energy Association
Email: ceo@seaaus.com.au
Web: www.seaaus.com.au
Street: Level 1 Building E, 661 Newcastle St, Leederville 6007
Postal: GPO Box 2409, Perth 6000
Phone: 08 9228 1292
Mobile: 0434 920 486