Abbott joins Rudd on sinking sand

MEDIA RELEASE

Tony Abbott might be trying to stake out new electoral ground but he has only succeeded in pitching his tent on the same sinking sand as the Rudd government, the Victorian Climate Action Centre said today.

The Coalition's climate fund is too small and their target, like the governments, is too low to make a meaningful impact on the climate crisis.

“Tony Abbot's announcement is long on rhetoric and short on detail,” Damien Lawson Coordinator of the Victorian Climate Action Centre said today.

“While the policy of direct government incentives or investment could be a viable alternative to Labor's international carbon trading, the size of the fund is pitifully small and there is no detail on what and how investments will be prioritised.”

“As it stands under Mr Abbott's policy coal fired power stations would be eligible for funding if they burned coal more efficiently.”

“Real direct action would mean buying out the owners of Victoria's Hazelwood power station, one of the world's dirtiest, and closing it down. This would be cheaper pollution abatement at $5 per tonne than either Kevin Rudd or Tony Abbott's plan.”

“And a reliance on soil carbon instead of keeping coal in the ground will mean even the low five per cent target is not credible.”

“The funding for roof top solar while welcome is a grab for public opinion, rather than a real policy to make major cuts to carbon pollution.”

“Mr Abbott should have learned from the British Conservative Party and taken this opportunity to back the Greens proposal for a fixed carbon price. Instead, like Kevin Rudd he has put politics before the climate.”