Australian Greens attack government green energy target

September 26, 2007

The Australian Greens have attacked the governments green energy targets. Prime Minister John Howard announced the national targets yesterday, requiring that by 2020, 30,000 gigawatt hours of electricity each year comes from low emissions sources. The Greens claim that the targets do not go far enough. “John Howard’s 15% ‘clean’ target by 2020 is too little, too late,” said Greens Senate candidate for South Australia, Sarah Hanson-Young.

The Greens also claim that the inclusion of clean coal technology in the definition of "green energy" is misleading. “Howard’s spin doctors have been at it again. The target is misleading – it includes the unproven ‘clean coal’ technology, so the proportion of genuine clean, renewable energy generated is far less than we are led to believe," Ms Hanson-Young said.

The clean energy target is part of the government's A$3.5 billion climate change strategy.