Shorten dares Abbott for an election on renewable energy

Following Abbott's insanity condemning wind farms and renewables, his blind support of coal, and his attack on the entire renewables industry in Australia, Shorten has come out with solid policy on the new emerging economy in the world. That of green energy. He has even gone so far as to dare Abbott to fight an election on the issue, along with promising another ETS like the one Abbott undid.

The extract focuses almost exclusively on climate change, promoting the policy goal for renewable energy to generate 50 per cent of Australia's electricity by 2030. 

"This is how Australia can transform our electricity system, build a new industrial landscape and deliver a clean energy future. Australians are smart enough to make this work," he says. 

"This isn't a question of Australia leading the world – it's a matter of keeping up. If the world's biggest capitalist nation, and the world's biggest planned economy can agree climate change is a priority - it's time Australia did too." 

Defending the commitment to build an emissions trading scheme, Mr Shorten says: "Around one billion people and more than 40 per cent of the world's economy have already embraced the opportunities of emissions trading schemes. 

"We must give Australian businesses the opportunity to engage with this global market," he says. 

Rather than give "big polluters fistfuls of taxpayer dollars to keep polluting", Mr Shorten says Labor will cut pollution with a market solution. "Let me say this to our opponents, in words of one syllable: An ETS is not a tax," he says. Read more

Of course Abbott will come out with a new scare campaign about the ETS, "axe the tax" and all that. I have a feeling though that the climate has changed on the issue (pun intended) in Australia. Abbott conned the public on the big scare campaign against the ETS and gained office over it promising a fistful of money over it's removal. 

The fistful of money never eventuated (electricity prices actually increased) and now we have all the major western economies addressing climate change in one way or another. In doing so China and India are massively cutting back on coal imports, most notably Australian. Australia has no choice economically but to embrace the new green industries going forward. It will mean jobs and money vs a slowly dying coal industry on the verge of being euthanised.