Of all Australia’s climate policies, the Renewable Energy Target has been the most effective. Why have Australian governments moved away from it, and how can they revive it?
Daniel D'Hotman, University of Oxford dan Steven Hamilton, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
The end of coal-fired generation in Australia is inevitable. But the federal government can do more to ensure an orderly transition to renewables – avoiding price spikes and supporting workers.
Building a new power plant hardly fits in with the Coalition’s free market philosophy, but then again neither does a massive support package to cushion the economy through a pandemic.
The federal government’s the stubborn commitment to coal is pulling the government’s economic policy towards the sort of state socialism it is supposed to abhor.
The price of renewable energy will fall significantly relative to new-build coal in coming decades, making an all-renewable electricity system more desirable, both economically and environmentally.
We need to remember that baseload coal power stations won’t help cope with peak demand – the issue that will determine whether people in elevators are trapped by a sudden blackout, per Barnaby Joyce.