Peter Garrett has neutered the Green Loans scheme instead of fixing it, cutting out the loans altogether and failing to tackle the critical problem of training of household assessors.

Major questions remain as to how assessors can make a living with a limit of five jobs a week, whether the troubled call centre will be fixed, whether an online booking system will be implemented, and what householders waiting for loans will now do.

"Knee-jerk political quick fixes have a tendency to create more problems than they solve, as Peter Garrett really should have learnt by now," Australian Greens Deputy Leader, Senator Christine Milne said.

"Instead of talking to people on the ground and working towards a positive solution, Minister Garrett has leaped in with a knee-jerk fix which simply cannot work.

"I offered to work with the industry bodies, small business people, concerned individuals and the government to work out the best and most appropriate long term fix. This offer is still on the table should Minister Garrett decide to take it up.

"The Rudd government has some very big questions to answer about the future of this scheme.

"Firstly, what is the point of a Green Loans scheme without any loans? It fails to deal with the problem it was supposed to tackle - overcoming the up-front cost of energy efficiency upgrades.

"Secondly, is the government going to require all accredited assessors to undertake new training, as they are doing for insulation installers? If the scheme is now purely about household assessments, surely those assessments have to be of the best possible standard.

"Is the government going to pay to upgrade the skills of those who have invested in training in good faith but been caught out by dodgy operators? Government-funded revalidation of existing training for household assessors is critical.

"How does the government expect assessors to make a living if they are limiting them to a maximum of five jobs a week? And what will happen to assessors trying to make bookings after the weekly limit has been reached?

"What is the government going to do for all those householders who have had assessments and are now waiting for reports so they can take out loans? They lack of demand for loans is due to the government's mismanagement of the program, not a lack of interest."

The insulation and solar hot water announcements pull the rug out from under the majority of credible operators in a positive, green industry at a time when they most need to be growing.

"What are insulators supposed to do for the next three months without any work until the new scheme starts? What will the impact of the rebate drop be on the solar water heating industry?

"Today's knee-jerk announcements compound a failure with another failure. It's time to get serious."