Protect the RET - renewables helping to cut energy prices
The Australian Greens are welcoming a report from the Clean Energy Council (CEC) that clearly makes the economic case for keeping and lifting Australia's Renewable Energy Target.
"This study supports what the Greens have been saying all along, and that is that shifting to renewable energy will help Australians save money as well as relieving pressure on our climate," said Greens Leader Christine Milne.
The CEC modelling shows by 2020, households are set to pay an average $50 less on annual energy bills, than they would if the Renewable Energy Target was weakened.
"As usual, Tony Abbott is pandering to big polluters at the expense of the community in pushing to reduce or scrap the Renewable Energy Target, which Australians should be proud to have already reached.
"It's another destructive measure that would see Australians paying an extra billion dollars for electricity in 2020 and up to $1.4 billion in the years after that," said Senator Milne.
"The RET is already working for individual households, economic development, jobs and the environment, and within six years it'll be doing significant good to our hip-pockets. The only people who stand to benefit from scrapping it are Tony Abbott's big-business mates who are profiting from pollution.
"Economic growth in Australia needs to be decoupled from greenhouse gas emissions. That means wherever you're going to drive economic growth, whichever sector of the economy you choose, it has to be powered by renewables. Sustainability is key to innovation, new jobs and economic development.
"We've already got the legislation in place. We need to stick with it, increase what we've got and get behind the innovation and excitement that's powering the new low-carbon economy."
