Australia rejects to set a clean energy target
Australia’s government on Tuesday rejected calls to set a clean energy target, instead scrapping aid for renewable projects and adopting a fuel-neutral energy policy that it said could keep the country’s lights on and cut power prices.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull won support from his Conservative party for a plan to end subsidies for renewable energy after 2020, while requiring energy retailers to guarantee an energy mix that would bring both reliable power and lower carbon emissions.
Turnbull set out to overhaul energy policy a year ago to end a decade of political strife over carbon targets - amid rising power prices for domestic consumers - and stabilize the nation’s grid after a huge storm blacked out the country’s most wind power-dependent state.
“These guarantees will ensure there is a place for all power sources in the nation’s future energy mix - solar, wind, coal, gas, batteries, pumped hydro,” Turnbull said, announcing the plan in a video posted on social media. “Our plan has no subsidies, no certificates and no tax.”
