In a recent survey conducted a clear majority of Australians want the nation to move towards 100 per cent renewable energy. Renewable energy campaigners spent three months door-knocking and meeting locals at shopping centres to clock up 14,000 face-to-face responses.
They found that 86 per cent want Australia to be powered entirely by renewable energy somewhere down the track, and 91 per cent want the government to drive the movement.
More than two-thirds said the government wasn't doing enough, although 75 per cent were happy about it putting a price on carbon. A common response was that of Jake, from Albany in Western Australia, who said: "We have the technology. It's not that hard. Get on with it."
Connor in Townsville, Queensland said: "I want to vote for renewable energy policy makers."
Deputy Australian Greens leader Christine Milne, who accepted the survey on behalf of the multi-party climate change committee, said the results were a resounding "yes" to renewable energy. "They're sending a very strong signal to those of us who are in the negotiations to get on with it, get a carbon price," she told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday. "But it has to be carbon price, plus support for renewables. "The technology certainly exists for us to move very rapidly to renewables, but the problem is that it needs more than the carbon price that is currently under discussion. "It needs more than the renewable energy target."
The only large-scale projects in Australia so far have been in wind, but more needs to be done to bring on solar and thermal projects, Senator Milne said. The details of the carbon price are expected to be unveiled early in July, but Labor and the Greens have started to war over compensation for trade-exposed industries. Resources Minister Martin Ferguson and Labor left faction convener Stephen Jones have both said the negotiations could fall over if compensation isn't good enough. Senator Milne said the Greens were committed to achieving a bottom line - that the price be environmentally effective, economically efficient and be a platform for further action. "All the other issues, every issue we deal with, is dealt with in that context," she said.
Source AAP June 15, 2011
