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In what environment group Friends of the Earth Melbourne has called a tone deaf move, the Victorian Coalition has launched a pro fossil gas campaign in the middle of the worst fire conditions the state has experienced since Black Summer.
In the major advertising campaign, the Victorian Liberals and Nationals have announced that ‘We will reverse Labor’s ban on gas’ if elected at the Victorian State Election in November.
‘Victorians are bracing for potentially catastrophic fire conditions this week. The Coalition deciding to launch their pro fossil gas campaign at this time highlights their disregard for the basic science of climate change’ said Friends of the Earth campaigns co-ordinator Cam Walker.
Just this week, new research highlighted that almost 7 million Australians living on the fringes of capital cities are at a growing risk from fires. A report from the Climate Council and Emergency Leaders for Climate Action demonstrates that climate change is ‘turbo-charging’ fire seasons and ‘making fires more frequent, costly, intense — and less predictable’. Climate-fuelled fires are increasingly ‘exceeding the limits of modern firefighting’.
‘Faced with this information, any responsible political party would focus on policies to rapidly reduce carbon pollution. However, the Victorian Coalition has chosen to do the opposite,’ said Cam Walker.
Fossil gas is a major contributor to global heating. In a benchmark report from 2021, the International Energy Agency (IAE) noted that to ‘give the world an even chance of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5°C’ then there can be ‘from today, no investment in new fossil fuel supply projects’. We have now passed the 1.5°C target, making it even more important for governments to, as the IAE puts it ‘develop strong and credible policy actions’.
Victoria must do its part in reducing emissions if we are to have a hope of averting catastrophic climate change. State and federal governments must boost ambition and rapidly reduce emissions, and international co-operation needs to be strengthened. In Victoria, responsible and forward thinking policy by the state government over the last decade has included support for household electrification, rebuilding the State Electricity Commission, and public investment in renewables and energy storage.
Quotes attributable to Friends of the Earth campaigns coordinator Cam Walker:
‘Expensive gas and costly impacts of climate change are making our cost-of-living crisis worse. We know that no amount of drilling for new gas will bring prices down, so the only sensible option is to ramp up the energy transition already underway in Victoria. Yet the Coalition is choosing to play the Culture War card and propose a U-turn to embrace new fossil gas.’
‘Victoria is already enacting a plan to substitute our dirty, expensive gas with affordable renewable electricity over the next decade. Victorians are eagerly embracing this opportunity and are electrifying their homes in ever-increasing numbers. Why doesn’t the Coalition want to support all Victorians to electrify?’
