Recent reports suggest that the Western Australian Labor government is planning on pushing ahead with its net-zero plan but without emission reductions targets.
The federal Labor government has set a reduction target of 62–70% below 2005 by 2035. WA and the Northern Territory are the only two state and territory governments to not to have emissions reductions targets.
Instead of emission reductions, WA Labor’s misnamed “Clean Energy Powerhouse Bill” shifts the focus away from the expansion of renewable technologies, to carbon capture and storage and net-zero trading.
Socialist Alliance (SA) WA Senate candidate Sam Wainwright told Green Left this approach is “performative”.
“Net-zero trading is a newer idea among the listed technologies. It describes an expansion of renewable-powered commodities that can be traded with countries that would normally produce the commodity by more carbon intensive means.
“A green production of iron on home soil, for example, would lead to 20 times less carbon emitted than iron produced by conventional blast furnacing.
“Thus, the WA government can offset emissions from the many liquefied natural gas extraction plants it has approved by trading these new ‘green commodities’. It would expand the local economy while also contributing to less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.”
However, Wainwright said it remained to be seen if the expansion of renewable energy required to power this green commodity production would replace existing fossil fuel produced energy, or simply add to it.
“If the plan is for this green energy expansion to replace existing fossil fuel energy, it is odd that Labor has not included emissions reduction as part of its plan,” Wainwright said.
“If it is in addition to existing energy generation, then it will not actually result in a decrease in carbon emitted from WA, as domestic carbon dioxide will remain unchanged and LNG exports will continue unchecked.”
Wainwright said such a strategy “shows there is something just as dangerous as the climate change denier — a climate change faker”. He said the government’s lack of an emissions reductions plan may explain its focus on carbon capture and storage, a technology that, despite its inclusion in many governments’ net-zero plans, has shown no evidence of being up to the task.
The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change has made clear that for global warming to be contained there must be deep, rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
But this has been refuted by WA Labor. Speaking about the net-zero plan last year, Premier Roger Cook floated the possibility of the state’s emissions rising as part of its “green energy” strategy.
Wainwright said the fact that Cook feels comfortable making such declarations demonstrates how influential the resource sector is on his government.
When asked what should be done, Wainwright said SA was campaigning for the fossil fuel industry to pay for its own replacement.
“That is the only way we can make serious progress towards reducing emissions and improving the lives of Western Australians,” he said. “That requires a government-led transition that serves the people, not the mining industry.
“To drive that kind of change, however, we need to an independent and powerful movement in our communities and workplaces, and SA is committed to helping achieve that.”