The Nationals and the Liberals are feuding over climate policy and net zero targets again like its 2021 and quite frankly we’re fucking sick of them all.
The Coalition went to war over whether or not to commit to net zero last year but eventually agreed to reach the target by 2050 ahead of the COP26 conference in Glasgow.
The Coalition promised to reduce emissions by 26 per cent by 2030 (based on 2005 levels, not all-time levels) and to hit net zero by 2050.
Just to be clear, this pledge came with practically no plan for how we’re going to get there and 2050 is still a couple decades too late to save the Great Barrier Reef and half the continent from the catastrophic effects of climate change. It’s not even the bare minimum, but it’s SOMETHING and it took fucking years to get there.
But now the Nats and the Libs are arguing again like your parents after a bottle of wine and it’s not a pretty sight. And in the middle of an election campaign, so this is fkn messy.
Nationals Senator Matt Canavan came out on Tuesday afternoon and said nope, net zero by 2050 ain’t gonna happen.
He’s consistently opposed the target but he told the ABC net zero was “dead”.
“The net zero thing is all sort of dead anyway,” he said.
“Boris Johnson has said he’s pausing the net zero commitment, Germany is building coal and gas infrastructure. Italy is reopening coal fired power plants, it’s all over. It’s all over bar the shouting here.”
Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg have been in damage control mode since.
Morrison said his commitment to the 2050 target was “absolute”. He had to say this on the campaign trail because some Liberal seats in Sydney and Melbourne are under threat from climate independents who want stronger emissions reductions targets and he wants to appease us latte-sipping inner-city lefties he hates so much.
Frydenberg told Sky News voters could trust the target was fixed.
“Canavan hasn’t been a fan of net zero emissions for some time. But the Coalitions’ policy is very clear, it’s very firm and it’s non-negotiable. That is net zero emissions by 2050.”
On Wednesday morning more MPs piled on to try to diffuse the situation.
“I think people here understand as they would anywhere that there are different views around different the country, different priorities,” Liberal MP Dave Sharma said.
“The best way to advance a policy for a country is to make sure you address those concerns of regional Australians as well as urban Australians.”
But at the same time the Coalition has committed to new fossil fuel projects and infrastructure that would spew carbon into the atmosphere for decades, so they want to have their cake and eat it too and just pretend like they care about the planet.
They can affirm net zero all they like but the cracks are there.
