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May 09, 2005
One consequence of the Howard Government gaining control of the Senate is the closing down of environmental politics and policy and a roll back of the environmental state that had been created by a reformist Senate over the last ten years.
So the environmental action shifts to the ALP controlled states which spin the green rhetoric but do little on the ground.
The spotlight is flickering on the Bracks Government in Victoria. It is crunch time. It is faced with a decision to keep the Hazelwood brown-cioal power station (Australia's dirtiest power station) operating until 2031.It is also decidng whether to underwrite cheap coal-fired power for a $1 billion-plus expansion of Alcoa's Portland aluminium smelter.
The Brack's Government has called for deep cuts to Greenhouse emissions, supports state-based emissions trading and voluntary sustainability, is implementing greenhouse abatement measures, and says that it is committed to increasing renewable energy targets.
Like NSW and SA there has been little action on the ground.
Crunch time.
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Hazelwood is a litmus test, but in terms of the urban environmental issues the Bracks Government is the most "green" government Australia has ever seen IMHO.
Melbourne 2030, Water restrictions, an energy conservation effort, wind farms, an EES for dredging in port phillip bay, a Metropolitan Transport Plan are all good policy initiatives which are being implemeted - often imperfectly and in some cases against public opinion - which will stand the Bracks Government in good stead.
But Hazelwood, is a real litmus test!