Labor Party Will Drop Renewable Energy Target to Favour Emissions Scheme

Labor will abandon the renewable energy target after 2020 because an emissions intensity scheme will be sufficient to reach the goal of 50% renewable energy by the year 2030 as stated by the assistant treasurer Andrew Leigh.

Leigh confirmed the opposition’s plan to reach the 50% goal without a hard target in comments that appeared to rule out extending the current renewable energy target. He also added that the Labor party believe that the emissions intensity scheme does the job even without the renewable energy target.

Environment minister Josh Frydenberg said Labor’s remarks is injecting more confusion. He also said that Leigh comments were in contradiction to an adjournment speech by the shadow assistant minister for treasury, Matt Thistlewaite, in which he said that Labor intends to enhance and boost RET.

Leigh’s comments echo Malcolm Turnbull’s statement that the renewable energy target was never intended to be perpetual, which indicates that there could be bipartisan support to abandon it after 2020.

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