PDC: Energy, Environment and Climate Change Policy

Working group report
This working group was tasked with developing policy to deal with climate and environmental issues. This policy is in the development stage, so if you want to contribute email policydev@pirateparty.org.au.

Preamble
Pirate Party Australia supports science-based action and therefore accepts the scientific view that there is a need to address climate change. The welfare of future generations is important enough to warrant application of the precautionary principle in our environmental management. Accordingly, we seek to step up our response to climate change and environmental management and capitalise on the vast potential that science and technology now offers.

A 21st century energy grid
Australia has significant natural advantages as an energy producer. However, persistent under-investment has left an energy model riddled with problems. Obsolete coal power plants across the nation have deteriorated to the point that accumulated maintenance costs have topped $100 billion. A “business as usual” approach will pass the entire burden of costs to consumers and businesses in the form of perpetually rising energy prices. This comes on top of the hidden costs coal power already imposes our health, waterways and ecosystems.

An alternative approach is urgently needed, and, with gas prices set to triple over the coming years, the best alternative is to rapidly accelerate investment in renewable energy. Renewable energy currently offers great economic opportunities for countries willing to invest. Nations including Canada, Denmark and Norway have already constructed viable base-load renewable energy grids.



Feed-in tariffs are the most successful global mechanism for driving investment in solar power. However, their effectiveness in Australia is hampered by the division into six separate state solar tariffs, each with different and constantly-changing rates. These programs should be unified into a single tariff, with coverage extended to include large scale solar, and with eligibility extended to include all premises. As tariff costs can be met through general government revenue, the effect will be to drive down energy prices and broaden the renewable energy mix. This will underpin baseload power generation and create a clean, community-centred energy model similar to that already achieved in Germany. Costs can be contained by dynamically adjusting tariff rates on offer based on the quantity of renewables deployed: this will encourage early movers and provide a solid mix of predictability and dynamism.

Pirate Party Australia also supports a range of measures to improve energy efficiency. We believe a roll-out of facilities for electric vehicles (EVs) should be undertaken. EV batteries are valuable components of a renewable energy grid since their capacity to act as 'dispatchable demand' helps to balance energy supply. Pirate Party Australia also supports establishment of an Energy Efficiency Fund modeled on the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. This fund will offer loans and capital to businesses to improve energy use and overcome misaligned incentives (for example, cases where landlords have no incentive to improve buildings because power bills are paid by tenants). Like the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the Energy Efficiency Fund will be required to return dividends to taxpayers.

The weight of scientific evidence clearly shows that the uncontrolled burning of remaining global coal reserves will have severe effects on global climate, with impacts on our ecology, oceans, cities and farms. Carbon pricing is an effective way to drive investment, cut emissions and reduce taxes on work and savings. Pirate Party Australia accordingly supports it and will seek to extend carbon pricing to cover exported emissions. This would take the form of a phased-in levy on coal exports, which will eventually reach equivalence with a domestic carbon price. The levy will be used to fund solar tariffs and will include an opt-out clause for cases where buyers are utilising carbon capture and storage technology.

Pirate Party Australia supports existing climate change instruments including the Carbon Farming Initiative, the Climate Change Authority, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, and ARENA. We also support the work of the Green Corps, but would seek to direct more resources to farmland restoration. Farmland is subject to management and oversight which will allow land improvements to be "locked in."

While the changes required to our energy model are significant, the benefits will be immense. A transformation of Australia’s energy grid will meet climate change objectives and reduce the debilitating costs of dirty power sources on economic growth, public health,  and waterways. Investment in our farms and regions will provide economic stimulus, create tens of thousands of skilled jobs, and improve the resilience of farms and small businesses by allowing them to 'dual use' their land and premises to supply energy. Investment will also boost our broader economic strength by lowering energy prices and avoiding the crippling dead-weight costs attached to maintenance of our existing coal grid. Investment in renewable energy is more than just a response to climate change: it is an important economic reform.

Preserving Australia’s ecology
Pirate Party Australia believes management of our environment should be holistic and reflect the best available scientific knowledge. Cases such as the Murray Darling system demonstrate the risks of splitting ecosystem management across state borders: a more unified approach which recognises the interconnections and complexity of ecosystems is needed. Accordingly, we will press for the development of a comprehensive biodiversity matrix to better classify land and ocean ecosystems. This will underpin a more scientific approach to land management and provide the public with essential information about the ecological health of our continent.

Pirate Party Australia supports extended Federal environmental oversight as well as more rigorous support for biodiversity programs and national parks. We also urge a halt to coal seam gas (CSG) extraction, which is currently being undertaken from a position of profound ignorance regarding its impacts on rivers, groundwater, and food security. Given the emerging evidence of fugitive emissions leaks and other unforeseen impacts, we believe hydraulic fracturing should be subject to a moratorium until meaningful evidence is available to demonstrate its safety.

Questions of ecology and energy are ultimately about adjudicating between the rights of current and future generations. The Pirate Party believes in the adoption of an open and scientific framework to help inform these difficult questions.

Policy text
The Pirate Party will seek to address ecological issues and climate change through the following measures.

Extend the Renewable Energy Target to 100,000 GWh by 2030.

 * Promote energy storage and baseload generation by increasing the number of renewable certificates offered for generation at peak periods.
 * Combine state solar feed-in tariffs into a comprehensive national tariff.
 * Coverage to include solar PV and large scale solar (including solar thermal), with potential expansion to other energy forms as they become commercially viable.
 * Tariffs will be available to households, farms and businesses, with 20% of capacity reserved for community projects.
 * Tariffs will be subject to annual reviews and automatic degression as a function of the quantity deployed.
 * Grid connections will be mandatory where feasible, with a facilitation office to speed approval processes and provide mediation.
 * Revenue obtained though a carbon price on coal exports will be used to offset potential increases in domestic energy prices.
 * Energy buyers (or building owners where property is rented) will have a choice between energy cost rebates or a single voucher for installation of solar PV or solar hot water systems.

Improve energy efficiency and carbon mitigation

 * Restore a carbon tax with pricing set to the 2014-15 level and price increases fixed at CPI + 5% p/a.
 * Extend coverage to include heavy on-road transport.
 * Extend coverage to include coal exports, subject to a phase-in period, and exemptions where buyers utilise carbon capture and storage technology.
 * Restore full funding to the Carbon Capture and Storage Flagships program.
 * Improve energy efficiency for vehicles.
 * Adopt EU 2020 vehicle fuel efficiency standards including the passenger vehicle target of 95g CO2/Km by 2023.
 * Form a panel of government and industry representatives to develop a plan for roll-out of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and development of an Australian standard for EV rechargers.
 * Assistance to private operators who wish to operate recharging stations will be offered through the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
 * A corporation will be created with joined State and federal government ownership to lease recharging sites on public land.
 * Improve energy efficiency for buildings.
 * Enforce the 2006 Council of Australian Governments Joint Communiqué requiring nationwide deployment of smart meters, with initial funding of $2 billion set aside to support rollouts.
 * Ensure all buildings are subject to transparent disclosure of energy ratings, with performance-based standards applied to all retrofits and new buildings.
 * Require rented properties to meet an energy efficiency minimum standard (encompassing provision of energy and water efficient fixed appliances and fixed heating) by 2015.
 * Establish an Energy Efficiency Finance Corporation with initial funding of $3 billion, to offer capital and fund guarantees for energy efficiency projects including retrofits, equipment upgrades, and Environmental Upgrade Agreements.
 * Investments will be required to generate a return to taxpayers.
 * Loan repayments will be optionally collected through utility meters.
 * Support carbon mitigation through improved land management.
 * Provide an additional $60 million over 3 years to the CSIRO Sustainable Agriculture Flagship program, to support research, development and deployment of biochar and other forms of carbon sequestration.
 * Provide ten thousand additional 'Green Corps' places to assist farmers with cost-free reforestation and re-vegetation of marginal land.

Improve land management to protect biodiversity

 * Develop a biodiversity matrix to classify land and ocean ecosystems and species distribution.
 * Information collected will be published, and will inform land use changes, development approvals, and management of national parks.
 * Species reported as being at risk of extinction will be listed as “notifiable”.
 * Funding cuts to the Biodiversity Fund will be reversed.
 * Expand the environmental oversight of the federal government to cover climate, rivers and water areas, national parks and forests.
 * Provide independent statutory status to areas overseeing environmental approvals.
 * Ensure clear channels exist for local and community input, with autonomy devolved to regional communities and expert bodies in matters of purely local impact.
 * Increase national park thresholds to cover 15% of land in Australia, with a representative sample of at least 80% of regional ecosystems protected in each bio-region.
 * Engage NGOs in management of feral animals, with options to include the creation of fenced-off “arks” where endangered native species can be re-introduced.
 * Reverse the burden of proof currently applying to the 'Assessment and Approvals' section of the National Parks Act in areas where the biodiversity matrix records high biodiversity value.
 * Ban port expansions, dredging and offshore dumping of dredge spoil within World Heritage waters.
 * Provide additional $20 million funding to the Reef Rescue program to support management of water quality issues in the Barrier Reef.
 * Institute a moratorium on extraction of coal seam gas through hydraulic fracturing.
 * The moratorium will apply to new mines and additional fracturing on current mines in metropolitan areas.
 * Periodical reviews will assess evidence and present recommendations to the Government on the scientific case for lifting or modifying the moratorium.
 * Extraction and exploration in or around water catchment areas and aquifers will be permanently banned.
 * Landowners will be granted a right to refuse exploitation of coal seam gas on land they own.