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 accepts the scientific view on environmental and climate change issues and acknowledges that the welfare of future generations is sufficiently important to warrant applying a precautionary principle. Pirate Party Australia advocates the use of innovation and technology to deliver sustainable prosperity to Australia.

A 21st century energy grid
Australia has significant natural advantages as an energy producer, but our energy model is riddled with problems. Decades-old coal power plants are reaching the end of their life, with accumulated maintenance costs on obsolete infrastructure rising above $100 billion. A “business as usual” approach will pass this huge burden of costs to consumers and businesses in the form of perpetually rising energy prices, which will only add to the hidden costs coal already imposes on our health, ecosystems and waterways. Science and technology offer a better alternative: renewable energy offers increasingly vast economic opportunity for countries willing to invest. Nations including Canada, Denmark, and Norway have already constructed viable base-load renewable energy grids. Proactive investment undertaken now will remove a burden of deadweight costs in the future and provide Australia with a clean, community-centred energy grid in place of our current centralised, monopoly-based structures.

To drive this investment, we propose the introduction of a unified, comprehensive feed-in tariff (FIT) on renewable energy. A FIT is a long-term contract offered to renewable energy producers which guarantees the purchase of power over time. Feed-in-tariffs are the most successful global mechanism for encouraging renewable energy development   and offer significant advantages over other approaches. Where a renewable energy target (RET) drives investment only in the cheapest sources, FIT contracts can be varied for different forms of energy, underpinning the creation of a balanced and reliable energy mix. Where a RET may increase energy prices, FIT costs can be met out of general government revenue, pushing prices down. A single national, consolidated FIT would also replace six piecemeal state solar schemes, simplifying our national response to climate change. . FIT contracts on offer can have their levels dynamically adjusted based on the quantity of renewables deployed: this encourages early investment, caps costs, and provides the right mix of certainty and adaptability. A share of contracts can be allocated to smaller-scale community owned assets, underpinning a decentralised grid where voluntary providers gain freedom to choose locally suitable options.

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 accelerated- EV batteries constitute a useful form of 'dispatchable demand' that can help to balance energy supply. Pirate Party Australia would also seek to reduce burdens on the grid through the 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 if existing global coal reserves are burnt using current approaches the release of carbon will have severe effects on global climate, with impacts on our ecology, oceans, cities and farms. Pirate Party Australia accordingly seeks to extend existing carbon pricing to cover exported emissions. This would take the form of a levy on coal exports equal to the current carbon price. The levy would be waived in cases where the buyers are utilising carbon capture and storage technology. Carbon pricing has proven to be an effective way to drive investment, cut emissions and reduce taxes on work and savings. Extending it will raise revenue to support a cleaner domestic economy and also sharpen the incentives for technological development among other coal-burning nations.

Pirate Party Australia supports existing climate change initiatives including Renewable Energy Targets and funding bodies such as the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and ARENA. The Carbon Farming Initiative is supported with the proviso that more should be done to improve participation in the scheme. The work of the 'Green Corps' in restoring degraded land is valuable. However, we would seek to direct more resources to farmland restoration as farmland is subject to management and oversight which will allow 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.

Expand investment to generate 50% of domestic electricity through renewable sources within 10 years.

 * Combine state feed-in tariffs into a comprehensive national scheme.
 * Coverage to include wind, solar PV, solar thermal and biomass, with potential expansion to other energy forms.
 * An expert panel will set tariff levels and contract lengths to support effective base-load deployment.
 * Tariffs will be subject to annual reviews and automatic degression as a function of the quantity of renewables deployed.
 * 20% of capacity will be reserved for community projects.
 * Grid connections will be mandatory where feasible, with a facilitation office to speed approval processes and provide mediation.
 * Consumers will have a choice between price rebates (to offset additional costs) or a one-off voucher for installation of solar PV, solar hot water, or accredited insulation systems.

Improve energy efficiency and carbon mitigation

 * Retain a carbon tax based on the 2012 model, with price increases fixed at CPI + 5% p/a.
 * Extend coverage to include heavy on-road transport.
 * Extend coverage to include coal exports.
 * Carbon taxes applying to coal exports will be waived where coal is sold to buyers with carbon capture and storage technology deployed.
 * Revenue raised will be used to meet FIT costs and provide state governments with funding for technology and grid upgrades and smart meter rollouts.
 * Full funding will be restored to the Carbon Capture and Storage Flagships program.
 * 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.
 * Adopt EU 2020 vehicle fuel efficiency standards including the passenger vehicle target of 95g CO2/Km by 2023.
 * Ensure all buildings are subject to mandatory 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.
 * Collection of loan repayments through utility meters will be utilised.
 * Conduct an independent review of Carbon Farming Initiative to examine potential improvements including regulatory streamlining, better accounting for native forestry management, and inclusion of alternative sequestration periods.
 * 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 sequestration.
 * Provide ten thousand additional 'Green Corps' places to provide farmers with cost-free reforestation and re-vegetation of marginal land.

Improve ecological and land management and 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.