This is the critical decade for climate action. Members of the Prahran community know we are in a climate emergency, and we want to be powered by 100 per cent renewable energy. In fact with fires, floods and extreme weather here in Australian and across the world, we are already experiencing the devastating effects of climate change, and governments need to go further and faster with climate action. Here in Victoria coal is our state’s biggest source of climate pollution, yet we still get two-thirds of our electricity from burning the world’s most polluting coal, brown coal, at our power stations here in Victoria.
The Greens have introduced a bill to end coal burning in Victoria by 2030 and to increase Victoria’s renewable energy target to 100 per cent by 2030. We have also released a comprehensive plan that outlines how Victoria can transition from coal to renewables within this decade. It means more rooftop solar and more solar and wind across the state. The huge potential of offshore wind means battery storage of all shapes and sizes—big batteries, community batteries, household batteries, pumped hydro and electric vehicles as batteries as well. It means upgrading our grid so that it is fit for the 21st century—with new transmission lines, virtual power plants, microgrids—and large industrial energy users, balancing out our grid, as well as a plan to ensure coal workers and the Latrobe Valley community are supported through this transition, with a jobs guarantee for coal workers to ensure no-one is worse off, and to secure long-term funding for an independent Latrobe Valley Authority.
