9th June 2009 - Mines and Petroleum Minister Norman Moore’s announcement that he will gift $250 000 of taxpayer’s money to a corporate-backed carbon sequestration study is evidence that the State Government remains in the thrall of industrial interests, Greens (WA) MLC Robin Chapple said today.
“Right now there are many - too many - sectors of Western Australia’s public infrastructure crying out for funding.” Mr. Chapple said, “The companies backing this study do not fall into this category. They are not public bodies and have more than enough capital to undertake this sequestration study on their own.”
“It seems that the first objective of their study was the sequestering of public funds from Norman Moore.”
Mr. Chapple said that while he supported incentives to reduce carbon emissions in industry, he saw no logic in funding unproven “technological fixes” that did not actually reduce emissions - such as sequestration - while simultaneously watering down renewable energy initiatives.
“How is it that the Barnett government can cry poor whilst gutting the Solar Feed-in Tariff scheme one week, and give industry an unnecessary leg up in its efforts to pass the buck on emissions the next?” Mr. Chapple asked.
“Norman Moore’s credibility as a responsible stakeholder in this State’s energy future started at a pretty low level. It is now at rock bottom.”
- For more information please contact Robin Chapple MLC on 0409 379 263.
