PRIME MINISTER Scott Morrison has announced that one of the solutions to climate change and emissions reductions in Australia is to unlock the gas supplies beneath the ground in the eastern states, suggesting more gas from Victoria and New South Wales will help the nation transition to renewables and meet its Paris commitments. 

"We need to get the gas from under our feet. There is no credible energy transition plan for an economy like Australia, in particular, that does not involve the greater use of gas as an important transition fuel," he said.  

The speech has, predictably, been championed by industry and lobby body APPEA and slammed by activists and others horrified at his pro-fossil fuel stance as the nation battles enormous bushfires across the east coast they see as linked to Australia's fossil fuel industry.  

 "There are plenty of other medium or long-term fuel arrangements and prospects, but they will not be commercially scalable available for at least a decade is our advice," Morrison said.  

The head of the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility Brynn O'Brien called Morrison's speech "sickening, chilling" in a tweet.  

"It's important for Australia's oil and gas industry to be recognised for the positive role it is and can play in the broader energy and emissions reduction debate. Natural gas is the perfect complement to the growing use of renewables and will continue to be so for decades come," APPEA CEO Andrew McConville said. 

Source: Energy News Bulletin

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