Matt Kean: Minister again meets with activists over climate policy
Environment Minister Matt Kean was the guest of honour at a virtual event from a left-wing think tank as they launched polling on climate change.
NSW
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NSW Environment and Energy Minister Matt Kean has made another speech talking down gas and coal as long-term fuel supplies, saying they are “not the cheapest forms of reliable energy”.
Launching left-wing think tank The Australia Institute’s online polling results into attitudes on climate change, Mr Kean said the survey showed 80 per cent of Australians think that “we are already experiencing the impact of climate change and they are right”.
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“Australians are sick and tired of petty political point scoring and division on climate policy, which has held our country down for over a decade,” Mr Kean said. “They want government to lead, they want to be assured that we are doing everything we can to reduce the risk of dangerous climate change.
“My focus … is making sure the people of NSW get access to the cheapest form of reliable energy and today that’s not gas and it’s not coal, and it’s not nuclear. Maybe nuclear in the future.
“Today the cheapest way to deliver electricity into the system is combination of wind, solar, storage and also demand response.”
In recent weeks Mr Kean has come under fire for talking down the future of gas, putting him at odds with the Berejiklian government’s backing of the mega $3 billion job-creating Narrabri gas project as well as Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s push to increase gas supplies in NSW.
Last week Mr Kean was also criticised for posing with striking school student activists with signs saying “Fund Our Future Not Gas”.
The think tank, which regularly hosts a variety of-pro green politicians talking about climate change, including Warringah MP Zali Steggall and Greens MP Adam Bandt, claims the Morrison Government’s call for a “gas-fired recovery to reignite the economy in the wake of COVID-19 is not backed by popular support”.
In his speech, Mr Kean also revealed he was amazed at the backlash over his comments last year that “no one can deny” climate change was to blame for the smoke haze choking Sydney at the time.
“At the time, I thought I made a relatively unremarkable observation that basically, we were choking for weeks, the drought that had been going on for years, the hottest driest summer we were seeing, was not normal,” he said.
“And I didn’t expect everyone to lose their minds over that comment, because the reality is that what we saw last summer was exactly what the scientists warned us about.”
Originally published as Matt Kean: Minister again meets with activists over climate policy