Turnbull’s new energy policy: will this end the climate wars?

Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott still looms over the climate change wars.

Malcolm Turnbull has embarked on selling his new energy policy even as the Coalition Parliamentary party broke from endorsing the Cabinet compromise on greenhouse gas emissions and rising electricity costs.

The Prime Minister has declared on Facebook that his new plan, which rejects the Finkel recommendation for a Clean Energy Target but forces electricity generators to take power from all sources, including coal, will end “the climate wars”.

Turnbull certainly hopes it will. The climate wars destroyed his leadership in 2009 when he tried to drag a reluctant Coalition towards Kevin Rudd’s emissions scheme and Tony Abbott used the carbon tax to destroy two Labor leaders.

Turnbull needs a win on climate change but more importantly now he needs a win on electricity and gas prices.

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The Coalition, in a dire position in the polls and struggling to cut rising power prices, has had little success so far in convincing voters they have a way to cut costs.

Turnbull is out there already promising to cut costs and without a tax or climate trading certificates.

It’s no wonder he’s hit the road running on selling the new policy because if it doesn’t work and allow him to declare a new climate change war on Labor over prices it will be another sad end to another chapter in climate change.