Labor's climate change spokesman Mark Butler has dismissed as "rubbish" widely circulating claims Federal ALP had dropped its goal of achieving half of the nation's electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
Confusion over the party's stance has been fuelled this week by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and his deputy Chris Bowen offering vague answers about the party's stance, including whether the 50 per cent rate was merely an "objective".
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Renewable blame game
The Liberal Party has been accused by Labor of lying about the reason for South Australia's blackouts by blaming renewable energy, something Malcolm Turnbull rejects. Courtesy ABC News 24.
Mr Butler told Fairfax Media on Thursday evening the party had never committed to an extension of the Renewable Energy Target, which sets a mandated requirement to supply 33,000 gigawatt-hours per year by 2020.
On current demand projections, those hours would equate to about 23 per cent of the electricity market coming from wind, solar and other renewable sources.
"We've always been clear that our policy is to ensure our electricity is 50 per cent renewables by 2030," Mr Butler said. "A monumentally small group of people will try to parse the words [on whether it's a goal or an aspiration] or focus on the ends versus the means."
Mr Butler's assessment may be optimistic, with rival parties and media outlets piling in on Thursday to question whether Labor had dropped its 2030 policies or was equivocating about their intent.
Josh Frydenberg, the Environment and Energy Minister, said Labor had "no idea what its policy on renewables actually is".
"It is becoming increasingly unclear whether Labor's talk of 50 per cent renewable energy is in their own words an 'aspiration', a 'goal', an 'ambition', an 'objective', a 'policy framework' or in fact a hard 'target'," Mr Frydenberg said.
![In a spin: Labor tries to clear up its renewable energy plans.](/web/20170216084927im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/j/j/7/v/v/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gueh8q.png/1487227941319.jpg)
Adam Bandt, the Greens Climate Change and Energy spokesman, said Labor was guilty of an act of of "incredible cowardice".
"It seems Labor has waved the white flag in Turnbull's war on renewables," Mr Bandt said. "Labor's retreat on the Renewable Energy Target (RET) is a betrayal on climate change and a betrayal of clean energy."
![To the point: Shadow Environment Minister Mark Butler (centre) during question time on Tuesday.](/web/20170216084927im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/c/j/x/k/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gueh8q.png/1487227941319.jpg)
Mr Butler said the core of Labor's policy would remain an emissions intensity scheme for the electricity sector, which would give generators the incentive to reduce carbon pollution as part of a wider climate policy.
The 50 per cent clean energy outcome would be the result – rather than the means – of the market that imposes an additional cost on generators depending on the amount of emissions they produce per megawatt-hour, Mr Butler said.
Setting a precise renewables target for 2030 as per the current RET would be unnecessary in such a market, he said.
Watching closely on how federal ALP communicates its climate policies settle include state counterparts, with the Queensland Labor government and the NSW Labor opposition backing a 50 per cent renewable energy share by 2030. Victoria is aiming for 40 per cent by 2025.
Australia currently sources about 15 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources.