It is extraordinary that Energy Minister Angus Taylor continues to cling to a fossil fuel past at a time when Australia’s emissions are still rising and the urgency required for global action on climate change mounts, writes Dr Graeme McLeay. What we really need is the Energy Minister and his government to see the tremendous opportunities in sun, wind and wave and to steer our country towards a clean energy future that doesn’t cost our health, our planet or our pockets. 

The heavy hand of the Energy Minister is all over the place on the National Electricity Market, something quite remarkable for a government which for a long time has worshipped the free market economy. 
AEMO has modelled in their Integrated System Plan a number of scenarios which reflect the need to transition to a low carbon economy in line with the Paris Agreement. Despite the urgency, Angus Taylor is apparently ignoring both AEMO and the Energy Security Board. 

 The Government’s insistence on clinging to fossil fuel technology has consequences on human health. 
In Australia, medical organisations such as the AMA and DEA have declared a climate emergency — in the middle of the worst drought on record, with serious spring bushfires in Queensland and NSW and warnings from experienced fire chiefs that the bushfire season is longer and more dangerous than in the past. 

Dr Graeme McLeay is a retired anaesthetist and member of Doctors for the Environment Australia. 

Read the full article which was first published in Independent Australia on 24 October 2019.