The government’s clean energy bank and the Abbott-proof fence
The government announcement on Tuesday that it accepts all of the recommendations of the Broadbent inquiry into the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) is a high-water mark in the politics of perception. The commitment to spend $10 billion on renewable energy and energy efficiency helps convince the public that the government takes climate change seriously. In reality, the CEFC is unlikely to materially affect the trajectory of Australia’s emissions and could ultimately increase the cost of “transitioning to a low carbon economy”.
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