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InkyFingers's avatar

Plus if coal becomes more expensive relative to other substitutes, such as renewables, suppliers will invest in these. The whole we need to export coal has a There is No Alternative ring to it.

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Ken Fabian's avatar

A clear absence of cost effective alternatives would assure they would just buy from someone else but that is not the case any more; constraining the supply will make those clean energy options more attractive and tip borderline decisions towards them. And that border line keeps shifting and progressively favoring the clean energy.

I don't know to what extent Labor under Albanese is beholden or cowed, doesn't see global emissions reductions as their job or just don't care about climate that much isn't clear but appeasing and subsidising the fossil fuel sector into not opposing Labor so Labor will be free to be more ambitious on climate - and win over some LNP voters - seems delusional to me. It won't stem the flow of Labor votes to Greens and Teals and the increasingly serious real world impacts of global warming will assure that the number of Australians willing to vote accordingly will only grow.

Bring on some minority governments - the LibNatLab triopoly won't do real commitment to zero emissions as long as they don't have to. It would be refreshing to see Labor appeasing progressives concerned about climate to assure OUR votes.

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