Climate, Environment Boards and Foreign Aid slashed by Joe Hockey in #MYEFO

The Abbott Government slashing of climate change infrastructure continues in the latest Midyear Economic Forecast by the Treasurer Joe Hockey, where it was announced the Commonwealth deficit blows out to more than $40 billion and forecast not to return to surplus until 2019-20 at the earliest.

He attributed this budget blowout to reduced revenue due to iron ore prices being low, low wage growth with larger than expected family payments and other government benefits expenditure.

Joe Hockey was quick to criticise Labor's budget deficits and promises to return to surplus, In 2012 he pledged after Labor's 2012 budget that, "based on the numbers presented last Tuesday night we will achieve a surplus in our first year in office and we will achieve a surplus for every year of our first term".

Being in Government it seems, is not as easy to meet such a promise.

Climate science and clean energy suffer under first Abbott budget

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Treasurer Joe Hockey used the federal government's first budget to continue the assault on scientific research, climate change infrastructure, and clean energy programs to devastate the fledgling renewables industry breaking several electoral promises along the way. This will have long term impacts for responding to and mitigating climate change, pushing even greater costs of action on future governments and future generations.

As leader of the Greens Senator Christine Milne observed, "The words environment and climate change did not appear once in budget speech."

And in the short term the budget reduces spending on health, education and social welfare which hit low and middle income earners particularly hard by making drastic and substantial cuts to 89 different health and social welfare programs to save $80 billion over the next 4 years.

The result: these policies increase social inequity on the short and the longer term.

Alcoa smelter closure opportunity to close coal power at Anglesea and in La Trobe Valley

This week Alcoa announced the closure of it's Port Henry smelter and aluminium rolling mills after a review conducted in the last year. This is a definite employment blow to the Geelong region, coming on the heals of the Ford factory announced closure. But it can provide impetus to reduce carbon emissions for climate change mitigation action by shutting down polluting coal fired capacity now excess to demand.

The Alcoa closure will result in a reduction of about 360MW of electricity currently supplied to the Port Henry aluminium smelter. The Anglesea coal fired power station provides 150MW of this power, which would mean a need to reduce La Trobe Valley generating capacity by about 210MW.

"It is highly likely that existing coal-fired generation at Anglesea, or at Yallourn or Hazelwood, will be mothballed or retired as a result of Alcoa's decision, despite Alcoa's stated intent to try and find a buyer for the Anglesea mine and power station," said Mark Wakeham, Environment Victoria acting chief executive.

I wrote at this time last year that this was an opportunity to close down the highly polluting 150MW Anglesea power station and coal mine, all of the power of which was consumed by Alcoa's industrial processes. See the current Petition to close Anglesea Power Station

It is also an opportunity to expand wind power on the surf coast to increase local employment and power generation. Moving from a polluting brown coal mine and power station to wind turbines should be a no-brainer, but the current state government is beholden to coal intersts and a small cult of anti-wind activists holding back substantial investment in wind farm development in regional areas.