The Ghost Of Christmas Present
Regular readers of this column may have noticed that we haven’t always been that kind to Martin “Fossil Fuel” Ferguson, our Minister for Resources. And we haven’t been alone in mercilessly pointing to the Minister for Resources’ predilection for fossil fuels, his apparent unwillingness to listen to new ideas and his brushing aside of renewable energy such as solar power in favour of vested fossil fuel interests.
Fergie has been the favourite target of government partners The Greens as they have, on occasion, accused the Minister of mismanaging Australia’s solar energy program in order that the fossil fuel industry is given a leg up.
“Martin Ferguson has mismanaged this process from start to finish, helping to keep renewable energy from challenging coal’s dominance,” Greens deputy leader Christine Milne was quoted in this AFR report earlier this year. See Greens slam Ferguson on solar projects.
Hardly what you’d call a vote of confidence Mr Ferguson.
However in the best tradition of Christmas spirit, we here at SolarQuotes HQ have decided to say a few nice words about our Minister for Drilling and Extracting (sorry Resources).
And an opportunity arose this week to pay tribute to Fergie’s new-found commitment to renewable energy. Imagine our surprise when our eyes lit on a ministerial press release, announcing an $83 million federal funding project for solar research funding as part of the United States- Australia Solar Energy Collaboration (USASEC).
“Today’s funding commitment supports the collaborative efforts being made by our governments to drive innovation, build research and technical capacity, and provide pathways to solar commercialisation,” Minister Ferguson thundered to reporters before unveiling himself as a life-long, closet solar man. Obviously the fossil fuel thing was a cunning disguise.
So there you go. You can be wrong about anyone. What next for 2013 for our erstwhile minister? Tie-dyed t-shirts and flared jeans? Shoulder-length hair and a peace moratorium?
One can only hope though I think most solar fans would settle for a coherent domestic solar energy policy — one to guide Australia into a renewable energy future.
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[…] Last week we took a look at the rare event of Resources Minister Martin Ferguson putting his hand in his pocket to support a solar power initiative. While the sight of old “Fossil Fuel” Ferguson supporting a renewable energy project after accusations of mismanagement and bias in favour of fossil fuel industries was immense, this week we’d like to concentrate on some of the technology behind the projects. […]