Release: Lying Al Gore Shouldn't Lecture Taxpayers On Climate
$320,000 for Al Gore's climate conference is a waste of QLD taxpayers' funds
Gore attacks Aussie coal exports while making misleading claims that coal-fired power is declining in India
Nuclear energy and natural gas conspicuously left out of the discussion
QLD government must compensate taxpayers for this monumental waste
The Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance, a 75,000+ member national grassroots advocacy body representing the nation’s taxpayers, today condemned the sinking of $320,000 in taxpayers’ funds for a conference that brought Al Gore to Australia, as well as the misleading and ill-informed public statements made there.
“Instead of spending the money on better public services or repairing Queensland’s fiscal balance, the Palaszczuk government have spent it on flying in a man who lives in a 20-room sprawling mansion that consumes over 20 times the energy of the average Australian household to lecture us on making sacrifices to save the planet.” Said Satya Marar, ATA Director of Policy.
“Mr. Gore has used his taxpayer-funded platform to make misleading claims. Contrary to his assertions that India is moving away from coal, India’s coal imports have increased by over 5.1 percent in this fiscal year compared to the last one. Given that coal provides for well over half of India’s energy needs with their coal-fired power set to expand well past 2030 even under India's Paris Accord commitments, this spells a more promising future for Australian exports and jobs than what the man who said that Arctic sea ice would be gone by 2014 purports.
“Without Australian exports, nations like India would be forced to rely more on their own coal, which is geologically more emissions-intense than Australian coal, to satiate their growing economy’s needs. This coal is often mined under dangerous conditions that put the health of civilians in the densely populated nation at risk.
“It’s also absurd that Mr. Gore discusses a transition to clean power with barely a mention of natural gas or nuclear power, both of which Australia holds in immense untapped reserves. These are vital to firm up renewables as Australia’s own coal-fired power stations enter retirement. Gore has forgotten that his native United States drastically lowered its emissions by extracting enough of its own gas to beat coal-fired power on price.
“The 2019 federal election showed us that when it comes to climate and energy, Australians don’t want to be lectured to by pontificating ideologues masquerading as experts. Hardworking taxpayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill to give them a stage for doing exactly that.
“We call on the Palaszczuk government to apologise for this monumental waste of taxpayers’ money, and to legislate tax cuts to compensate.”