Coalition and One Nation’s plan to ditch net zero would not lower power prices, CSIRO report finds

By: Graham Readfearn Environment and climate correspondent

14 July 2026 at 15:01

GenCost report contradicts parties’ claims about abandoning emissions target, and finds nuclear would be most expensive way to generate power

Claims by the Coalition and One Nation that abandoning a net zero climate target would bring down power prices are contradicted in a new CSIRO report on the costs of generating electricity.

Generation costs will probably rise after 2030 regardless of Australia’s policy on net zero, according to the CSIRO’s annual GenCost report, but prices should then stabilise at levels below recent price spikes.

West Antarctica Is Missing Way Too Much Ice

Wired

By: Graham Readfearn

17 June 2026 at 11:30

Temperatures have climbed up to 45 degrees Fahrenheit above normal, stopping ice from forming in the dead of Antarctic winter.

Gas usage has peaked and is now in structural decline across Australia, report says

The Guardian - Energy

By: Graham Readfearn

31 May 2026 at 16:00

Grattan Institute calls on Labor to set policies that will further reduce the use of gas in order to meet net zero targets

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After more than a half a century of growth, the use of gas in Australia has peaked in all sectors and entered a “structural decline”. But use will need to fall fast to meet climate targets, according to new research from an influential thinktank.

The Grattan Institute warned the government had failed to acknowledge the decline and instead needed policies to further reduce gas use and avoid the need for expensive carbon capture technologies to meet net zero targets.

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BHP ‘laughing’ at Australia’s key climate policy while pocketing hundreds of millions in tax breaks, Pocock says

The Guardian - Energy

By: Christopher Knaus · Adam Morton · Dan Jervis-Bardy and Graham Readfearn

26 May 2026 at 05:46

Outrage as leaked documents reveal mining giant’s backsliding on commitments to slash emissions

The independent senator David Pocock says leaked BHP documents show that the mining giant is “laughing” at Australia’s key climate policy while pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars through a generous diesel tax break.

An exclusive investigation based on documents leaked to by the Guardian and the ABC show BHP has scrapped a project to significantly reduce global emissions, delayed vast renewables projects in the Pilbara and war-gamed options to push the electrification of its polluting diesel truck and train fleets into the next two decades.

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