'The True Cost of Coal' was launched in Poland, where global climate change talks will start next week. It’s good timing because Kevin Rudd and Penny Wong are just about to announce Australia’s target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Read the report: True Cost of Coal

Australia’s new emissions target

Scientists say it should be in the 25-40% range and this was (in principle) the range agreed at the 2007 Bali climate talks. Climate change is now so urgent that we should aim for more than 40% by 2020. And to cut emissions effectively we have to phase out coal.

But Kevin Rudd has failed to shake off the shackles of the coal industry and other big polluters. We’re expecting his target will be a pathetic 5-15%.

This shows Rudd’s failure to live up to his election promise to tackle climate change. It’s a weak attempt to please everyone, while ignoring the most important stakeholders – the Australian community.

Smoking five cigarettes a day instead of 10 won’t prevent lung cancer. An emissions target of 5-15% won’t make a dent on climate change.

Around the world, the coal industry is forcing communities to relocate, pumping dangerous levels of toxins and CO2 into the air and polluting scarce water supplies.

Says Julien Vincent, Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner, “Not only is coal the climate enemy number one but it also causes chaos all the way along the production chain.”

“The more we learn about the cost of coal, the clearer it is that its use is illogical as well as morally wrong, and not just for climate concerns. Australia’s policy-making has been in the clutches of the coal industry for too long.”

Kevin Rudd has an opportunity at the Poland climate change talks (1-12 December) to show Australians he is doing right by them, not the fossil fuel industry. He must commit to reducing greenhouse gases by the top end of the 25-40% range.

Greenpeace’s Energy Revolution modelling shows that energy efficiency and renewable power could totally replace coal-fired electricity by 2030, creating 50,000 new jobs and stabilising electricity costs.