National Energy ‘Guarantee’: can our power ‘trilemma’ become a policy trifecta – or quinella?

Third, to ease costs even further, the ESB suggested that international trading in emissions permits might be allowed. This would be a useful way of using market arbitrage to spread the emissions reduction cost burden (and/or international hypocrisy in this area) globally.

But these are inconvenient truths to all politicians, it seems.

Labor, and the then Coalition Opposition led by the current Prime Minister, once pushed for a CPRS (as a response to Prime Minster Rudd's concern about 'the greatest moral challenge of our time'). Then Prime Minister Gillard introduced a carbon tax (after saying 'There will be no carbon tax under a government I lead.'). Now Labor attacks the Government for proposing a policy that has such elements. And, in true 'political football' spirit, Government politicians promptly deny these charges (and seek shelter behind recent COAG-appointed experts).

Blind Freddy can see Labor is now the 'pot calling the kettle black', and the Coalition is 'the kettle'. Black smoke all around, really.

Please stop this vacuous nonsense (and House 'doorstop' ice-cream and cheeseburger stunts from people whose credibility is shot).

Energy/climate policy has been a decade-plus wasteland of political football with no rules and perverse results. These are summarised in hard statistics. Australia's rapid transition from a low-cost energy world leader to a high and rising cost laggard is Exhibit A.

Today, political football, and the lies that go with it, is still the energy policy game.

Wake up. It's not a game. It's about fixing an energy mess undermining living standards, jobs, and security.

This is the 'trilemma' that really matters in the end.

Is apolicy quinella the best we can hope for (not necessarily in a good way)?

The NE'G' may be worth considering (unless you are a climate atheist or sceptic), but, if so, needs a massive amount of refining.

Ultimately, any agreement and action requires the 9 members of COAG to sign on.