EXCLUSIVE: Coalition will not ‘put jobs at risk’ by pushing ‘aggressive emissions targets’

Energy Minister Angus Taylor says he will “not put someone’s job at risk” to pursue an “overly aggressive” emissions reduction target. In an exclusive interview with Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell said the Coalition would “strive every day” to beat its current target of a 26-28 per cent reduction by 2030 but would not harm the economy in the process. “We will never put someone's job at risk or the economy at risk more broadly or incomes at risk more broadly some overly aggressive target like Labor's,” he said. “With the overachievement we have less carbon in the atmosphere as a result of the hard work of Australian businesses and households we are in a position to meet and beat and you’ll see we are ahead of our target in 2019. “For 2030 we will meet and beat our target bases on current projections.” Mr Clennell also pressed the minister on the Coalition’s plans to use Kyoto targets if Australia is struggling to meet targets. Mr Taylor said that was only “one factor” of the calculation and promised to only use the carry-over credits if the government needed to. “That’s one factor, there’s more to it than that,” he said. “Emissions now are 50 million tonnes lower than they were under the previous Labor Government. “We’ll only use them (Kyoto credits) if we have to.” Via news.com.au — Australia’s #1 news site https://www.news.com.au