Christine Milne, leader of the Australian Green party and Senator for Tasmania, weighed in on Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET), which has been stalled in Parliament due to the inability of major parties to reach a compromise on the target.

After the Australian Parliament appeared poised to dramatically scale back the country’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) to source 20% of electricity from renewable sources by 2020, a compromise more favorable to supporters of renewable energy now appears likely following intense lobbying in Canberra. A review of the RET, headed by businessman Dick Warburton, argued that the RET be closed to new projects or dramatically scaled back. But those options have been largely dismissed by both renewable energy and government supporters.

A government-appointed review panel has recommended that Australia drastically cut back its Renewable Energy Target (RET) program. The review reported that the program’s costs are “not justifiable” and recommended either closing the program to new investment or modifying it so that renewable power would make up just 50% of any future growth in electricity demand.

The Australian government has approved plans for a giant coal mine in Queensland. According to the government, the mine could generate as much as $300 billion, with a resource value of $60 billion per year over 60 years. In response to environmental concerns, Environment Minister Greg Hunt emphasized that the mine was approved under very strict terms, including 36 federal and 190 state conditions and offsets of about 30,000 hectares for destroyed habitats.

Last Thursday, Australia's senate voted 39 to 32 to repeal the carbon tax, a measure established under the previous Labor government that imposed a levy on the country’s biggest polluters. Prime Minister Tony Abbott had long opposed the tax, arguing that it cost jobs and caused energy prices to rise, and had made its repeal part of his election campaign.

The United Nations has rejected a bid by the Australian government to delist 74,000 hectares of forest from Tasmania’s World Heritage Area. The area in question is part of the 170,000 hectares of forest that had been added to the World Heritage Area in 2013 by the former federal and state Labor governments as part of a deal between the forest industry and green groups. According to Australia’s Abbott government, the area they proposed to delist was not worthy of World Heritage status, as it had been damaged by prior logging.

Resources company Metgasco has had its exploration license suspended in response to complaints that the company did not adequately consult with the local community. Activists near Lismore, Australia, in New South Wales report that the majority of the region’s residents opposed plans for test drilling in the area and were worried about the potential impact on the water supply.

On May 9, the Tasmanian government reversed a ban on the controversial sodium fluoroacetate product called "1080" that was due to come into effect next year. Many Tasmanians have fought against use of the pesticide, commonly used by farmers to manage animal pests, as it kill animals indiscriminately; according to Greens leader Kim Booth, farmers should instead turn to fencing or targeted removal of the pests. Primary industries minister Jeremy Rockliff, however, argued that the ban was premature.

Environmental groups in Australia are gearing up to take the government to court for what they see as a host of anti-environment measures. Over the past few months, green groups have objected to the Abbott government’s repeal of the carbon price in favor of a “direct action” policy, the bid to remove parts of Tasmania’s forests from World Heritage protection, and the handover of power to pro-development state governments. Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s comment in March that Australia has too much “locked up forest” fueled the conflict.

Energy World Corporation (EWC) is planning to construct a huge liquefied gas export terminal at Abbot Point on the Queensland coast. The project, which comes just months after the Great Barrier Reef Marine Authority approved plans to dump 3,000,000 tons of dredge spoil in the area as part of a coal export expansion, could involve dredging half a million meters of seabed, further damaging the sensitive region. While the EWC states that the project was designed to minimize environmental impacts, environmentalists fear the effects the dredging could have on the ecosystem.