Farmers, community and environmental groups from across the Victoria gathered on the steps of Parliament on the first sitting day of 2016 (Tuesday 9 February) to greet the MPs as they prepare to make crucial decisions about the state’s energy future.

Just a day after the new chief scientist Dr Alan Finkel called for Australia to accelerate the switch from polluting coal to clean renewable energy, it was revealed the Federal government has mounted another attack on renewables.

Big energy companies have sought to “open up” Victoria to onshore gas drilling and fracking–putting prime farmland and water resources at risk. Regional communities around the state have said “no” to risky unconventional gas extraction.

As Victoria finalises it’s policy on a Victorian Renewable Energy Target (VRET),  homeowners are switching to solar in a sign they want greater ambition from our state government on transitioning to renewable energy.

The Andrews government opened the first tranch of its New Energy Jobs Fund in Blackburn today.

The Paris Conference has exceeded expectations by achieving universal agreement to limit global warming to 2C, and striving for a stronger target of 1.5C. The increased ambition on the international stage has implications for policymakers in Australia who must now ramp up programs to cut carbon—and fast.

At the weekend, Fairfax media revealed the Turnbull government had lifted the controversial wind farm investment ban imposed on the Clean Energy Finance Corporation under Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

Late November, Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio visited Ararat to turn the first sod on a new wind farm under construction thanks to the ACT’s ambitious Renewable Energy Targets.

A national poll commissioned by The Australia Institute shows strong public support for ambitious Renewable Energy Targets as the Andrews government finalises its Renewable Energy Action Plan.

When thinking of jobs in the renewable energy sector one often thinks of the electricians installing rooftop solar throughout the suburbs; the wind workers fabricating turbine towers in Portland; or the construction jobs that go along with building wind farms in regional Victoria.