From the Liveblog of
Sunday, April 30, 2023
Key climate bill delayed amid disagreement on which ministry gets responsibilities
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
The Energy Ministry proposed last week that it should be responsible for handling the climate crisis. This emerges during a Ministerial Committee for Legislation discussion about a proposed climate bill.
Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman wants the committee to agree to advance the bill, but has been ordered to hold talks this week with other ministries — with the main one being the Energy Ministry — that oppose her draft bill.
Referring to the Energy Ministry’s bid for the climate portfolio, Silman says after the meeting that “the cat can’t guard the cream, the polluter will not prevent pollution, and we oppose it strongly.”
The Environmental Protection Ministry’s bill seeks to commit the state to cutting global warming gases by 50% by 2030, relative to 2015. The current policy, set by the government in 2020, is to cut it by 27%.
The Energy Ministry has failed to meet its own targets, set three years ago, to produce 30% of the country’s energy from renewable energy, mainly solar energy.
The Times of Israel Community.