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Shadow Environment Minister Angie Bell is doing the rounds on television this morning and outlining why the Coalition is opposed to the government's proposed environmental protection laws. Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, Bell says the Coalition has two major sticking points with Labor's bill, which is nearly 1,500 pages long. Bell says the first is that a future Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) boss wouldn't be answerable to the environment minister. The second concern surrounds the requirement that companies report their scope one and scope two emissions. Bell says that's a double-up because it's something already required under the safeguards mechanism. "We think at the moment, this bill is completely unworkable. We entered good faith negotiations with the government," Bell says."However, the way it is right now, there's no net gain for industry and for jobs and for certainty for those approvals processes at the moment. And that's what we're concerned about." Labor needs the support of either the Coalition or Greens to pass the bill through parliament. The shadow environment minister says Australians should be "horrified" if the government turns around and does a deal with the Greens to pass the legislation.
