Pitched as a solution, Victorian Opposition Leader Brad Battins clean gas crusade may prove to be a big misstep for the Victorian Liberals, writesJoy Toose.

JUST DAYS after the crushing defeat of the Federal Coalition,Brad Battin, Leader of the Victorian Liberal Party, came up with a new term to describe a dirty old problem: clean gas.

The problem is that gas isnt a clean alternative. In fact, it isnt cleaner than coal, and the only real clean alternative is solar and wind. Victoria is facing a serious gas shortage and the Liberal Party wont own up to it the real reason there is very little new gas development happening in Victoria is because theres very little gas.

Which is why theAllanGovernment is making sensible moves to electrify our state. Battins clean gas rhetoric is simply his partys latest desperate attempt to rebrand the same old devil polluting methane gas.

Labor's unveiling of a new gas policy reminiscent of that of the former Liberal Government amidst an ongoing climate crisisis a monumental failure, Dr Graeme McLeay writes.

Battin is talking about the same gas that accounts for 17 per cent of Victorias climate pollution and is already responsible for nearly a third of global warming, according to theInternational Energy Agency. And its the same gas that accounts for around 12 per cent of childhood asthma in Australia, according to the AustralianNational Asthma Council.

Its certainly not clean but frankly, in Victoria, thats not the biggest problem because whatever you call it, Victorias gas supply has been running dry for some time now.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has repeatedly warned about shortages driven by the decline of Victorias once-plentiful Bass Strait gas reserves. AEMOs latest forecast warns of shortages from 2028, unless urgent action is taken.

Battin and his party aren't offering any credible plan to head off shortfalls. Instead, they're going down the well-worn culture war route to try to win over Victorian voters with a confected gas war. The problem is that Battins attempt to whip up an argument about whether gas is clean or not is simply a distraction from Victorias geological reality that were out of readily accessible gas.

True, there are small pockets of gas left in Victoria, including, controversially, under the 12 Apostles, but nothing at a meaningful scale. The gas drilled from smaller and smaller pockets wont be enough. Burning gas at the same rate would mean Victoria has to import more and more gas from interstate or overseas, and both options will expose Victorians to the spiralling and unstable costs of international gas markets.

As CSG mining expands, reports show discrepancies in waste tracking data, raising questions as to where the contaminated waste is being disposed of.

Which is why the Victorian Government is making plans to gradually shift more Victorian homes across to all-electric as old, inefficient gas hot water systems and heaters break down. By making sure these outdated gas appliances are replaced with modern, efficient electric ones, Victoria will be using the only real solution to our gas problem reducing demand.

It's not good enough to try and rebrand gas and take shots at the Allan Governments plans. The Victorian Opposition needs to explain how it would tackle shortfalls and what it would cost us.

The Federal Election showed us just how thoroughly Australians saw through former Opposition LeaderPeter Duttons culture wars and nuclear distraction. Australians voted for a government with a plan to power our homes and our economy with affordable renewable energy.

Unless Brad Battin changes his tactics of falsely claiming an illusory notion of clean gas will magically fix Victorias energy shortfalls, his party is doomed to meet the same fate as his Federal counterparts.

Joy Tooseis the Climate Campaign Manager for Environment Victoria.