He said he wanted WA to be part of action on climate change but a nationally consistent approach was needed. The federal government had not put any conditions on coal exports from Queensland or NSW but the proposal could damage WA's economy given it exports a lot of gas, which produces fewer emissions. "The federal government needs to get off its hands and actually do something," Mr McGowan said. EPA chair Tom Hatton said the recommendation "does colour the business case" but taking that into account was not the agency's remit. "The government takes that into account and they weigh our advice against those factors," Mr Hatton told the broadcaster.

Mr Hatton said the agency called for a state climate policy two years ago and the WA government was committed to developing one but had not yet done so. Federal Finance Minister Mathias Cormann labelled the recommendation "crazy". "It would hurt the environment to the extent that it would make it harder for West Australian LNG to help reduce emissions around the world," the WA senator told Sky News. The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA said it had "very strong reservations" about the EPA's advice. "We think the notion ... has massive potential downside risk," it said.

Loading "These guidelines could do significant damage to the WA economy just as things are starting to look brighter." Opposition environment spokesman Steve Thomas said the Premier Mark McGowan appeared to have been "dragged reluctantly to reject the proposal on live radio" even though both he and Environment Minister Dawson had been saying officially that industry would be consulted. “The Premier was briefed on this a week ago and for him not to have all his ducks lined up before it was released publicly is a sure sign his government does not have a united response,” Mr Thomas said. “The Premier appears to have forgotten that every word from his government on these guidelines will be analysed by oil and gas companies as they decide whether to invest in WA.

“There is no such thing as an each-way bet for these companies that are investing tens of billions into WA, they want absolute certainty about the environment regime they will be operating in. “This EPA proposal will be welcomed by both Labor’s far left and union-dominated right, so while the Premier says he rejects it he will have to fight that position through the faction-dominated caucus.” Greens WA climate change spokesman Tim Clifford said the Premier's rejection on radio amounted to further government inaction. “Emissions have continued to rise, WA has the second highest per capita emissions nationally and Australia is not on track to meet its Paris targets,” he said. “It baffles me that the McGowan government continues to spruik how LNG is a transition fuel to lower carbon emissions when LNG related carbon emissions have risen to over 30 million tonnes per year as Chevron’s giant Wheatstone and Gorgon projects have come online in the last 12 months.

“We keep hearing that the McGowan Government wants a nationally consistent approach when that itself is unlikely to be binding. “The EPA guidance clearly states the aim is to 'improve transparency and addressing market failures which impede energy efficiency and low emissions technology uptake, and are warranted regardless of the policy approach at the national level.' "Successive Labor and Liberal Governments continue to give gas companies a free ride, they pay next to no tax or royalties back to the State. All that money could be going back into roads or hospitals, instead it's lining the pockets of gas executives. "This is hypocrisy at its highest level, the State Government and LNG companies love to tell us how much they care about climate change but as soon as they are held accountable they run. “For a government that claims to care about climate change, they should be welcoming these new measures by the EPA. Emissions are at huge levels, and there must be more accountability.”

With AAP