Since the appointment of Angus Taylor as energy minister in the Morrison government on Sunday, RenewEconomy has been deluged by phone calls, texts, emails and social media links from people wishing to share the story of their encounter with the new energy minister on the subject of renewables.

Few were complimentary. Many pointed to his appearance at the “Wind Power Fraud Rally” in Canberra, organised by an anonymous and hate-filled website and which was hosted by shock-jock and renewables opponent Alan Jones. You can hear his speech here, and read the transcript here.

Taylor was one of half a dozen Coalition politician MPs who spoke at the rally, whose organisers are a charming lot, as illustrated by renewable energy commentator Ketan Joshi in this tweet.

FYI, the ‘Stop These Things’ group published death threats and instructions for suicide directed towards renewable energy advocates, and they have a racist nickname for me. It’s anonymous, no one knows who runs it. https://t.co/2d0JbbENk6 — Ketan Joshi (@KetanJ0) August 26, 2018

Others pointed to Taylor’s blueprint for scrapping the RET, which can be found here. Some pointed to a recent interview Taylor granted to another 2GB shock-jock, Ray Hadley. You can hear that conversation here.

Others recounted their individual efforts to engage with Taylor, such as this one from a local constituent, who didn’t get too far before being blocked on Twitter.

I once asked Angus Taylor on Twitter why he wasn’t more supportive of the job creation associated with the wind farms in our region. I asked politely. It was a genuine question. I’m a constituent of Hume. He blocked me. #newgeneration — Marj (@MarjorieGarante) August 26, 2018

And, for balance, we should mention that Liberal MP Craig Kelly also jumped in, saying on his Facebook page that “GREEN RENT-SEEKERS FOAMING AT THE MOUTH OVER APPOINTMENT OF ANGUS TAYLOR AS ENERGY MINISTER,” using the cap button for emphasis.

His audience cheered, calling for Australia to tear up the Paris climate treaty. Kelly went on: RenewEconomy the “well-financed propaganda arm of Chinese Solar/Wind manufacturers – that pocket billions in subsidies, paid for by higher electricity prices in Australia) they have gone in full panic mode.”

Kelly, the head of the Coalition back-bench committee on energy, and another speaker at the Wind Power Fraud Rally, seems to be particularly miffed that we had asserted in our profile piece on Taylor on Sunday that “Taylor’s views are no less extreme than Craig Kelly’s, although better articulated”.

But perhaps the most interesting report was the one we received from renewable energy enthusiastic and blogger, and occasional contributor to RenewEconomy, David Clarke.

Below is a transcript of a Facebook conversation Clarke had with Taylor, way back in 2012, before Taylor was pre-selected for the federal seat of Hume, but amid his active opposition to wind farms, and his campaign to call for the end of subsidies to renewables.

What caught our eye – apart from some factual errors around the ability of coal plants in China to operate at 100 per cent capacity (their average output has been 47 and 48 per cent over the last two calendar years) – was his insistence that gas was a more effective way of reducing emissions.

What a shame, then, that his energy portfolio should be stripped of emissions targets. The cost of wind is now half of what Taylor said it was in 2012, solar is matching it in price after a 90 per cent fall (thanks to subsidies), and the cost of gas has surged. What does Taylor now assume to be the cheapest cost of abatement?

Anyway, all that’s to be learned. Here is the transcript delivered by Clarke.