Greens push to end coal burning, exports

Greens leader Richard Di Natale has denied his party's plan to shut down all coal-fired power stations and phase out thermal coal exports will cost Australians jobs.

The minor party on Thursday released a new climate policy which sets 2030 as the target year for the nation to be running on 100 per cent renewable energy.

The lofty plan shows what the Greens would push a Shorten government for if Labor is victorious at the May federal election.

The Greens want a $1 billion transition plan for workers affected by banning coal, which Senator Di Natale believes will create more than 170,000 new jobs.

"We will lose no jobs because under our plan we will have a national authority, a publicly-owned authority, with express intent to manage this transition," he told ABC Radio National on Thursday.

"The reality is this is happening already, people are going to lose their jobs because the economics are making it so."

The Greens have also proposed establishing a new public energy retailer and re-regulating electricity prices to address price gouging.

Luxury fossil fuel cars would be whacked with a 17 per cent tax to help pay for scrapping registration fees, import tariffs, GST and stamp duty on electric vehicles.

Environment Victoria says the Greens' approach is the only policy that adequately addresses the climate change crises.

"The Greens' target of 100 per cent renewable energy is necessary and feasible," the group's chief executive Jono La Nauze said.

Senator Di Natale said the mining and burning of coal remained the single biggest cause of climate change in Australia and around the world.

"You need the Greens in the Senate to push Labor to make sure we do what needs to be done," he said.