ABC finance editor Alan Kohler has sparked backlash by likening Australia’s fossil fuel exports to the work of a drug dealer.

In a segment aired on Monday, Kohler argued that while the country talks big on climate change, its actions tell a very different story.

Kohler pointed out that even as Australia’s electricity system averages 42 per cent renewable – and coal generation is expected to hit zero in 13 years – the nation remains the world’s third-largest fossil fuel exporter.

‘Of course, the argument is if we don’t supply the coal and gas, someone else will,’ Kohler said.

‘That’s a bit like a drug dealer saying if he doesn’t supply the cocaine, someone else will. In a way, fossil fuels are a drug that the world became hooked on and is now in rehab.’

Kohler said that since coming to power in 2022, the Albanese Government has approved 32 new coal and gas projects.

Kohler used the story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde as a metaphor for Australia’s contradictory approach to climate change.

In the story, Dr Jekyll is a respectable man who transforms into the evil Mr Hyde after drinking a potion.

Australian financial journalist Alan Kohler has sparked backlash by likening Australia’s fossil fuel exports to the work of a drug dealer

Sky News host Chris Kenny hit back at the ABC host, calling his drug analogy absurd

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‘Apart from saying the right things and legislating ambitious emissions targets, our own electricity system is, on average, 42 per cent renewable,’ Kohler said.

‘Coal generation is expected to reach zero in 13 years, yet our fossil fuel exports completely overshadow that progress.

‘Australia, in short, is the ultimate Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde when it comes to climate change – although we don’t switch by drinking a potion, we’re good and bad at the same time.’

Kohler’s comments sparked a fierce backlash on Sky News, as conservative commentator Chris Kenny weighed in.

He called the drug dealer comparison ‘absurd, insulting and deceptive’.

‘Illicit drugs are targeted because they are harmful. Fossil fuels have been the driving force of the industrial revolution in all its stages, right up until now,’ Kenny said.

‘Fossil fuels created jobs, built cities, and powered personal, mass, and international transport. Our education, healthcare, entertainment, food, and sports – all of it, has relied on them.’

Kenny warned that ignoring the role of fossil fuels in modern life is dangerous.

Kenny warned that ignoring the role of fossil fuels in modern life is dangerous

‘You can talk all you like about reducing emissions…but you can’t change the facts. Billions of people enjoy unprecedented health, education, and prosperity today because of what fossil fuels have delivered,’ he said.

‘That’s just reality – you can’t just get rid of affordable and reliable power unless you have something to replace it with.

‘The climate hysteria has been talked up, the energy disaster has been talked down.’

The ABC said it stands by Kohler’s reporting, and that it adheres to the network’s editorial standards.