The renewable energy sector has taken another hard hit, this time in the form of thinly-veiled condemnation by Australia’s prime minister.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott appeared to revel in his party’s attempt to shut down wind power in particular during an interview with radio host Alan Jones late last week.

“When I’ve been up close to these wind farms, there’s no doubt, not only are they visually awful, they make a lot of noise,” said the PM.

“What we did recently in the Senate was reduce, Alan, reduce, capital R-E-D-U-C-E, we reduce the number of these things that we are going to get in the future,” he said.

“Now, I would frankly have liked to reduce the number a lot more.”

Jones raised the pseudo-scientific argument that wind turbines can have negative health effects for those living nearby.

Mr Abbott said: “I do take your point”.

Abbott’s concern about health effects goes against the findings of the National Health and Medical Research Council and World Health Organisation, both of which have repeatedly found no consistent evidence of adverse health effects form wind farms.

Senate committee formed by independent senators is currently investigating the health link again.

The renewable sector is understandably angry at Mr Abbott’s attempt to reduce electricity and climate change policy to a matter of aesthetics.

It leads many to wonder if the Prime Minister genuinely prefers the visual aspects of coal mines, oil rigs, gas wells and fossil-fuel power stations over wind or solar farms.

The Australian Solar Council says despite the RET staying in place, the fight to save clean energy is far from over.

“He has clearly said that if he ever gets the chance to scrap the RET, he will. If he ever gets the votes of 6 of the 8 cross bench Senators – the RET is gone. Today he is probably only 1 vote short,” said Australian Solar Council CEO Grimes.

The Australian Wind Alliance is worried too.

“The Government has always maintained that it was cutting the RET due to an oversupply of electricity,” said national coordinator Andrew Bray.

“But it’s obvious that rationale was just smoke and mirrors to cover up their real intent: to destroy wind energy in Australia.”

Valerie Rockefeller Wayne is chair of the $1.1 billion Rockefeller Brothers Fund, a social change charity built on the Rockefeller oil fortune.

In an interview on the weekend, Ms Rockefeller said the Australian Government’s rabid defence of fossil fuels meant the country was “stuck in the past”.

“The value of coal stock in the United States has gone down 60 to 90 per cent,” Ms Rockefeller told the ABC's Four Corners program.

“If you look just at the financial data in Australia ... over the past five years, the SNP500 has gone up by 76 per cent,” she said.

“The value of coal stocks has gone down by 71 per cent, so you've lost a lot of money if you've been in coal.”

“You look at Australia, which is such a fragile environment in so many ways, and you think of what's planned for the Galilee Basin,” she said.

“It is just heartbreaking and I just don't understand.

“In my mind Australia's an extremely progressive country that has been an international player on so many issues.

“It is baffling to me why the current Australian Government is stuck in the past rather than looking towards the future and becoming part of the solution.”