Earlier this month Carr announced the government was looking into backing two private power stations, one of which would be coal-powered, in a bid to avoid further power problems across the state.

Environment groups were quickly on the scene outside Parliament House accusing Mr Carr of hypocrisy and protesting against the state's reliance on coal as a power source.

"The Premier is deceiving the people of NSW about his government's green credentials," said Greens MP Ian Cohen.

"He will only become part of the problem on climate change, not the cure, unless he takes action to reduce the state's dependence on coal mining and coal-fired power."

The taskforce is met for two days in Sydney to finalise recommendations to governments about how they can deal with global warming beyond the Kyoto protocol, which ends in 2012.

Carr defended the option of a coal-fired power station, saying it was "the responsible thing to do".

"We are going to explore all the alternatives that we have got," he said.

The fate of the new power stations is yet to be decided with the NSW Government due to publish a discussion paper next month looking into the state's power needs.

But the coal-fired power station may already be fighting an uphill battle in winning public support. Clive Hamilton, the executive director of the Australia Institute, one of three think tanks sponsoring the work of the taskforce, argued against the need for more coal based energy supplies.

"I think there's a tremendous scope in Australia for the growth of new renewable energy industries, which ought to obviate the need for construction of any new coal-fired power stations," Hamilton said.