So where do we go from here regarding the rising cost of electricity?
In part One of our discussion on emissions reductions, the Energy minister Chris Bowen outlined the outstanding task and length of time it would take to provide the emissions reductions pledged to the UN by 2030
A couple of weeks later in the ‘West Australian’ this astonishing announcement appeared courtesy of political reporter Josh Zimmerman on Tuesday 1st November 2022:
Why Synergy is ‘likely’ to import coal ahead of summer!
Synergy will ‘likely’ need to import coal this year to keep its Collie-based power plants operational over summer, the Premier of Western Australia Mark McGowan has revealed. This statement is in response to growing financial problems in the coal industry.
Oliver Yates, the inaugural head of the federal government’s green bank and a senior advisor to investment fund Sentient Impact Group, said recently that WA was headed towards an energy calamity amid a growing crisis affecting its coal industry. Coal-fired power still accounts for about a third of the electricity used in the state’s biggest grid, but the domestic miners responsible for producing the fuel are in financial distress.
We ‘one-voters’ hope this situation will not result in power black-outs in summer!
Then we had the El-Sheikh Climate Change Conference in Egypt in November, when the Executive Secretary, Simon Steill, of COP 27 said in his opening remarks: 
‘We must create a safe political space, shielded from whatever is going on “out there”, to do our jobs and deliver world change. The geopolitical situation – the pandemic, the food and energy crises have hit countries, economies and most importantly, individuals hard. Let me take this moment to humbly remind all those engaged in this process, of a simple fact. For decades, communities all over the world, very often the most vulnerable people, have been dealing with a continuous stream of crises – facing impact after impact of climate change’.
He referred to the problems facing his own country Grenada a state of 3 islands including Carriacou and Martinique in the Caribbean, which are facing the same problems of rising sea levels as being experienced by countries in the Pacific Ocean.
The big question here is, where do these people go when their countries become inhabitable because of rising sea levels!
As debate goes on regarding climate change the largest emitters of CO2 China and India go on producing the bulk of greenhouse gasses. The worst feature of this is our country continues to provide them with the coal to continue doing this. It seems the export revenue from coal remains in the ‘too hard basket’ when Governments weigh up the cost of a healthy planet versus balancing the country’s budget!
Perhaps this will change over time, which appears to be running out according to the experts. However, the cost of energy is now rearing its ugly head as it is now threatening the viability of many small businesses and making the cost of living for ordinary people very difficult.
Gemma Tognini when writing for ‘the Weekend Australian’ in November this year mentioned the false promises made by politicians when they swore on the ballot box they were would reduce our household power bills by more than $250 per household per year. What made this worse was they knew this was a lie, and also, not realizing this was not going to be possible.
Gemma also mentioned the ‘green dream’ elites who are our wealthiest and incidentally have the largest carbon footprint lecture to us saying ‘OK proletariat, just line up for your soup’
Then federal MP Kate Chaney suggested a resources super-profit tax that would ‘help Australia’s most vulnerable’ an odd concept that would only drive prices for energy sources higher to hit low-income earners harder. There are some of the half-baked and untruthful conversations which skirt around the issue and never allow intelligent conversations about long-term solutions like nuclear energy.
Even professor Marcia Langton a respected Indigenous leader warned that the green economy would have worse consequences for Indigenous people than mining and land clearing. However nobody seemed to take any notice of what she said when she spoke of the ‘fantasy’ narrative around the Green Industry. She stated ‘It feels as though Australia is driving blindfolded off the edge of a cliff! ‘There needs to be some leadership from the Albanese Government, price mechanism intervention is not a solution it’s a band-aid on a severed artery’.
So, where do we go from here? Do we just keep complaining about the cost of energy bills or do we have a discussion with our local members to see if government policy regarding nuclear energy is changing. My view is technology has changed and improved significantly over the years and its time we started to look seriously at an alternative instead of running around the ‘mulberry bush’ because time is running out.
See more on this subject in part 3 of, 'Its our own fault'...
This post is proudly sponsored by Liz & John’s Seven Day Pet Grooming Service
