The Coalition’s war on renewable energy and economic re-structuring
If you vote Labor you won’t be able to afford to turn your lights on
True to form, Angus Taylor and the Murdoch media are making stuff up about Labor’s plan to invest in electricity transmission infrastructure to connect the nation’s dispersed renewable hotspots – an idea that has long been advocated by the Australian Energy Market Operator. According to Taylor and the Daily Telegraphthat will add $560 to one’s electricity bill.
Writing in Renew Economy Michael Mazengarb and Giles Parkinson point out the absurdity of these figures: ‘Another lie:’ It is time to call out Coalition’s climate modelling con. They counter with a link to independent modelling revealing that Labor’s policies would result in savings for households.
That makes engineering sense: if our hotspots in different climate regions and in different time zones can be connected to the grid there will be a more continuous flow of electricity from low-cost renewable resources without the need to resort to high-cost gas supplementation. Taylor, however, refuses to reveal the modelling (if there is any) behind his claim.
Our moral obligations on climate change
Australian religious communities are helping the Coalition find its missing moral compass – this time on climate change.
The Church Leaders’ Easter Statement on the Environment, signed by Anglican and Catholic bishops, by the President of the National Council of Churches, and by representatives of other Christian churches, calls for specific action on climate change – “halving carbon emissions this decade”, “transforming our energy system towards 100 percent renewable electricity while delivering a planned and just transition for energy workers”, and “investing in programs to support communities on the frontlines to plan, prepare and adapt to the extreme weather events”.
Notably missing from the list of signatories is the body known as Australian Christian Churches, the combined voice of the Pentecostal movement in Australia.
Ross Gittins has an Easter message about the moral obligation on Christians to be “stewards of the earth” in line with Jesus’ teachings. Loving our neighbours means loving not only those who are around now to share the planet’s limited resources, but also those who will share whatever’s left from what we pass on to them.
From a similarly spiritual but non-religious perspective, science writer Alan Stevenson writes about the difficulty we have in understanding the natural systems around is. “Can we therefore ever really know our planet?” Political opportunists have exploited our limited capacity to understand natural systems to hold back on action on climate change and to ignore the advice of scientists. “The more conditions have edged towards catastrophe the less Morrison’s government has seemed capable of acting wisely, and decisively”, he writes. His article Sixth sense, about the way we learn about our environment, is in Open Forum.
Writing in Eureka Street Binoy Kampmark describes a number of legal cases in which citizens, particularly young people, have launched legal action against ministers and corporations for failing in their duty of care towards those who would be adversely affected by the climate change consequences of their actions: Climate change and duty of care.