Conservasion 2: What a mess - lets clean up the environment of environmentalism

What a mess - lets clean up the environment of environmentalism

In Australia we have a terrible mis-balance of power toward stupidity in Government.

If we only get the 'Government we deserve' then we must have done something really bad to have the karma bus deliver the sort of policy that we currently enjoy in Australia.

If the Liberal's GST wasn't enough, now the current Labor government wants to implement a carbon trading scheme that will push up electricity prices, while our taxes will go to the 'poor' coal and other polluting industries, because they will be 'disadvantaged'!!! So, the public get slugged twice! As this interesting article in The Age states,

"The problem with the Rudd Government's scheme is that many economists now argue it has become so watered down by concessions to special interest groups and incumbent polluters with highly paid lobbyists that the market signal has been dulled to the point of meaninglessness."

I believe a carbon tax is a much better idea in order to reduce carbon emissions. If an industry is so polluting that it can't sustain itself with the tax impacts, and users can't afford the electricity price hikes to (again) pay for these industries, then like those automotive and banking companies in the United States that needed bailing out, these coal and electricity producing companies should die. Adapt, or Die.

Government's job is to manage this death of the coal industry and ensure that a stable supply of essential electricity is provided to the community through a transition period. Again, in my view, any other approach is a fool's paradise if convincing ourselves that we're doing some good when carbon emissions remain unchanged; polluters keep polluting and we pay for the privilege.

What the source of our energy needs will be has been discussed in previous posts, however I'm sure I have not predicted the eventual way forward, rather than simply a display of my preferences.

Interestingly some Liberal Party members are re-introducing the potential for nuclear power - thank goodness. As many are re-thinking nuclear power, I believe there is a chance Australia will come to it's senses. And maybe some politicians are leading, rather than following the masses.

A review of power options is available here and it also contains a link to a report by Professor Lanzen of Sydney University and Sydney's Centre for Integrated Sustainability Analysis. This report details in well referenced academic terms the potential ways forward for electricity generation and summarises the current research available as at 2009. While the Australian Uranium Association had asked Professor Lenzen to review the most up-to-date literature on electricity generation technologies, reading the document shows it to be a thorough study of available options.

Give it a read.

When will we learn - clean coal is dirty

In today's Australian newspaper, the "Australian Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute" tells us that clean coal is too expensive to establish. A carbon price of $60 a tonne (I wonder how many minutes of coal fired operation that is) is required before it's viable.

Then we bury the carbon underground, where there is a risk of leakage apparently. So I wonder why we aren't burying nuclear waste and having a cleaner type of power to start of with?

Oh yes, nuclear is "bad". We can sell our yellow (cake) overseas but we (the intelligent nation - with our very own education revolution) can't use it ourselves. So 2030 is the date upon which we have estimates of when carbon will reach this price.. yet even in the most dire of predictions we can have working nuclear power plants up and running by 2020. So, we're willing to keep on stalling and throwing our arms up in the air are hanging onto this idea of clean coal while opportunity goes begging.

Fucking amazing.

Yep, tell the thousands of patients per day who benefit from nuclear medicine every day. It's really bad!!! Attach the word nuclear to something and see people cringe, or frown. Why? Early technology developments have problems and the cost of not maintain these facilities (like when your entire politico-economic structure falls down - ala Communist Russia) is clear. Yet today some advanced countries like Germany and France have large parts of their power requirements safely generated by nuclear power. In Germany's case it's over 50%.

Australia, get smarter, get wiser. Nuclear isn't "bad" it's smarter technology and cleaner. It's our way to being environmentally sustainable - keeping our development and advanced status in the world while engaging in an environmentally responsible generation of electricity.

It doesn't take a $100million a year institute - even Kevin and Julia's education revolution should be able to tell us that.


Incidentally why is this an 'Australian Global' institute, is it like The World Series, where only American's play? Is this Australian's Global institute that only Australians are part of...?