I have to say this
The leaders of the Australian Government are GOOBER HEADS! So are the leaders of Victoria (my home state).
Man, they have so dropped the ball on climate change. 5% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020! Like how ridiculous! Taking away the subsidy for people who are installing solar panels (PV) on their roof. GIVING coal fired powerstations and heavy users of the same carbon credits! Saying one thing (renewable energy is very important to Australia's future) and happily dancing down the coal-strewn path to ruin. What is more important? Making money hand over fist now or having an environment that will provide a support system not just for people but the rest of the biota in a hundred years? (People could well survive as long as they have technology to help them out.)
(ETA Compare these two newspaper articles - one says the subsidy will end soon, a later one says the rebate will no longer be means tested... who know what the govt is up to! As for Peter Garrett, well we trusted him cos he used to be the lead singer of Midnight Oil, a pub band made big with their political savvy and progressive views.)
Then my state government is building a reverse osmosis desalination plant that is going to use heaps of power, cos reverse osmosis is greedy, and wants to pump billions of litres of water from an already stressed and dying river system over the Great Divide to Melbourne (also very power hungry) when we have lovely water leaving our treatment plants that could be used as is (non-potable) on gardens etc or treated further for drinking, we have storm water rushing out to the local bay that could be treated and used, we could have water tanks on every house for watering the garden, doing the washing (front loaders use less water), flushing the loo. We don't need to treat sea water, we don't need to pump water from where it is more needed, we certainly do not need to invest in another coal-fired power station to feed these energy intensive strategies.
But no, we have to keep spewing CO2 out cos our governments have no balls and are in love with big coal-fired industry. They cannot see any other way, despite the clamour of the people who elected them thinking they Understood.
Don't get me started on public transport either...
Nothing is more important than the environment we live in and depend on. Nothing. Not money. Certainly not big business. We could change the way we make energy, we could use less, we could keep jobs, just change the source of energy but our leaders do not have the political will. They certainly are not listening to the people they represent. We could make a difference but instead we will make it worse.
ARGH!
Man, they have so dropped the ball on climate change. 5% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020! Like how ridiculous! Taking away the subsidy for people who are installing solar panels (PV) on their roof. GIVING coal fired powerstations and heavy users of the same carbon credits! Saying one thing (renewable energy is very important to Australia's future) and happily dancing down the coal-strewn path to ruin. What is more important? Making money hand over fist now or having an environment that will provide a support system not just for people but the rest of the biota in a hundred years? (People could well survive as long as they have technology to help them out.)
(ETA Compare these two newspaper articles - one says the subsidy will end soon, a later one says the rebate will no longer be means tested... who know what the govt is up to! As for Peter Garrett, well we trusted him cos he used to be the lead singer of Midnight Oil, a pub band made big with their political savvy and progressive views.)
Then my state government is building a reverse osmosis desalination plant that is going to use heaps of power, cos reverse osmosis is greedy, and wants to pump billions of litres of water from an already stressed and dying river system over the Great Divide to Melbourne (also very power hungry) when we have lovely water leaving our treatment plants that could be used as is (non-potable) on gardens etc or treated further for drinking, we have storm water rushing out to the local bay that could be treated and used, we could have water tanks on every house for watering the garden, doing the washing (front loaders use less water), flushing the loo. We don't need to treat sea water, we don't need to pump water from where it is more needed, we certainly do not need to invest in another coal-fired power station to feed these energy intensive strategies.
But no, we have to keep spewing CO2 out cos our governments have no balls and are in love with big coal-fired industry. They cannot see any other way, despite the clamour of the people who elected them thinking they Understood.
Don't get me started on public transport either...
Nothing is more important than the environment we live in and depend on. Nothing. Not money. Certainly not big business. We could change the way we make energy, we could use less, we could keep jobs, just change the source of energy but our leaders do not have the political will. They certainly are not listening to the people they represent. We could make a difference but instead we will make it worse.
ARGH!
I couldn't agree more!
ReplyDeleteThe tiniest ray of hope is that the Aus federal govt will drop the means test for subsidy on purchase of solar panels.
Loooong way to go before they gain credibility on climate change action though.
Sometimes I feel that all the efforts we make to reuse and recycle have been negated by some other thing that our government have done. I know how you feel. Gah!
ReplyDelete