Political climate change

6 April, 2011

Protests about environmental policy – when did that last happen? In fact, last weekend in Sydney, there were two demonstrations – in one park they were demonstrating in favor of the climate change levy, while in another there were protests against it. It seems you can’t turn on the television without seeing a program about carbon taxes. Even I’m getting a bit tired of it!

The opponents of environmental measures come across as particularly shrill. Right-wing politicians speak of ‘human-induced political climate change as a result of carbon taxes’. The left, meanwhile, like to make references to Europe, pointing out that measures to tackle climate change have led to more jobs and faster technological progress there. One important difference with Europe is that Australia actually has vast reserves of coal. This has meant that Australians have never had to give much serious consideration to other sources of energy. Australian consumers can’t just tick a box to choose ‘green energy’ from their energy supplier, for example.

Even so, Australia, with all its sun, wind and sea, has unparalleled potential for generating sustainable energy, although there’s still a long way to go before that potential is realized. The government is seeking to encourage people to generate sustainable energy – by reducing the price of solar panels for private individuals for example, but so far, the impact has been limited, partly because there aren't enough people with the right skills to install the solar panels... “Will workers who lose their jobs in the coal industry be offered retraining?” was one question I heard being put to a Green politician by a more skeptical participant in a television debate. She said they would be.

However, a more relevant question is actually whether a gradual transition from coal to green energy in Australia will mean that all Australia’s coal will stay in the ground. I’m not so sure about that. China has an enormous appetite for coal. Even now, at least one coal-fired power station a week is being opened there – even though these are some of the most modern (and least polluting) in the world. China consumes more coal than the US, Europe and Japan put together. The World Bank announced this week that it would no longer provide finance for coal-fired power plants except in the very poorest nations. That is an important step, although it will not worry countries such as India and China. They are now engaged in a race to buy up Australian coal mines for astronomical sums of money. The mineworkers won’t have to worry about unemployment any time soon, then.