Sins aplenty

Solar tariff unfair

I AGREE wholeheartedly with Ray Wakefield, and others, that the feed-in tariff paid by TasNetworks is a slap in the face to solar-panel owners who were encouraged by both of the major governments and the Greens (state and federal) to go solar.

The price it pays and the price it charges, 28c for 6c paid, is over 350 per cent profit. No overheads can justify that return. The people who outlaid the cost of installation should have that factored into the return they get to make this a fairer outcome. Someone is sitting on their hands and not prepared to do anything about it. Maybe the do-good Greens’ Cassy can do something? How can it be allowed to get away with this? Oh, that’s right, it’s a government-owned company, isn’t it.

Winter woes

AMAZINGLY sad is the fact that our worst month in Tasmania is August. Despite the days between sunrise and sunset this month being mostly two hours longer than in mid-June, and that the sun is closer than it was in June, the temperatures in August have been colder for many years than in June or July, or in any other month, of course. Morning minimums this August have commonly been only 2C or 3C. And, with a few OK exceptions, daily maximums have commonly been less than 12C. Those temperatures were often colder than average, making global warming patchy. A big cause of that is the dominance lately of clouds blocking off sunshine. Weather experts I have consulted share my sorrow about August. In August this year, Tasmania has also had more snow than any other month in 2017, notably on Mt Wellington and Ben Lomond. They also share my view that the reason for August generally being the worst month is a mystery. BBC Focus magazine analysed the world’s nations according to the classic “seven deadly sins” — lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride. What nation was measured, out of all in the world, as the most sinful? Australia. The United States and Canada followed as numbers 2 and 3.