Time to embrace change
DEAR Paul Murray, your spin on Saturday, February 29, to pander to the vested interests in our society is just that, spin. To do nothing about climate change or commit to anything except a few throwaway words by the Abbott government in Paris is extremely costly and irresponsibly non-conservative.
Remember Abbott, the PM who lost his seat. Remarkably similar to PM Howard who did lip service on climate action and also lost his job.
You say Australians are unwilling to pay for action. It is not the average punter who will pay, it is companies who will borrow. Shareholders will get the dividends and the capital gains.
In doing so they will soak up the world’s excess savings and restore a stable savings system. Moderate returns from saving are a fundamental building block of capitalism. Excess savings create financial bubbles and instability and grumpy retirees who like franking credits.
Today’s negative interest rates will supercharge investment once the new technologies are de-risked.
We are already there for solar and wind, batteries only need manufacturing scale. Australia’s Redflow just needs sale volumes to lower costs and grow exponentially. There are dozens of similar battery companies worldwide.
Australia’s Tritium may power the world’s electric car fleet. Australia’s Bluglass is reinventing LED and laser technology. UNSW has reinvented solar to halve costs again. CSIRO has plans for us to be a hydrogen exporter.
Even coal power stations are investing in hydrogen. Very few taxpayers’ dollars here but millions of jobs potentially. Meanwhile coal automates.
It is companies that will invest in tomorrow’s technology. More productive technologies are savings not costs. This will create millions of jobs in the process.
Australians in North Queensland are already paying for climate change now that home insurance is unaffordable for many.
North Queenslanders suffered when tourists stopped coming as a result of our two Reef bleachings. A third looks imminent.
Tourism everywhere is suffering because the world thinks Australia is a climate-change charred cinder. The coronavirus may be the final straw on top of this man-made disaster.
Two seven-year droughts when just 19 years into a new century is not bad luck. Drought looks like the new normal. And you say just get used to it. No, I will not. I demand action and responsible government.
I truly anticipate that Australian punters will be absolutely shocked when their next home insurance bill arrives after this season’s fires. Australians are already paying for climate change as costs rise and tourism jobs disappear. Coal jobs may be next as the price keeps falling.
You imply that the new technology is more costly. Garbage. LED and solar and wind technologies are lowering electricity consumption and costs.
Farmers who are building up their soils with carbon find they are more drought resilient. Renewables plus six hours of storage outcompetes coal for replacement electricity generation already. Private capital from shareholders funds this saving.
Queensland’s Genex is building Australia’s first integrated solar, wind and hydro to lower power costs for North Queenslanders. Shareholder investment helps to lower costs.
Once retooled, the car industry will consume far fewer resources and capital. Electric cars will run at 1/10th cost for many decades and probably not require a driver at some point. The lifetime cost of car transport will be more than halved and potentially be 10 per cent. The Chinese economic model and the Elon Musk business model are changing the car industry fundamentally and breaking the hold of the current incumbents.
Your article is akin to the blacksmiths’ union defending dung shovellers and stable hands and fly swat sellers.
Change is inevitable and will cost less the sooner it is done. Business and today’s youth have decided.
GLENN WHITE,
Kelso.