Home fires burning

LIKE food in the pantry, our rich Australian mineral resources are like money in the bank. Queensland still has rich coal deposits that have supplied our electricity generators and kept the home fires burning for decades. There is still enough to run for another 100 years. Renewables are running the electricity generators in Tasmania. Tasmanians are finding their power bills exceed the rest of Australia. This is a state without coal deposits to access.

Weather-wise, Tasmanian demand for power, especially for heating, is high. This is the reality facing our whole nation, whether renewables are able to be an affordable, dependable supply for the national power grid. The push for closing coal-fired power stations, will cost Australians more than predicted.

The rhetoric that renewables provide cheaper power, is a fallacy. Ask Tasmanians. What we need to do, is gradually introduce solar and wind turbines to regions where this is viable, while using what coal still lies in the ground. With the government considering a solar tax for individuals with roof panels, this is counter-productive to encouraging more to fit solar panels. Those who have already invested in solar will be penalised. Until hybrid cars are more affordable for the majority, the transition to all things renewable, is pie in the sky. In the real world, climate change theorists continue to push for renewables, without a plan to make it realistically affordable. We must not throw out the baby with the bathwater.

ELOISE ROWE, Tannum Sands.