WIND, SUN TO POWER HEALTHY RECOVERY

QUEENSLAND’S pledge of $500m towards publicly owned renewables in this year’s budget coming on top of news Queensland is the star performer with the highest state-based rooftop solar PV penetration is welcome.

At a time in Australia when there is a national debate about our energy investments in a COVID-19 recovery, Australia has the opportunity to hit the reset button, with Queensland leading the way.

Renewables can create long-term jobs, boost the economy and help us meet our carbon emissions targets to contain dangerous climate change.

Australia’s summer of bushfires was a wake-up call to the very real impacts of climate change – extreme heat and drier conditions made the perfect elements for the most severe and deadly bushfire catastrophe this country has likely ever seen.

In Queensland, we remember the bushfires in the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast last year, or the massive floods in Townsville the year before, which saw many people hospitalised with melioidosis, a bacterial disease from infected water and soil.

But, in reality, for decades now we have seen what climate change is doing to our planet: more severe natural disasters, rising sea levels, increasing global temperatures, changes to vector-borne diseases, threats to our food and water security, and massive biodiversity loss.

And there’s one clear culprit – increasing carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.

As a doctor who sees firsthand the impacts of climate change, there is only one clear solution in our economic recovery, and that is a greater investment in clean energy.

Contrary to damaging misinformation, the scientific consensus is that there are no health impacts from renewables.

Twenty-five peer-reviewed studies have found that living near wind turbines does not pose a risk on human health. The studies looked at a range of health effects from hearing loss, nausea and sleep disorders to dizziness, blood pressure, tinnitus and more. The same is true with solar energy – there is no identified health risk from the generation of energy from the sun.

But if the compelling health angle is not convincing enough, there is also the economic angle. A June report suggested economic stimulus programs that focused on clean energy would create three times as many jobs as fossil-fuel projects.

A report by The Next Economy, prepared with Queensland government support, argues that strong support for new renewable energy investment could create up to 50,000 new jobs in the state. So, given the clear advantages of renewables over coal and gas, what is the holdup?

Industry leaders in renewable energy point the finger at the federal government’s preference for supporting gas infrastructure over renewables as part of its COVID-19 economic recovery plans. They also identify that

Australian investments in the electricity transmission network have not kept pace with the rapid deployment of wind and solar farms.

While these failings are partially addressed by the Queensland government’s plans for new transmission infrastructure, announced recently, expansion in clean energy will plateau without crucial federal government support.

It’s time our elected leaders follow the public’s lead and put out the welcome mat for the sun and wind.

Dr Beau Frigault is an Obstetrics and Gynaecology Resident on the Gold Coast and the Queensland State Chair of Doctors for the Environment Australia