Anyone who thinks that the world is *actually* doing something about CO2 emissions has been, to be polite, misled.
I was very much in favour of cutting CO2 from about 1988 until sometime circa 2005 when I realised what was really going on. Faced with a relentless and accelerating trend only a fool would deny that we’re going to *actually* cut fossil fuel use anytime soon unless by accident.
No doubt some will label me a defeatist, but I think it’s reality. Actions speak louder than words and in the 24 years since most Australians first heard about “the greenhouse effect” the problem has become massively worse with massive growth in the use of coal, gas and to a lesser extent oil both at home and globally.
It’s a lost cause as I see it. The power stations, planes, ships and so on already built or under construction will burn massive amounts of fuel over their lifetimes. Meanwhile we actively encourage lesser developed countries to follow in our footsteps – and one of them alone is now burning 3 BILLION tonnes of coal a year.
If climate change is real then it’s going to happen. The best we can do here in Tasmania is plan to adapt.
The Barrier Reef? Oh yeah… That’s just another casualty of burning the lot.
One thing I am worried about in a practical sense though, is when we actually run out of fuel for use within Australia. Practically all the gas is now either committed to exports or existing domestic use – what’s left in eastern Australia is about equal to the lifetime requirements of just one large baseload power station. So we’re pretty much out of gas – even mining giant Rio Tinto says they can’t obtain long term supply.
The rate things are going, coal is going to join the list pretty quickly. The only operating mine in SA is running out, we’re set to export much of the (fairly limited) reserves in WA and there are plans to do likewise with Tasmania’s limited coal reserves. At the rate things are going, it won’t be too long before we see a peak in production in Qld and NSW too – virtually all of which will, of course, be committed to export.
Which leaves us dependent on brown coal, nuclear or renewables to power Australia. Something tells me that jobs in the Latrobe Valley (main brown coal mining region in Vic) are going to be somewhat safer than many seem to be assuming. With the alternatives sold off, we’ve got little choice other than to keep using the stuff…
First published on this article, A canary in a coal mine; Comment on A canary in a coal mine
