abc news, page-6

Couldn't agree more Dex. Some wise words taken from 'The Daily Reckoning' web newsletter issued today:

Here in Australia all eyes are on the Federal election. It's just two days away, thank goodness. We got a letter from the Greens in the post yesterday. We followed up with a bit of research and learned that the Greens want to eliminate coal power in Australia by 2020 and have all of Australia run on renewable energy by 2050 (http://greens.org.au/content/australian-greens-launch-100-renewable-energy-policy).

--Considering 80% of Australia's electricity currently comes from coal, that's an ambitious, nation-transforming, life-transforming strategy. What would it really mean for you?

--By our reckoning, that would return Australia to about a 16th century lifestyle, before industrialisation and before the energy revolution. What point is there having a worker-friendly industrial relations policy if you plan on eliminating all industry?

--If it's a serious policy proposal, then Australians should think seriously about what it means. Green Senator Christine Milne told Kerry O'Brien on ABC's The 7:30 Report, "We want to see a carbon price as quickly as possible because we want transformation of the whole economy and society."

--Hmmn. That doesn't sound very democratic at all.

--You reckon most people would be for cleaner air. It's true that older coal plants produce nasty particulate emissions that are harmful to humans. But it's also true that newer coal plants are much cleaner. It's also true that there is zero chance on God's green earth that you can run a modern industrial economy on renewable energy and eliminate coal.

--But that is obviously not the Green plan. The green plan is for a "post-industrial" society based on a labour force organised around smaller local, sustainable, and agrarian communities. That sounds nice, too. But it sounds a lot like the 16th century, when most people spent all day tilling the soil to grow enough food to survive.

--What about the division of labour? What about increasing productivity? Those things didn't happen until coal-fired power did the work that human muscle had to do before. Take away the coal, and you take the man out of the factory and back in the field. You take the factory out of Australia too, which may be part of the plan.

--That may sound like an ideal Australia if you're Bob Brown or Christine Milne. But that is not a minor policy recommendation. It's industrial suicide. It's also putting the whole country in a time machine and taking it backwards, probably based on some vague idea that subsistence living is better for the human soul, even if sleeping on a dirt floor is harder on your back.

--Give us indoor heating any day. And beware politicians bearing big promises about transforming society. At first, you'll be asked to change your behaviour. Later, you'll be told. Once in power, society transformers usually don't take no for an answer.