This is a letter primarily addressed to Dr Paul Fidlon. It may also be of interest to other members of the community.
For months now Dr Fidlon, I have been reading your constant letters to the editor attacking the Labor Party, the Greens and the Independents. Has the thought ever crossed your mind that no-one has a monopoly on the truth?
Early on, I read your attacks on the carbon tax and how renewables were not yet up to scratch in meeting our energy needs. In another newspaper, I pointed out that enough sunlight reaches the surface of earth in a matter of hours to theoretically meet the energy needs of the entire world for a year. Re-read that sentence if you like. I am more than happy to show you the calculations.
Did it ever cross your mind that had a character such as Tony Abbott held the reins of power in the 1800s, no coal-fired power stations would have ever been built? That the massive investment required by government over many decades would have been “a complete waste of money’. He would have argued that this is especially the case given that Australia had a far, far smaller population at the time. A population which was scattered across long, long distances.
Haven’t you noticed that our present way of doing things pollutes the land, pollutes the water, pollutes the air? That these are the essentials on which we all depend? That each year, no each successive month which passes sees more pollution released than the month before it?
On my end, I have no qualms really about how the world decided to produce energy in the 1800s. The resources were abundant and the population comparatively small. Today, extracting resources from the earth’s crust is becoming more and more difficult. Access to solar light will remain constant for billions of years. Pollution free. Similarly with wind, tidal, geothermal to an extent and hydro-electric to an extent.
Perhaps it is the fact that you cannot hold sunlight in your hands which has the presently powerful and wealthy so glued on to the status-quo.
These are some of the ways in which I see the world. I, for one, cannot say that I am prepared to accept your non-stop negativity.
Good day to you.
Tom Livanos,
Armidale.
tom.369@hotmail.com
