Any regular reader of regional papers, will be acquainted with the letters of Viv Forbes. The thrust of his output is a vehement opposition to carbon taxes, green initiatives and politics.
In his most recent letter Mr Forbes makes some stunning proclamations about coal – how it saved us from the dark ages, saved the forests, the whales, purified the air and went on to spruik its universal supremacy as the clean power material for today, tomorrow and ever more. While coal eliminated the need for burning cow dung and paved the way for the industrial revolution, you just can’t hold it up as a justification for future directions.
So what is Viv Forbes’ beef with progressive energy technology? Why does he seem to mock symbolic initiatives such as Earth Hour?
A quick glance around various websites in which the name Viv Forbes crops up will reveal he is on the board of Queensland’s Stanmore Coal. He is a geologist, a mineral economist and a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy – a very particular set of credentials.
With an interest in the mighty coal industry, you’ve really got to question whether this is worth the paper it’s printed on.
Most of the conservative, pro-carbon, off-the-wire journalism we see in our media is on the nose. Lobbyists are paid to produce this stuff. They are employed to boost the public opinion of multi-nationals and to curry favour for the fortunes of an industry now rightfully threatened by the onset of climate concerns.
In complete contrast with the notion that frightening climate futures are the religion of green-minded zealots and ideological tree huggers, top scientists for NASA (a conservative stronghold if there ever was one) rate the dominance of the fossil fuel industry as our planet’s single greatest threat. NASA’s James E Hansen blames a political landscape under the thumb of the fossil fuel industry saying, “There is a huge gap in what science knows and what the public needs to know.” Mr Hansen goes on to detail many salient points on the issue that are well outside the scope of a letter such as this. You can check it out here: http://fairlawn.patch.com/articles/nasa-scientist-urges-action-on-climate-change
Getting the right information might prove increasingly difficult with the likes of Gina Rinehart actively buying up media shares and thus seats on the executive board of our corporate news publishers.
The point is this – next time you read the words of Mr Forbes, or any other such campaigners, remember where their interests lie. And remember also, it isn’t they who will inherit the future world, but their children and yours.
Leigh Ivin
