Forget about climate change, let’s talk about growth. There will be no more sustained growth in the economy until we transition from coal and oil, to gas and renewable energy. We are already on the wrong side of peak oil, meaning there are less known oil reserves now than last year and the year before. Every time the economy looks like growing, the price of oil goes up, scaring consumers and killing growth.
With electricity it’s a different story. Billions of dollars of much-needed investment in new electricity generation is being deferred because of uncertainty over a price on carbon. This restricts the supply of electricity to a growing economy and forces up prices.
We cannot expect growth in the Australian economy if we do not move with other countries to price, cap and trade carbon by mid-decade. Certainty is needed for energy companies to transition to cleaner generation and a price on carbon is needed to drive the take-up of renewable energy. That is where the growth is, in energy, water and food technologies that give us a secure future.
As I read it, this is what the government, supported by the independents and Greens, is trying to do and we should get behind them. It’s our future that’s at stake.
Harry Creamer
Port Macquarie
